Learning this command could save your yorkie’s life by allowing you to stop him before he starts out across the street in the face of an oncoming automobile.

Along with ‘come’, this command assures complete control over your yorkie. However, it may tend to slow down a dog in responding to the ‘come’ command. A properly trained yorkie probably won’t slow down too much, but some shyer dogs may not react well to this command.

Therefore, don’t make a practice of stopping your yorkie every time he is called, nor in the same place. If you do, your yorkie may anticipate the order and automatically slow up, waiting for you to tell him to stop.

In order for a dog to learn to stop moving when told, he must know the ‘stay’ command thoroughly. Once you have halted him, you may also want your yorkie to sit and lie down and stay, so he should have learned the sit and lie down commands.

Only when he does can you teach him ‘stop’ or ‘whoa’. Be sure to work inside or in an enclosed area at first so as to have control.

Place your yorkie in a sit-stay position and walk away a short distance. Call him to you. When he comes halfway, step forward quickly and push both hands toward him as if you were a policeman stopping oncoming traffic, and say ‘stop’ or ‘whoa’.

If he stops, quickly tell him to stay.

If your yorkie ignores the command continues to come forward, run toward him and physically stop him. If he shows no response, the next time you call your dog, tell him ‘stop’ or ‘whoa’ and then throw a chain or leash on the ground just in front of him.

Then repeat the command and signal. A loud stamp with the foot or throwing a heavy book or magazine with a thud in front of him might also help. Startling your yorkie this way should make him stop short.

Once your yorkie stops when asked, you have to teach him to respond to the next command you issue from a distance. Immediately after you stop him in his tracks, tell him to sit or lie down. When he obeys this, tell him to stay in that position.

Keep him there for a short while until you release him. Or call him to you as your next command.

It will be easier for the yorkie to learn to roll over if he already knows how to lie down on command.

You must be careful your yorkie doesn’t confuse this roll-over exercise with the lie down. Therefore it’s better not to actually tell him to lie down; rather, place him in the down position and start to work from there. This will eliminate any connection in the commands.

Sit on the floor or in a chair to get close to your yorkie, with his head next to you. Take a treat and reach over, bringing it just in front of his nose. Gently bring the treat over his head and around to the other side so that the yorkie must follow the treat.

Your voice command is “roll over”, and your hand signal is making a circle toward the right. Later, a slight circular motion of your hand or finger, or just the words “roll over” will be sufficient.

Hold the treat just out of reach of his nose and tempt him with it, and as his nose moves to follow the smell so must his body.

If it doesn’t, gently help him along. When the yorkie finishes a complete roll, give him the treat. Repeat it going the other way. Then go back and forth a couple of times until the yorkie starts to roll.

If, instead of rolling over, the yorkie jumps back up to get the treat, hold him down with your other hand to help him roll over. Just don’t let him get up and go the other way. You want him to roll; eventually he will.

When he does it, don’t ruin everything by going through the exercise too often or he may well become bored and refuse to do it.

When he is doing this continually while you are seated, it’s time to try to see if he’ll do it while you’re standing. You may have to first put the leash on your yorkie until you’re sure he won’t take off. If you hold the treat above his head – away from his nose, he may tend to get up.

A long dowel stick can be helpful to keep him down and nudge him over.

Give the treat only when the yorkie completes the command. This way he will understand he will get his treat only when it is done.

Unfortunately, dogs are not always the perfect creatures we masters might like them to be. A pet-dominated family can be miserable, and any dog can become a household terror.

No one wants a dog that chews up your antique armoire or your favorite shoes. And if you don’t want to train your dog, you can make enemies.

If your yorkie misbehaves, you may blame him, but everyone else will blame you.

When a yorkie is taken into your home, he must be taught to respect the rights and feelings of the humans he associates with. He has to learn he can’t rip up the house, bully everyone into a corner, or annoy your friends.

Not everyone is crazy about animals, and so he has to be trained not to dig up your neighbors’ lawns or chase their cars. Barking is not fair to neighbors, nor are piles of feces on the floor when visitors arrive, nor are attacks on postal employees or delivery persons.

Guests don’t want to be jumped on by a noisy dog; car chasing can be dangerous to everyone, and dogs jumping around in a car are equally dangerous. You have to keep your yorkie on your own property, and when he is left alone there, he should be reliable.

People complain that their dog barks endlessly, chews the rug, or snaps at their mothers-in-law. Before the dog will stop such upsetting, destructive behavior, he has to associate something unpleasant with that activity.

But when negative training is explained, “I couldn’t be cruel to an animal!” is often the response.

