How smart is your Yorkie without any training?

[shawnzeppi]

I'm sure we're all familiar with the behavior of asking your Yorkie if (s)he wants to go for a walk and having them go bonkers on you in anticipation, but my male 9 month old has taken this a step further...

I got to pondering this issue because my male has trained himself to paw me in order to tell me that he has peed or pooped on the pee pad.

At first, I thought he wanted to be picked up, his older sister is a lap dog of great renoun, and is always begging me via pawing to be picked up to sit on my shoulder, but Mr Gatsby has never been a lap dog in the least, so I was baffled by this at first. It's kind of like his equivalent of trying to tell Lassie's mom that Timmy has fallen down the well; it's up to us stupid humans to figure out what they are trying to tell us.

I never attempted to train him for this, it was just due to simple conditioning I suppose since when I put him in the bathroom with the door closed for a couple minutes and he does defecate, I reward him, so now he goes by himself and has learned to come get me and put me on notice that I owe him a treat. SMART BOY!!!

[Cinq1964]

I did put Nolee in a training course. But I find repetition will also work. He has picked up things I have not offically "trained him on". Just things we do everyday, using the same words for him to understand. Good luck!

[chattiesmom]

That is totally cool. It sounds like you have one smart little boy!

I think that Yorkies are exceptionally smart and that coupled with their independent nature makes it a challenge to train them at times.

I have to share one of Chizziewink's self-taught behaviors.....

When its time to eat Chizzie and Dovie are both right under my feet trying to rush me along. I feed Dovie in the kitchen on one side of a baby gate that separates the kitchen from the dining room and Chizzie is fed just on the other side of the gate.

I always put Dovie's food down first and as she starts top eat I set Chizzie's bowl down. Chizzie will, without fail, hesitate for about 5 seconds and then she is off like a rocket to her bowl. It amazes me that will leave Dovie and her bowl and run all the way around to her side to eat. I might add that in order for Chizzie to get to her food she has to turn around and go in the opposite direction from where Dovie is eating, make a right turn, run throught he breakfast room, make another right turn, run through the living room and make a third right turn to make the last mad dash through the dining room to her bowl.

She is very good at problem solving.