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.

This is one command that is better not taught unless thoroughly controlled. If you constantly give your yorky treats for barking, you may be encouraging barking and yapping – which in turn can become a real problem that requires much corrective training.

Make sure you teach him controlled ‘speaking’, or barking on command only. Don’t allow him to begin barking for its own sake, or to use this as the first step in aggression.

If you can make your yorky bark on a given signal, however, it can be a great trick that can also help your security. The mere barking of a dog is often enough to make an undesirable person back off. And if either you or your yorky are ever injured, he can signal where he is, or you are by barking.

If your yorky’s lost or has been accidentally locked up somewhere, he will respond to your command to bark – even at a distance. But if your training is lax and your yorky isn’t properly controlled, he may become a nuisance and bark constantly.

In the process of learning to speak on command, therefore, your yorky should also learn to when not to ‘speak’. Indiscriminate barking is easy to encourage; the hard part is getting him to stop on command.

By far, the easiest way to start off the training is simply to encourage your yorky every time he barks. Every time you hear your yorky bark, tell him “speak” or “bark”, whatever word you want to use as a signal.

The hand signal you use is up to you, but the standard one is to hold out your hand and move it up and down slightly. At the start, whenever he barks of his own volition, give your selected voice command and hand signal.

To reinforce the barking, give him a treat every once in a while. This way he’ll start to associate his bark with your command and signal.

If you take advantage of all the available opportunities to make your yorky connect barking with the command, he will. Some yorkys bark at the slightest provocation, while others are slow to become aroused.

A yappy dog naturally learns to speak more quickly than a quiet one – he may also take more working later when it comes to controlling him.