These same people, however, do not hesitate to request that you find a new home for their animal or a place where they can leave him – even if the final result is the yorkie being put to sleep.

It is really kinder to train your yorkie with a little bit of preventive medicine.

All dogs have the potential to develop bad habits, and unfortunately, some of the natural tendencies and basic instincts – which can be very undesirable under the restricted conditions of urban life – can also be difficult to inhibit.

Once you let a lot of problems build up, you will really have your work cut out for you. Therefore, starting off on the right foot is important to you, as well as to your yorkie.

Depending on how this trick is executed by both yorkie and owner, it can be an amusing performance – or simply look as though your yorkie is lying asleep on his side or back.

To be effective, your yorkie must assume the correct position promptly and express the appropriate body attitude. A good basis for this – perhaps even a prerequisite – is for your yorkie to know to lie down and stay (when told to do so) until given his special release word.

This trick is simply an extension of that command. Be careful your dog doesn’t confuse the signal with the circular one used for rolling over. In fact, your voice command of “bang” or “play dead” is a major source of the amusement in this trick!

To teach your yorkie to lie on his side and play dead, stand over him and make him lie down without commanding it. Issue the voice and hand commands by saying “play dead” and giving a semicircular motion with your hand.

Then physically turn your yorkie onto his side and hold his muzzle flat on the floor in a suitable “dead” fashion. When the dog relaxes and stays for a few moments without struggling, release him with his special release word, then praise and treat him.

Repeat this several times until your yorkie has some concept of what it means. Gradually increase the length of time you hold him in his “dead” position.

For playing dead lying back, start out as if going to make your yorkie roll over.  Use the commands for “play dead” and a procedure similar to the tempting one used to teach “roll over”. Here, however, stop the yorkie once he is halfway over and resting on his back.

Sit down on the floor or in a chair and make your yorkie assume a “lie down” position with his head near you. Hold your hand with his its tidbit of food just in front of his nose and give the signal for him to play dead.

Then move your hand in back of your yorkie’s head so that he follows the tidbit with his nose. His body should naturally follow as his head comes around, but if it doesn’t, help him.

When he is on his back, hold him in place for a few seconds by holding him physically, using the “stay” command. When he is doing it, give him a treat and then release him with his special word.

To eliminate confusion in paper training your yorkie at an early age, it is especially important for the location of the paper to remain constant.

Change the paper regularly. But when first training, leave a small amount of the soiled paper as a reminder to draw your pet to it.

Later, the paper and its replacement alone will act as a trigger without the aid of a urine smell. Don’t leave newspaper down anywhere except in your yorkie puppy’s permanent toilet area.

If you do, it might be a temptation for him to go elsewhere. In fact, you’ll have to keep the puppy’s toilet area clean if you want him to use it.

Though animals return to an area where there is a smell, your yorkie puppy will not wade onto filthy, soggy paper; nor will he go into a filthy box. Instead, he will probably go onto a substitute such as your carpeting, or at least opt for right next to the paper.

Then he will go farther and farther away until his toilet area extends throughout your entire home.

To teach your yorkie puppy to go on the paper, take him over to it frequently: right after eating, playing, training, or whenever you see him acting restless. These are the things when he is most likely to want to go, so be especially diligent about getting him to the paper then.

Put him on the paper several other set times each day to assure him that he has plenty of opportunities to relieve himself.

On these occasions you can use the match suppositories to get him to defecate, and this will make him connect the paper with the action of relieving himself.

One or two hours may be all that some very young pups can hold out. Therefore, when you see your yorkie pup getting restless while confined – or sniffling, circling, or squatting when free under your observation – pick him up quickly and set him on the paper.

When he does what you want, praise him and reward him with some freedom. Make a fuss over things done right to let the yorkie puppy know he is being good. Dogs want to please, so let them know they have at every opportunity.

As your yorkie puppy progresses in the training, give him more freedom and more of an opportunity to do the right thing.

With crate training accomplished, you can start housetraining your yorkie puppy in earnest. The basis of this is scheduling. (more…)

Paper training is another means of making sure your yorkie puppy relieves himself in the appropriate place. (more…)

The absolute fundamentals of leash training your yorkie to walk with you are to get him to move out when you do, stay by your side when you walk straight ahead, and come to a halt when you stop. (more…)

Once in the ‘lie down’ position, some dogs try to creep forward on all fours. If this happens, move toward your yorkie or walk toward him up the leash. (more…)

If you don’t want your yorkie to stay glued by your side, indicate that he is free to wander off a little. Give him his release word and signal. Say ‘OK’ and wave him off, giving him a nudge to let him know he’s free. (more…)

Even a dog that isn’t trained to retrieve can use these commands. It makes a great trick to have your yorkie carry a magazine, newspaper, or small brown shopping bag. (more…)

The ‘sit’ command is probably the easiest of all the commands to teach, since it’s natural, comfortable position for your yorkie to assume. (more…)

In training a yorkie to come when called, you could theoretically train him to come to you on any signal – a whistle is a perfect example.

