advise please
 

hey guys I've been trying to train my dog for about a month now and he seems to only listen to me when he wants to :confused: sometimes he does what i say and sometimes he doesnt, when we are indoors he listens to me more but when I take him out he does anything he wants. Can someone give me pointers on how to train him more effectively ? thiss is my first dog btw

He's very young yet. Plus, he's a yorkie. They are terriers, therefore, when they're outside, I think their noses take over. Yorkies can be stubborn and independent. Have you considered taken him to training classes? I think that would help you both a lot.

Are you working on basic obedience and trick training with your pup? Practice the basics inside your home including sit, stay, down, and watch me. Then practice outside on a short leash. Start with a quiet area with no distractions and gradually move to areas with more activity like people, cars, other animals. Be sure to praise and maybe treat for obeying.

For walking training, use a 3 foot nylon leash with the harness. No retractables.

A lot of people have great success with clicker training.

Here is a great post from Britster about teaching "come": http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/3405839-post3.html

Are there any other specific commands you are having trouble with?

:thumbup: Yorkies require extra patience in training, in my opinion. :D

Are you talking about potty training or obedience training??? How old is the pup?

If he is anything like my girl once she gets outside that is it! She is hard headed!!! Don't get discouraged. Keep working with him:)

thanks for the advice :) and what would be a good place to take him for classes :confused:
Yes i am but I have no idea how to make him lay down or watch me and how would i reward him in a way to let him know thats the action i like him doing? Thanks for the video by the way it helped me loads :) The only command I'm really having problems with is come he never wants to and when he gets close to me n I try to touch him he tries to dodge me lol


My ricky is sooo hard headed :o but yeah you're right i cant get discouraged i have to stay positive

I'm talking about obedience training he's pretty good with his walking routine already and he uses the pads if I dont have time to walk him and my pup is 10 months old

To teach "down," hold a treat (I use a piece of kibble) at your pup's nose and move it downward toward the floor as you give the command. His head should follow. If he doesn't end up with his belly on the floor, you can gently push his back to get him down. When he is finally on the floor, immediately give him the treat and say "Good down." Some pups benefit from doing this exercise on a couch or chair so that you can move your hand below your pup, forcing him to go down and lean a little over the edge.

For "watch me," hold the treat between your eyes and give the command. The instant he looks at you, give him the treat and say "good watch me." Gradually increase the amount of time that he has to watch you before you give the reward. You may interject praise as he is watching you.

Britster finds great videos. As you read in her post, "come" is one that takes a lot work. Practice in the house first. Also, make sure you practice approaching your dog or calling him to come and simply give him a pat or a little petting while he is still on the floor, tell him he is a good boy or whatever else you want to say, and then go about your business. If you only call for him when you want to do something to him that isn't his favorite thing, like grooming for instance, then he will associate coming to you with only things he would rather not do. So the goal is to make "come" a desirable thing, or at least, not a big deal.

You may want to look into clicker training. A lot of people have great success with it, speedy results. The clicker sends the message to the dog that he is doing the behavior that you are asking for. You could either read up about it online, or take a class to learn exactly how to use the clicker correctly. I think the pet stores may offer clicker classes.

Buster worked with a trainer on the come command and he also suggested using the term here. The trainer has me toss down treats near me and say here as I am saying it. Buster will have to come near me to get the treat so he will always have a positive reinforcement for the command here. As he comes to you more frequently then you could learn the command touch where he has to touch your hand with the tip of his nose before he gets the treat. You have to continually reinforce the command. I found if I saw a behavior I wanted to train that is if I saw Buster laying down at the moment he laid down I would say Down good boy and if I had treats I would give him one. You have to reward right away or they are not sure what behavior they are being rewarded for. One day it clicked with Buster and he understood the word down met lay down. I then was able to work on getting him to lay down on command. And then practice all the time. It is fun and a great bonding experience.