How to Train a Yorkshire Terrier to do Tricks

Your Yorkie puppy loves to lick your face. Any time she licks your face, say the words 'give me a kiss' and give a treat every time she licks your face. Over time, 'give me a kiss' becomes a fun trick your Yorkie can do with anyone.

Have your Yorkie sit and then give her a treat for obeying that command. Once she is sitting, hold a treat just over her head and ask her to 'beg' or to 'say please'. Raise the treat up, encouraging her to lift her front legs up into a begging position. Once she successful, give her the treat. Repeat this several times and she will know how to beg or say please.

Have your Yorkie sit in front of you and show her a treat. When she sees the treat, hide it in your hands and don't let her see it or have it. Be patient and eventually, she will bark. As soon as she barks, say the word "speak" and give her the treat. Repeat this several times so she associates the command 'speak' with her barking.

Have your Yorkie lie down and then give her a treat. Teach her to roll over by holding the treat on one side of her and moving it slowly to the other side. As her nose follows the treat her little body should follow as well. As soon as she rolls over, say the command "roll over" and "good girl", then give her the treat. This requires lots of practice and repetition.

Have your Yorkie sit and then sit in front of her. Show her a treat and ask her to give you 'five'. Once you ask her to give you five or to give you a 'high five', lift up one of her paws and touch it to your hand. Then give her the treat. After lots of practice, you should be able to just ask her to give you five without lifting her paw for her and have her touch her paw to your hand. Be sure to practice this a lot and reward every time she gives you a high-five.

Make sure your Yorkie knows basic commands. The best way to train her the basics is with a training clicker and incredibly high-value treats such as cheese or meat. Your basic obedience commands are going to be 'sit', 'stay', 'down', 'come', and how to properly walk on a leash or 'heel'.

Use a treat to encourage your Yorkie to sit. You're going to hold it up over her head and just move it slowly behind her head until her chin and nose point up and she's almost forced into a sitting position before she falls over. As soon as she sits, click that training clicker and give her a treat. Be sure to repeat this a lot.

Ask your Yorkie to sit, click and treat for hitting this position, then encourage her to lie down by holding a treat out and then moving it towards the floor and away from her body. When she's in a 'down' position, click that training clicker and give her a tasty treat.

Your little pup is going to need to be trained how to walk while attached to a leash. To do this with a clicker and treats, take your little girl for a walk and click and treat while she behaves on the leash and stays with you. As long as she is not distracted and not pulling on the leash, she should be rewarded for positive behavior.

Once your Yorkie understands 'sit' and 'down' you can teach her to 'stay' and 'come' or 'release'. Put her in a 'sit' or 'down' position and give her the click and treat reward. Take a few steps away and say the word "stay". As long as she stays even for a moment, click and reward. Very quickly use another command such as 'come' or 'release' and encourage her to come to you by offering a treat. When she does, click and treat.

Once your Yorkie knows basic commands and a couple of fun tricks, she might be enticed to learn some more advanced tricks, such as dancing. Put her in a sitting position and have her beg. Then hold a treat over her head and slowly move the treat in a circle, encouraging her to hop on her back legs in a circle as well. You can give this a command such "spin" or "dance". Be sure to practice a lot and give her treats as she's learning.

Have your Yorkie sit and give her a treat for being a good girl. Take a second treat and hold it up near the side of her nose. You can even give her nose a little tickle. This should make her want to swipe the side of her nose with her paw. As she does this action use the command "hide" and give her a treat. Practice several times using the new command and rewarding her each time she hits it.

Before you teach the advanced waving commands, be sure your Yorkie can give you her paw first. Have her sit and hold your hand out as if you're asking for her to give you her paw. When she holds her paw out to shake yours, pull your hand back towards you and say the word "wave" and offer her treat. Repeat this several times using the new command to wave.

Much like the 'dance' or 'spin' command, you're going to have your Yorkie sit and then get into a 'beg' position. Only this time, hold the treat up a little higher so she's standing upright and have her twirl in one direction and then in the opposite direction by holding the treat over her head and moving it into a circle and the direction you would like her to go. Do this twice, once for each direction and then give her the treat. Practice with the command "twirl" and be sure to reward often.

Have your Yorkie lie down and offer her a treat for obeying that command. Very gently, roll her to one side and use the command "play dead". Some owners like to pretend to shoot their dogs with their fingers and have this as the command to use. As soon as she's on her side give her a treat and a "good girl" and then practice again. The repetition of the command or the action with her lying down and rolling to her side is the connection she needs to make, so be sure to reward often as she's practicing.