To do this, however, he first has to be trained to respond to the word command ‘come’. After that, you can set up all sorts of secondary signals, simply by giving the sound or signal, following it immediately by saying ‘come’.

Then eventually eliminate the word ‘come’ and just give the secondary signal.

Thus, to teach your yorkie to respond to a whistle once the he knows the command ‘come’, give a blast on your whistle, call your yorkie, and make the signal. Soon he should respond when you give a blast on the whistle alone.

You can train him to respond to a particular whistle, or to the generalized sound of any whistle. You can even teach him to respond to a silent whistle, since a dog’s hearing is so excellent that he can hear higher and fainter sounds than we can.

If your yorkie is rewarded only when he responds to a certain whistle, he’ll soon discriminate and react only to the one that is exclusively his’. The problem with training to a specific whistle is that if you lose that one whistle, you might get stuck with a dog that won’t know how or when to return to you.

You will then have to start over and recondition him to a new sound. This idea of teaching your yorkie to respond to generalized stimuli can be extended to any sound or signal, but it is usually best to stick to the standard ones.

Choosing an exotic or ambiguous one can lead to confusion.

When their dogs come after being called, some people want them to sit, lie down, or stand in front of them or at their sides in a heel position. These refinements can easily be added – after your yorkie learns these other commands.

For now, when the yorkie comes to you, simply reach out to hold, place, and praise him exactly where and in what position you want him to stay. He’ll soon learn that’s where he is to be.

Test your yorkie’s proficiency in the command by gradually increasing the distance from which you can call him. Additionally, try him out when he’s involved in other activities and least expects it – but demand obedience.

Keep each stationary command separate so that your yorkie doesn’t mix them up, or when you say ‘sit’, he may lie down – and vice-versa. (more…)

Start the training in the house to make sure your yorkie has some idea of what it is all about before being transferred outside, where the sights and sounds are extremely distracting. (more…)

Learning good leash manners is a must. Even if you don’t plan on using one, you cannot teach your yorkie to walk without a leash unless you first teach him to walk correctly on one. (more…)

When given this command, your yorkie will remain standing rather than flopping into the more relaxed sitting or lying down positions.

Often, when walking your yorkie, you don’t want him to sit down every time you pause. Additionally, at times your dog will have to submit to being checked over by a stranger – such as a veterinarian or groomer – and not run off, wriggle around, or object nervously or viciously. (more…)

If your yorkie puppy halts at every spot to relieve himself, drifts ahead, lags behind, heels wide, lurches at passerby, bites at your arm, plays with the leash, attacks other dogs, pulls you through doors, or rushes ahead into elevators – he needs additional training work.

When your yorkie puppy wants to relieve himself, you should allow him to sniff around a little: that is normal pre-elimination behavior. Do not, however, allow him to sniff constantly and stop and urinate a few drops on everything. (more…)

If your yorkie dog crawls along the ground toward you or your friends as though you were going to beat him when he gets there, it can make you feel terrible – especially when your yorkie rolls over and urinates a little in submission after he reaches you.

This behavior needs to be normalized. You may not cure him completely, but hopefully you will achieve enough success that your yorkie dog won’t make you feel like an ogre. (more…)

This is one time you don’t need a huge dog, because your pet is usually hidden behind closed doors and no one can see his size.

The yorkie’s barking alone is usually sufficient to chase off anyone hanging around for illicit purposes, who wants to attract as little attention as possible. Just keep in mind that if your yorkie doesn’t manage to keep out an intruder, he may get hurt or stolen. (more…)

The only way to encourage your teacup yorkie to be obedient is to let him know the right thing is being done. To do this, a pleasant experience or reward of some sort must follow the desired action.

When calling their pets, some owners tempt them with a reward for food, feeling that this will make the dog come running. But you shouldn’t resort to this unless your teacup yorkie won’t listen any other way. (more…)

There are innumerable reasons why some yorkies have housebreaking lapses. No matter what they are, however, all breaks in training must be corrected, promptly and firmly.

You have to handle mistakes with the understanding that one or two can turn into a full-fledged habit unless dealt with properly. (more…)

When hand signals are used, be sure to keep in mind that it is the motion that catches your yorkie’s eye first. A dog’s eyesight is designed to be especially sensitive to motion.

