You may have watched dog shows or have a friend whose dog obeys all commands and does what is exactly said. When you watch such things it puts you in awe and makes you wonder if your terrier can do these things and are Yorkies smart?
It makes you think if your little Yorkie pup can obey your commands and do tricks. Thus, we try to answer your question here: Are Yorkies smart?
Listed below are some descriptions that provide a complete understanding of the question: are Yorkies smart?
Are Yorkies Smart?
According to canine psychologist Stanley Cohen, Yorkies are dogs having above-average intelligence.
Thus, Yorkies are smart. They are the perfect example of the statement “beauty with brains”. They are able to learn, anticipate, obey, and discern better than other dog breeds.
Along with the question are Yorkies smart? Another question may be making you curious and the question is what makes them smart?
Yorkie dogs are smart because of how they were bred. This dog breed was bred to hunt rats in clothing mills. Clothing mills are a dangerous place for dogs to be in as they have to move around machinery. But Yorkies were able to navigate their way and were also quick, brave, and intelligent to kill the rats.
Thus, these dogs may not be in the top 10 breeds of the smartest dogs in the world, but Yorkies are definitely smarter than most dog breeds. They are extremely loveable and sociable with their owners and therefore it is easy to train them.
What Is A Yorkie’s IQ?
When it comes to working and obedience intelligence, the terrier dog breed ranks 34th as the smartest dog breed out of 138 qualifying breeds. These dogs are easily trainable and tend to remember things they have learned for most of their lives.
How Smart Are Yorkies?
Out of 90 different dog breeds, Yorkies lie in the 27th position which is in the category of above intelligence. This means that a Yorkshire terrier can learn a new command after 15 to 25 repetitions and will obey the command the first time it is spoken 70% of the time.
The Yorkshire terrier breed are quick learners and therefore the more they are exposed to new elements and commands, the more likely they are to learn that information and remember it all their lives.
How Is Yorkie’s Smartness Measured?
Now that we have answered the question: Are Yorkies smart? let’s go one step further and examine how is a Yorkshire terriers smartness actually measured?
1. Canine Instinct
Instinctive intelligence refers to the dog’s ability to perform tasks it was bred for like hunting, pointing, fetching, guarding, etc. As mentioned above, Yorkshire terriers were bred to ward off rats in clothing mills. The Yorkies performed great under these circumstances.
Thus, their instinctive intelligence is also high as they are extremely swift and agile and train easily.
2. Adaptability
In terms of adaptive intelligence, which is the final dimension of dog IQ, which refers to a dog’s ability to learn on its own, Yorkshire terriers are seen to be high in this dimension. This shows how smart Yorkshire terriers can actually be.
3. Trainability
Using Dr. Coren’s dog intelligence criteria when measuring a dog’s IQ it was found that firstly looking at the number of repetitions needed for the dog to learn that command. The fewer the repetition needed, the smarter the dog is.
This same principle is applied to Yorkies. Yorkshire terriers tend to learn quickly in around 25 repetitions and hence are easily trainable. Thus, the success rate of them obeying the command is high as compared to other dog breeds.
Are Yorkies Easy To Train?
Yorkshire terriers are easy to train but it also depends on what you are trying to teach them. If you are teaching them certain tricks like asking them to bend, rollover, etc, they can learn those quickly after you give them a treat for performing the activity.
However, when it comes to more complicated problems like teaching them to walk on a leash or potty train, it can take some time for them to learn your commands and associate proper behavior and the treat you give them.
Also because Yorkshire terriers are great watchdogs, they tend to get alarmed by every little sound, and training them to be calm and not react to every sound may take some time but it is definitely possible as they are quick learners.
You can take a look at our extensive research on Yorkie training here.
How Can I Improve My Yorkie’s Smartness?
Since we now have established a firm answer to the question, are Yorkies smart? And how easy they are to train? It is important we address the question of how to bring about a change in your four-legged dog’s intelligence.
Listed below are some tricks and tips you can use with your little Yorkie puppy.
1. Training From An Early Age
One of the smart ways to train your puppy is to start training and housebreaking as soon as you can. This is because the younger your pet, the more likely he is to learn and absorb more information.
Once you start giving your little Yorkshire terrier the correct command like “Come here”, “sit” from an early age itself, he is less likely to engage in inappropriate behaviors.
Keep in mind that as these little puppies are young, it may take time for them to learn but they soon will get there with consistent efforts from both ends.
2. Provide Interactive Puzzles and Toys
Providing your pet with puzzles and toys helps increase their mental stimulation and activity. This makes them think more thus facilitating their smartness and intelligence levels.
Try using the Nina Ottoson puzzle by Outward Hound . This is an amazing way for your pet to learn what parts of the puzzle to move to receive delicious treats.
