Yorkie and obedience training?
Posted on Jul 30, 2010 under obedience training | 6 CommentsI have a six month old yorkie and I want to take her to obedience classes and everyone tells me it is a waste of time because they do not respond well. I do not want her to do 101 tricks. I just want her to come, sit, stay and lie down. I have trained all of my previous dogs with positive reinforcement. My yorkie does not seem to catch on or respond to treats. Any suggestions.
Whoever ‘everyone’ is, the don’t know what they are talking about. I have trained dogs for about five decades (sounds better that way 
— and any dog can be trained – it is the people that usually are the hard part… I had an old bud (as are all of my buds! hahaha) that years ago had some of the neatest Chihuahuas. He was over six feet tall and he had his dogs trained in obedience to upper level titles, UDs, and they would even compete at that level in brace (two at a time together) competition. It was amazing but he did that with all his dogs. I had always had large dogs and wondered how he taught them a lot of the commands and he told me, that since he was so tall and had arthritis he couldn’t do anything with them down on the ground until he had actually done most of the basic training on a table! He said he taught them to sit, stand, come, down, all of it on a table and then once they really knew the commands and his body language, he would put them on the ground and the heeling came easy. I have had dogs in my classes that didn’t require all that but I always suggested if someone was having difficulty with certain exercises to try that ‘trick’ out and see if it helped. You can train any dog, any size, any shape or whatever – they are all fairly smart — there are some breeds less smart than others and there are idividuals that can be difficult to train as they can have brain damage and stuff like that, but I have yet to run into a dog that cannot be trained — only people. Get to a good obedience class with a knowledgeable instructor that knows that Yorkies are pretty bright and easy to train little dogs – steer clear of those ‘everyones’ that don’t know what they are talking about… Good luck!
July 30th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
All dogs are different. If you don’t know how to train your dog by yourself, then perhaps an obedience class would be perfect for you.
Most classes offer a free trial or money back guarantee. Check into this beforehand, if you’re worried it won’t work out.
Don’t let "everyone" persuade you otherwise. You won’t know until you try. Any dog can be trained, but it doesn’t happen over night. It takes a lot of time and effort.
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July 30th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
it is not a waste of time they will give u other ways to train if she is not responding to ur ways
with the sit I have used a treat I put it by there nose and slowly head towards the back of head saying sit when she sat I gave her the treat and said good sit now alls I have to do is raise my hand and say sit and she does it I give her praise if it but don’t have to use the treat anymore
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July 30th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
I have a 6 mo old Yorkie and yes they are hard to train but not impossible, you just have to consistent as they will forget what they learned quickly.
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July 30th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
I have 3 Yorkies. 2 of them have titles in Obedience and Agility. I think that they are wonderful to train. My youngest one is not interested in training and is not food motivated, so he won’t be competing. But I still took him to classes because it is essential that they learn to listen to you in a distracting environment. You can also get tips from the trainer on how to motivate the puppy. You may just have to reward with petting and trying to get them to play if they won’t take food. But basic obedience makes for a happier dog and a happier household. Good luck in your training and enjoy the time with the puppy, don’t get stressed or frustrated.
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July 30th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Whoever ‘everyone’ is, the don’t know what they are talking about. I have trained dogs for about five decades (sounds better that way
— and any dog can be trained – it is the people that usually are the hard part… I had an old bud (as are all of my buds! hahaha) that years ago had some of the neatest Chihuahuas. He was over six feet tall and he had his dogs trained in obedience to upper level titles, UDs, and they would even compete at that level in brace (two at a time together) competition. It was amazing but he did that with all his dogs. I had always had large dogs and wondered how he taught them a lot of the commands and he told me, that since he was so tall and had arthritis he couldn’t do anything with them down on the ground until he had actually done most of the basic training on a table! He said he taught them to sit, stand, come, down, all of it on a table and then once they really knew the commands and his body language, he would put them on the ground and the heeling came easy. I have had dogs in my classes that didn’t require all that but I always suggested if someone was having difficulty with certain exercises to try that ‘trick’ out and see if it helped. You can train any dog, any size, any shape or whatever – they are all fairly smart — there are some breeds less smart than others and there are idividuals that can be difficult to train as they can have brain damage and stuff like that, but I have yet to run into a dog that cannot be trained — only people. Get to a good obedience class with a knowledgeable instructor that knows that Yorkies are pretty bright and easy to train little dogs – steer clear of those ‘everyones’ that don’t know what they are talking about… Good luck!
References :
August 1st, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Hello, I view all your posts, keep them coming.