If your yorky assumes an oversubmissive posture when approaching you after being called, treat it as an emotional problem. If it is just a matter of habit, you have to make your yorky at least look happier about coming.

Pick him up the minute he comes to you or simply grasp him immediately when he gets near you, and hold him in place to give him security while you praise him.

Bring his head upward toward you by always chucking him under the chin. A treat or a favorite toy held high in the air will also force his attention up.

Some dogs run to everyone but the person who called them, as if looking for protection. This of course makes everyone think that the owner giving the command – namely you – is a complete tyrant. To overcome this trait, you must enlist the aid of the same people to whom your yorky runs.

To teach your yorky to come only to the person who calls him, make him associate something unpleasant with everyone else. Once you’re sure your yorky knows the command, take him into a familiar room where a couple of family members or friends – three people at most – sit around casually.

Call your yorky to you. When he starts running from one person to another, they should give him no sympathy, but ignore him. If he persists, they should reprimand and chase him.

If several people throw things at your dog when he disregards a call to come, he will run fro protection to the person calling him. Equally, if not more efficient, is to have each person he goes to ignore him completely.

If there are two or more owners, there is often a problem of one interfering with the other. In this case, each one of you should work the yorky separately at first; the second owner must ignore or chase off the yorky once the other gives the command.

Your yorky must learn to go only to the person who calls.

Some dogs come so slowly that they appear to be in slow motion. Lack of praise while the yorky is learning is often the reason. People get so carried away by the dog’s obedience that they forget to let the yorky know they are pleased.

Be sure to praise your yorky to get him coming happily and excitedly.

If your yorky braces to tense himself and refuses to give in and lie down, hold him in position until he relaxes slightly. Once he does, immediately place the pressure on him again until he settles to the ground.

Don’t give in to your dog – if you do, he will test you forever. Remember, it’s nor force that gets him down, but rather firm, insistent pressure. It may take time, but if handled quietly and surely, all dogs will eventually give in.

You have to be absolutely persistent and give the necessary encouragement and a sufficient amount of praise when your yorky obeys. Constant repetition will soon connect the words “lie down” and the signal of a hand, palm down, with the desired position.

When exerting pressure to make your yorky lie, be sure to give him every opportunity to comply. As soon as your dog starts to go into the down position by himself, let up on the pressure immediately and repeat the command using both the word and hand signal to reinforce your yorky’s understanding.

Once your yorky is lying down, don’t be too enthusiastic with praise unless you are holding him in position; otherwise your yorky may be tempted to jump up in excitement. Instead, hold him in place and stroke your yorky calmly and gently.

After your yorky mastered the command when you’re sitting next to him, he must learn to lie down while you’re standing up. Put his six-foot training leash on him, and place your yorky close by your side or right in front of you.

Holding the end of the leash in your left hand, hook it under the instep of your shoe so it can slide freely. Be sure to place your full weight on that foot so you won’t be thrown over backward if your yorky struggles.

Stand erect – your yorky is the one that is to lie down, not you. Give the voice command and hand signal. Wait five to ten seconds. If he obeys, praise him. Otherwise, give the command once more, and give him ten seconds or so to comply.

If there’s no response, immediately exert pressure on the leash, compelling your yorky downward by forcing his head to the ground. Then hold him in place until the rest of his body drops down as well. If it doesn’t, lean over and push him down with your hand.

First accustom your yorky to the leash. This is generally a simple matter if he accepts the regular collar. Once he has worm the regular collar for a while, remove it and slip his choke collar on.

Attach the leash to the choke collar and allow it to fall or drag on the floor for a while to get him accustomed to feeling something around his neck.

Later, when you pull on it, it will be familiar, and he will not be afraid. Don’t let him play with this leash now, or he may constantly bite at it later.

When you pick up the leash and put pressure on it, some dogs will fight like a newly bridled colt, but hold on firmly. If you insist, your yorky will soon realize that there is no point in struggling.

Start to walk your yorky around on the leash. He will probably either remain behind or lunge ahead. Just continue walking until he realizes there is no point to struggling and he might as well walk. When he does, reassure and praise him.

Avoid taking him to strange surroundings, and as you walk, talk to him and pet him frequently until he becomes used to the leash. Do not attempt to train your yorky to heel at this time; simply try to accustom him to being restricted on the end of the leash.