These games will help your terrier apply his brain to solve the puzzles thus stimulating them mentally and emotionally. You can also use Outward Hound Hide where your puppy has to find where the squirrel is hiding.
3. Train To Follow Basic Hand Signals
You can use hand gestures like pointing a finger to say “stay” or putting your palms ahead to say “stop”. You can also move your fingers signaling “go”. These hand gestures and signals help your Yorkie to clearly follow and obey commands.
Hand signals are a sign language that is often used to train different dog breeds and hence you can easily use them with your Yorkie. Dogs are very good at reading and understanding sign language and hence easily pick up on these commands.
Firstly before beginning to use these commands, make sure that your Yorkie is in a distraction-free and sound-free environment. This will help your puppy focus only on your hand commands.
Once your dog is paying attention to you, you can use hand gestures like holding your palms out and tapping the floor to teach your dog to sit. Make sure that each of these hand signals is different from each other so as to avoid confusion for your little Yorkie puppy.
4. Be Patient And Consistent
There may be some days where your pet isn’t feeling right or is just too lazy to do anything. Make sure you don’t force your dog too much to do anything as it will not help them learn. Also, be consistent in every activity that you perform with your little Yorkie.
Make sure to give your pet treats after they perform the desired behavior. This will help them carry out that behavior more often. Be sure to carry out these commands and activities daily or at least on alternate days so that the connection, association, and learning are not totally lost.
Are Yorkies Smarter Than Other Dog Breeds?
Yorkies may not be the smartest dogs alive but they are definitely smart dogs. As their IQ shows to be above average intelligence and they rank 34th amongst other dog breeds, Yorkie puppies are actually quite smart.
They can also be trained easily as they are extremely sociable and loyal pets. Yorkie puppies are considered to be one of the easiest dogs to train as they are quick to soak up information they receive.
Why Is My Yorkie Unable To Learn New Things?
Sometimes you may come across instances where your Yorkshire terrier won’t listen to you or is unable to grasp and learn new things. There may be several reasons for this.
1. You May Not Be Clear With Your Instructions
Sometimes what can happen is you may try to say something to your puppy but they may interpret it as something else. For example, you may be trying to tell your puppy to sit but your hand gesture shows your fingers moving. This might confuse your Yorkie.
Therefore be precise and particular with the instructions you give your pet so that they learn what command and hand gesture stands for what and are able to correctly differentiate amongst them.
2. You May Not Be Consistent With Your Training Methods
You may get caught up with daily chores, work, and other activities and may not always get the time to train your pet. Hence, even if you start out properly for 3 days and then get busy with your work, your Yorkie will forget things they learned due to the time gap.
Thus, try to be consistent with how you work. You do not have to spend a lot of time training but make sure when you do it you do it continuously. You can train your pet daily for half an hour each day or every alternate day.
3. You Aren’t Following The Good Behavior With A Reward
Maybe you get the time to train your Yorkie but you aren’t reinforcing their good behavior with a reward, praise, or treat. Research shows that positive reinforcement and association are a really good way for dogs to learn and for their owners to train them.
Thus, make sure once your terrier performs the required behavior to give your puppy a treat. This will increase the likelihood of performing the behavior again and again so that they can get the treat.
4. The Environment Of Learning May Not Be The Best
If there is a lot of disturbance in the environment like traffic, children shouting or if you have other pets, your Yorkie is more likely to be distracted.
This can cause him to pay attention to what is happening around him rather than pay attention to your commands. Thus, your pet might not learn anything.
Therefore, make sure you train your dog in a suitable environment with no distractions and the only focus should be on you and the instructions that you give him.
FAQs on Are Yorkies Smart?
1. Which Dog Has The Highest IQ?
Border Collie is considered to be the most intelligent dog with the highest IQ. There was a trained Border Collie named Chaser who passed away some years ago who was trained to learn over 1000 nouns and was able to follow instructions each and every time.
Check out this video of Chaser of how he has learned words and understand what they mean
2. How Big Is a Yorkie’s Brain?
The largest brain size of a dog is that of the size of a lemon. This is true for bigger dogs. Also, it isn’t true that the smaller the dog, the smaller their brain will be.
Yorkshire terriers being a toy breed that they are, have a relatively smaller brain compared to other dogs. But it does not make them less smart.
3. Are Interactive Toys Good for Yorkies?
Interactive toys, puzzles, and other games are very good for Yorkies. Through this, they learn how to navigate their way through the game and provide them with the required physical and mental stimulation that they need.
Playing with interactive toys also reduces your pet terriers’ boredom and decreases anxiety. It also gives them something fun to do and keeps them entertained for long periods of time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this article addresses the question: are Yorkies smart? And suggests ways to boost their intelligence and smartness.
Yorkies are extremely good and quick at learning and thus the right training methods when used consistently will definitely help boost their intelligence.