Through work, some dogs develop such a heightened perceptivity that they learn to pick up even the slightest cues. A well-trained yorkie can, by observing the owner’s subtle signals, appear to count or do complex reasoning tasks seemingly well beyond the scope of any animal’s ability. (more…)

Not all dogs chase cars, but if yours shows intent in this dangerous sport, discourage it at once.

He will either harry the local drivers or get himself run over (cars do kill, a fact of which most dogs are unaware).  The first time your yorkie shows the least interest in chasing cars, get into your own auto with a friend. (more…)

All sorts of training methods have been advocated over the years, but the problems with each have generally remained the same – whatever the outward manifestation of training, it never gave the yorkie a chance to be a dog.

You can’t expect respect and obedience from your yorkie unless you teach him with an understanding and knowledge of what your yorkie really is. (more…)

There are no regularly scheduled sessions for teaching a yorkie to do something. Just work your dog in short exercise periods that can be given at any time of the day or night.

The lessons themselves should be only two to three minutes in length, with five the absolute tops. A longer session are to be used only for complicated tricks after your yorkie is well accustomed to being trained and worked or if he knows the command thoroughly but refuses to work. (more…)

Most people don’t know how or where to start training their yorkies. To keep the mistakes on your part and your dog’s to a minimum, set up a special learning session right at the outset.

Training can be done without this lesson, but it is really highly desirable. You want your yorkie to get the right idea of what it’s all about and start him off learning quickly. A good beginning sets up patterns for you and your yorkie. (more…)

If you ignore your yorkie dog’s signs of aggression, they may get so far out of hand that he takes over your home and bullies you into a corner. Therefore, get to work on solving this problem when it’s still in its early stages.

From the outset, your yorkie has to learn to control himself. Play with him, but don’t play roughly. Teach him that he cannot use his mouth for nipping, even playfully. Every time he bites at a piece of clothing or at your hand, give him a slight tap and tell him “no”. If you don’t, he can develop a biting habit. (more…)

Since a dog’s vision is generally limited, he does not rely on it alone but uses other senses to augment it.

Your yorkie may not recognize a specific person at a distance; he may have to get close enough to see features and smell and hear before recognizing who it is. (more…)

Through seemingly simple, the “lie down” command can be difficult to teach because it is basically a submissive gesture.

To your yorkie, lowering his body to a crouching position is reminiscent of submitting to allow a dominant animal to mount him.

He may not be eager to take such a demeaning humble posture simply because you ask him to, and even though lying down is the most natural position for a yorkie to assume, you may have a difficult time getting your dog to do so on command. (more…)

When you praise your yorkie for doing right, do it in such a way as to use it to your advantage. Correct praise can help you make sure your pet consistently does well.

At least in the early stages of training, praise your yorkie by chucking him under the chin to keep his head up and make him look happier. (more…)

The only time training with negative association is used in house training is for your yorkie’s misdeeds or mistakes.

Since your yorkie can’t be confined permanently but has to learn to live in your home, you must fix constructive confinement with a certain amount of freedom; and therefore, the chances for mistakes in housebreaking do exist.

Whether or not you catch him in the act, handle the matter seriously and firmly. Make your yorkie realize you don’t want such behavior. Vinegar and Tabasco sauce may sound like ingredients more appropriate to the kitchen than the dog kennel, but they are some of the most effective aids you can use.

Vinegar contains an acid that, when used appropriately, your yorkie will come to recognize as “your” odor as opposed to his own. Use it to indicate your authority over your dog.

For example, vinegar is most generally used to cover the urine “marker” smell left by an unhousebroken dog. Run vinegar into the spot where your yorkie relieved himself and, with a reprimand, make him smell it. This will show him that it is your house, not his.

Use the basic vinegar and Tabasco method whenever correcting a mistake, as an added reminder to your yorkie not to do it again. Get the paper towels, vinegar, and Tabasco sauce.

Set them up near the soiled area. Bring your yorkie over to the mess, and hold him firmly in place between your legs. Clean up the mess right in front of him, and after you are done, wipe some vinegar over the area.

Then put a dot of vinegar on your dog’s nose and a few drops of Tabasco on his gums. Give him firm smack, place his nose to the vinegar spot, and let him go.

After this, ignore him for ten minutes or so, and then give him an easy command to let him do something good for you so you can praise him again. This way he knows that despite all, you still love him.

But your yorkie must be shown in no uncertain terms that you don’t want him messing up in the house, and the vinegar smell should remind him of your displeasure.

Catching your dog in the act and reprimanding him immediately is one of your best deterrents. This way, you can associate an instantaneous, unpleasant experience with the action for optimum impact.