Always remember to be firm in teaching your yorky. Having him walk on a leash means he shouldn’t go anywhere unless you call him. Teaching you and him how to walk properly on a leash comes in the regular training sessions.

Patting the floor on your knee and coaxing the yorky to come along will teach your yorky to have no real fear of the leash. Do not drag him roughly at first. The yorky may apply all four brakes and refuse to budge.

Pull the dog slowly along the floor until he makes up his mind he is going to walk.

Keep in mind that yorkys associate things, so repetition is important; as taught; training commands are just to start the association process in your yorky’s brain – a prelude to all training. Do not link commands at this point, but make sure your yorky understands one command at a time.

Uninformed and unsuspecting owners allow uncontrolled, vicious dogs through half-hearted leadership and actually encourage it in other ways.

Some people find it amusing when a little dog growls and barks, or reassuring when large dogs do so. Unfortunately, encouraging what you consider to be cute snapping or snarling will only teach your yorky pup to grow into a dog that bites.

The flattering thought of a puppy that comes to your aid when anyone approaches you or your family will not be so reassuring when your full-grown dog takes a chunk out of a neighbor.

At maturity, a dog that’s been raised to permissively may begin to take advantage of you. Teasing is one method used to train a dog to attack. Unfortunately, unsuspecting people often use this method to make their dogs aggressive.

Sometimes the owner doesn’t realize what’s happening; perhaps a jealous child or a neighbor annoys your yorky when you’re not around. A teased yorky may learn to be a vicious animal.

Make sure no one grabs bones and toys away from your yorky puppy for the fun of it. He should not have to growl and chase other dogs or people away from his food.

A tug-of-war over a toy is in effect a form of teasing that teaches your yorky the power of his teeth, and should not be encouraged unless your yorky understands it’s only a game and you are in complete control.

A yorky that is kept enclosed in a yard or confined consistently in a small area should be protected from people who would throw things to incite him or run around just out of reach, taunting him. All of these teasing games can cause your yorky to become nasty.

Perhaps the most prevalent (and so disconcertingly unintentional) aggressiveness training is done by owners who believe they are actually reprimanding their pets. Wherever a yorky hears a noise, sees something unusual, or spots another animal, he may growl and bark.

On hearing this, the owner may pat and say “good dog” to calm him down. Actually, this “good dog” encouragement is a good way to teach your yorky to bark and growl. The yorky, thinking this is what is wanted, may eventually go on to more pronounced forms of aggression.

What you should actually do is firmly slap the dog or reprimand him in some way for his undesirable behavior.

Stay is really for emphasis on all stationary commands, but the earlier your yorky learns to stay still where he is put, the better.

While it acclimatizes the yorky to the training to come, it is also a lesson in self-control, teaching the yorky patience and increasing his concentration and attention span.

Place your yorky in a sitting position and say “stay” while gradually backing away from him the length of the leash. He’ll probably try to move, but just keep placing him in the sit-stay position until he obeys. “Stay” should be reasonably easy after he knows “sit”.

Lie down is an optional part of this lesson, but it’s a good thing to get over with quickly. It lays the basics for some good tricks and helps make the yorky realize from the outset that you are the boss.

After all, it is a submissive gesture. Again, it is better to have your yorky on a leash so he cannot dart off, and you can use it as an aid. Tell him “lie down” and pull his front feet forward from underneath him as you apply pressure on his back to force him down.

When he lies down, don’t stroke and praise with too much enthusiasm or it may tempt him to get up. This lesson lasts as long as it does so that you can take frequent breaks and thus separate the various aspects of training.

The concentration span of your yorky is short, so watch for him to tire. After short, frequent breaks, stop and give your yorky a rest; walk him or do whatever you have to do to break the routine. Keep on working the animal until he knows something, but also give him time to rest.

The later training sessions may have slightly different methods, but these employed here give your yorky a quick idea of what training is all about. By the end of this session you’ll know the things about your yorky that need the most work.

You will be able to judge your yorky’s temperament and what type of methods he will need. Every dog that has had some preliminary training, that is not afraid of the leash and understands “come”, “sit”, and “down” will learn the subsequent exercises more quickly.

Though you may not realize it, a certain understanding between the yorky and you has already been established through this small amount of training.