Are Yorkies easy to train? If you are wondering about the trainability of this small feisty dog, you’ve come to the right place.
It is a great thing that you are asking this question, because it can help you decide if a Yorkshire Terrier would really be the right pet for you or would you be better off with a less demanding breed.
Since Yorkies are very bright, they are generally quite easy to train.
However, you still must ask yourself this question, ‘are Yorkies easy to train?’ since the answer depends on how much effort you are willing to put into it.
Are Yorkies Easy to Train?
There is no definite answer to the question: are yorkies easy to train?
Don’t assume that just because you’ve owned other dogs in the past, you will know how to raise and train a Yorkie easily.
First of all, you must never forget that yorkies are tiny and fragile dogs. Consequently, you need to tailor everything – their training sessions, exercise, diet etc. – according to their size.
Secondly, you must never let them get away with anything just because they are so tiny, fragile, and cute-looking.
You see, most Yorkies are little balls of fire– they are a ‘big dog in a small package’. Moreover, they are extremely reactive and this personality trait tends to make them annoying little barkers.
Excess barking is just one aspect of their personality. There are many other traits you need to consider while training this stubborn little dog. And while most Yorkies are smart and learn quickly, they also tend to have a regal attitude towards everything in life!
Thus, most of your Yorkie’s training needs to be centered on all these factors.
When you train a Yorkie after understanding its nature and personality, you will find training will be a lot easier.
To answer your question: are Yorkies easy to train: yes, they can be, provided you start training them early with consistency and patience, and keep showing your pet what is and isn’t acceptable.
Also Read: Why Are Yorkies So Hard to Potty Train
7 Unique Characteristics of Yorkies to Take into Account While Training Them
1. Small size
Yorkies are tiny. When fully grown, they measure about 8 lb. (for show dogs) and up to 15 lbs. for domesticated or house pets.
This size makes them fragile but it also lets them get away with bad behavior. As a pet parent, you must never fall for those cute eyes and tiny little bodies!
2. Affectionate and loving personalities
One of the breed’s trait is their affectionate and loving nature.
Your Yorkie won’t hesitate to demonstrate its love for you. It will do so in the form of licks, cuddles, and the willingness to always jump into your lap.
Unfortunately, this behavior can get out of hand– your Yorkie might refuse to walk and will want to always be carried around or sit in your lap.
This won’t do! You must train your pet to get down once in a while!
3. Born hunters
Did you know that your pet’s ancestors were hunters? They were bred to trap small animals and these traits have passed down to your pet too!
Don’t be surprised if your Yorkie starts chasing and hunting rabbits, gerbils, hamsters, and other small pets.
4. Protective and courageous
Your Yorkie is extremely protective, loyal, and courageous.
While these may seem like positive traits, they tend to make your pet extremely territorial about its surroundings.
You might find it barking ferociously if anyone approaches your yard or car.
Often, your small pet might forget that it cannot follow up its barking with action but it knows for sure that back up will appear!
5. Extremely intelligent but stubborn
Your little ‘King of Terriers’ is extremely smart. You will find that it can grasp things quickly – a trait that can enhance trainability and shorten the training period.
However, your pet is also smart enough to find other way of doing things and that can be deterrent to training.
6. Get bored easily
Your Yorkie’s incredible smartness also means that it is likely to get bored quickly.
This too can be an impediment to training. So, as your pet’s teacher, you will need to find ways to make training innovative and fun.
7. Highly reactive and prone to barking
Another feature to take into account while training your pet is its highly reactive nature.
Your little guy (or girl) will bark a lot, both in excitement and as a watchdog.
You will need to invest in tools and training sessions to curb this excess and annoying barking. We will tell you exactly what you will need in this aspect.
Let us now move on to the basics of training.
How Do You Housetrain Your Yorkie?
Because of the above personality traits, you need to housetrain your Yorkie consistently and starting from day one – i.e. from the day your pet enters your home.
The best and easiest way to housetrain any puppy, not just a Yorkie, is to take it outside at regular intervals.
We recommend that you take your puppy out to the yard or any other designated potty area at intervals of 2 hours.
Potty training your yorkshire terrier puppy using some potty train commands is a good trick. Use words like “Potty” when leading your pup to a potty pad or litter box.
Reward and praise your buddy every time it pees/poos in the designated spot.
This will help your pet understand three golden rules of housetraining:
- I get rewarded when I ‘go’ outside
- I don’t get rewarded when I ‘go’ inside
- Going outside is good and going anywhere inside (not just in my house) is bad!
As a pet parent, you will need to watch out for ‘cues’ that your Yorkie dog wants to ‘go’. It might sniff in a place or run around in circles when it wants to pee/poo.
When it shows these cues, clap and say ‘No’ in a loud voice and immediately take it to the designated potty area. As soon as it does its business, praise and reward it.
You can invest in dog potty training pads to aid this process.
How Do You Crate Train Your Yorkie?
You should begin crate training with housetraining – side by side – from day one.
Invest in a high-quality crate. We recommend the New World Folding Metal Crate .
To begin crate training, reward your yorkie puppy as soon as it enters the crate. In the beginning, do not crate for more than a few minutes at a time.
Place treats, toys inside the crate so your pet finds it welcoming and comfortable.
You can slowly increase this duration until your pet can easily spend several hours comfortably in the crate without crying, barking etc.
Always make your Yorkie go potty before crating it. This will help avoid accidents inside the crate.
If the crate is too big for your puppy (which is bound to be the case in the beginning), then section it off using old boxes. This will prevent your yorkie puppy from using the farther end as a toilet.
Later on, you can also crate your Yorkie through the night so it learns to comfortably sleep in the crate.
