Tips for Training Yorkie Terrier
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If you’re looking for a fun and rewarding activity to do with your Yorkshire Terrier, a career as a therapy dog might be the perfect fit. Therapy dogs travel to hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities to bring joy and companionship to the residents.
Since these residents often had to give up their own pets when they left their homes, being able to interact with a dog is a very special opportunity for them. Refer below some basic tips for training Yorkie Terrier and make your Yorkshire Terrier a great therapy dog because they are small lap dogs and very friendly.
The first step to becoming a therapy dog is passing the medical portion of the qualification tests. Therapy Dogs International requires their dogs to have proof of current vaccinations (rabies, distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, and parvo virus), and a certificate of health certificate from a veterinarian. Dogs must be visibly clean with no sign of fleas or ticks. Your Yorkshire Terrier must appear to be healthy and happy, with good energy and attitude and not significantly over- or underweight.
Your Yorkshire Terrier must be trained to do the following things before it can pass the test to be a therapy dog:
Grooming: Your Yorkie must allow a stranger to groom her.
Stranger Acceptance: When the handler meets a stranger, the therapy dog should sit and wait for directions without showing any reaction to the stranger.
Leash-free Heel: Your Yorkie should walk to your left without leash and without being asked to heel.
Crowd Control: When walking through a large crowd of strangers, your Yorkshire Terrier should show little to no interest in them.
Sit and Wait: When sitting, your dog should accept attention from a stranger without shying away.
Basic Obedience: Your dog should know basic commands like sit, down, stay.
Little Reaction: A therapy dog should show little reaction to strange people, strange dogs, or strange noises.
Left Alone: Your Yorkie has the training and manners to be able to be left alone with a stranger and main good behavior.
Most of this training can be done at home with just you and your Yorkie. As your dog becomes better trained in basic obedience, you can start bringing in other people to handle your dog. The more hands that get on the dog, the better. Your dog should be used to being handled by strangers all the time. That way, when she makes the transition to being a therapy dog, she will love being held, petted, and brushed by strangers.
You must also train your Yorkshire Terrier to be accepting of all sorts of situations. If possible, take your dog to as many public places as possible so she’s exposed to all sorts of people and noises. If you have relatives or acquaintances who have motorized wheel chairs, oxygen tanks, or other machines typical in a medical facility, you can get your dog acquainted with and comfortable with the sounds.
Once your Yorkshire Terrier passes the therapy dog tests, you can begin bringing her to local nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. When you see the joy that your dog brings to the residents in these places, all the time and effort put into training your Yorkie will be worth it!