Make sure the crate is warm and cozy and has a comfortable crate pad or bed for your pet to sleep upon.
How do You Train Your Yorkie to Not Bark?
Does your Yorkie bark a lot? Do you often see your pet barking at nothing in particular?
Don’t worry, it is a typical Yorkie thing.
As explained earlier, Yorkies are extremely territorial and protective of their household and of their humans. Consequently, they will bark every time they feel their loved ones are threatened.
In addition, your pet might bark excitedly at your kids, or when you have guests, when the doorbell rings, or when you turn the vacuum on, and especially when you leave for work. It’s pretty normal for your Yorkie pup to bark in these scenarios.
If your buddy barks, you can pick it up and say some soothing words. Dog owners must understand that comfort and affirmation are essential to their cute buddies.
Reassure your pet and teach it the ‘Quiet!’ command. You can also crate it. This will help your Yorkie relate the crate with ‘quiet time’ or ‘safety’.
As soon as your Yorkie is silent, treat and praise it by saying ‘Good dog!’ or ‘Good girl/boy!’
Soon your Yorkie will learn that:
- Barking does not get rewards
- Silence earns rewards.
In addition, you can use some tools to help you curb unnecessary barking:
8 Tips to Make Your Yorkie’s Training Successful!
You can make your Yorkie’s training more successful by following certain guidelines.
Remember, training should not be something you dread – it needs to be enjoyable for you and your Yorkshire terrier dog.
1. Keep training upbeat and happy
Avoid scheduling training at the end of the day when you are tired. You might take it out on your poor dog and that can be a huge deterrent.
2. Become your Yorkie’s teacher
Your pet wasn’t born to learn and know English. When you say Sit, you have to ‘show it’ what you want it to do.
Then help your pet do it and reward it as soon as it does what you want.
Sometimes, it may not listen to you and turn snappy. But keep in mind that a yorkshire terrier temperament can be easily managed. Just as how a human teacher is patient with her students, being your dog’s teacher entails patience and dedication too!
3. Avoid repeating commands too often
Your smart Yorkie will only ignore you if you repeat a command too often.
Say a command once, teach your pet what you want it to do, show it how to do it, then reward your pet.
4. Be consistent
Use the same word and commands so your pet does not get confused with different ones.
Also, make sure your family members are on board regarding the house rules. For example, if you don’t want your Yorkie on the couch, then make sure other family members do not allow that too.
Consistently reinforce the same rules over and over.
5. Get everyone involved in training
This includes your kids and even your elderly parents that may be living with you.
This will make house rules easier to reinforce and there won’t be any confusing changes that will negate your training efforts.
6. Praise and correct immediately
Praise and reward your Yorkie each time it does things right. Give him a chew toy or quality time as part of his treat!
Similarly, correct wrong or bad behavior every time as well. This should not be neglected as part of Yorkshire terrier training. Your pup must know his limits.
However, you must never ever hit or physically punish your pet as this will only make it aggressive or timid.
Praise and correct right away and not later. Your Yorkie has to learn what is and isn’t acceptable.
7. Make no excuses
Never make excuses for your Yorkie.
This is a smart and highly trainable breed that is alert, bright, and innovative.
So, when done right, it is bound to thrive on training.
8. Finish every training on a positive note
Stop when your pet has done something right. Praise and reward it and end the session with lots of playtime. A simple caress on your Yorkie’s coat lets him know he did a great job!
This way, you and he will both feel great after training. If your pet has a hard time with a particular command, then do something you know it does well.
After it does it, end the training so the session ends on a positive note.
FAQs on Are Yorkies Easy to Train?
1. Are yorkies easy to potty train?
Yes, Yorkies are smart, alert, bright, and innovative. This makes them easily trainable as long as you are willing to put in efforts.
If you take your Yorkie outside for potty every few hours, it will soon learn the association between going outdoors and rewards. This will get your pet housetrained within a few weeks.
Potty training can go successful if you invest in some quality products too like a pee/puppy pad.
Consistency is the key to easily training any dog breed and not just a Yorkie.
2. Can Yorkies be left alone at home all day?
It is best not to leave a young Yorkie puppy alone at home for more than a couple of hours each day. This smart, small breed lap dog can have separation anxiety and can go lonely too quickly.
Make sure you let it out to potty before you leave and once again as soon as you are back.
In case you have to go out for longer periods of time, please have a friend or pet-sitter watch your Yorkie and take it outside for 3-4 potty breaks.
Adult housetrained Yorkies can be comfortably left home alone for 4-6 hours each day provided you get them used to it from an early age.
3. Why are some Yorkies so hard to house train?
There is no such thing as a ‘difficult’ dog, but there is definitely a thing as a ‘lazy owner’.
Many yorkies end up in rescue homes and animal shelters because their owners ‘labeled’ them as hard-to-train.
It is a sad fact that these dogs end up being killed because no one wants to adopt them.
It is also very sad that humans do not want to put in efforts to train their dogs.
With consistent training, positive reinforcements, rewards, and love, any Yorkie can be easily housetrained in a couple of months.
4. Do Yorkies attach to one person?
Like most dog breeds, Yorkies are also ‘one-owner’ dogs.
This means that they will consider one person as their alpha or owner.
However, your Yorkie is extremely affectionate by nature. It will get along with kids and other pets as well as all other family members, provided you socialize it early on.
Conclusion – Are Yorkies Easy To Train?
Are Yorkies easy to train? Compared to most dog breeds, they certainly are because of their smart, alert, and intelligent nature.
However, their positive traits can also end up being negative since they make them stubborn, mouthy, and easily bored.
We hope this brief guide along with Yorkie’s personality traits helps you be a better teacher for this beloved dog!
