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Yorkshire Terriers

Yorkshire Terrier board and train in Gloucester, MA

The AKC describes the Yorkie as a toy-size terrier of no more than seven pounds that is tenacious, feisty, brave and sometimes bossy, a dog that caught rats in mines and mills before it ever sat on a lap. That is a working terrier's brain in a very small body. Here is how a one- or two-week stay channels it, and what to keep doing once your Yorkie is home.

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Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · by the Dogtown team · reviewed by Gabriella Pope, Director of Training & Canine Behaviorist

Terrier in miniature

A Yorkie brings a ratter's alertness, a quick mind and a strong urge to sound the alarm

The AKC breed page scores the Yorkshire Terrier four out of five for trainability, energy and barking, and five, the top mark, for watchdog alertness. Its temperament line reads friendly, quick and keenly alert. The training note adds that Yorkies love their owners, are very intelligent and eager to please, and can excel at rally, agility and obedience despite their size. Put simply, this is a dog that learns fast and notices everything, which makes lessons quick and doorbells loud.

History explains the alarm system. According to the AKC, weavers from Scotland who settled in Yorkshire and Lancashire in the mid-1800s bred small terriers to squeeze into the corners of textile mills after rodents, and Yorkies also worked as exterminators in coal mines. A dog shaped to react to small, sudden movement will still react to a squirrel, a leaf or a delivery van. Training does not remove that wiring. It gives the dog something else to do with it, and a reason to stop once the alert is made.

  • Trainability, energy and barking: four out of five on the AKC scales
  • Watchdog score: five, the top of the scale
  • Good with other dogs: three, the midpoint the AKC labels with supervision
  • Adult weight: no more than seven pounds

Foundation or Advanced

Foundation gives a young Yorkie a potty timetable and a quiet cue; Advanced takes both out among bigger dogs and strangers

Foundation is one week of basic obedience and leash skills, place, stay and recall, impulse control, crate and household manners, and daycare integration with enrichment, finished with a go-home lesson. For a Yorkie puppy or young adult, the week leans on the crate and the clock. Trips outside follow a timetable, the crate is sized for a toy dog, and the place cue gives the dog a job when the door opens. A Yorkie that can lie on a mat while the bell rings has learned the first half of quiet.

Advanced runs two weeks and adds distraction proofing, real-world outings, neutrality, confidence building and structured socialization, with two scheduled coaching lessons. It suits the Yorkie that is polite at home but turns into a siren on the sidewalk, or squares up to every large dog it meets. The trainer works at a distance where the dog can still take a treat, rewards the glance away from the trigger, and closes the gap only while the dog stays calm. Daycare time is spent with small dogs matched at the free evaluation.

Ask about the minimum age when you book the consult; it depends on the puppy's vaccines and development, and a pup of 8 to 16 weeks may be better served first by Tiny Tails Puppy School, where you attend every lesson. Our board and train page sets out the full contents of both stays. Each stay is quoted after a short assessment, the same way as all Dogtown training.

Quiet and clean

Barking and house training are taught the same way: reward the right moment and prevent the wrong one

AKC trainers list attention-seeking, boredom, fear, excitement, frustration and territorial behavior as reasons dogs bark, and a Yorkie can tick several at once. The method used during the stay is simple to describe and slow to finish. The trainer waits for a pause in the barking, even a second, and pays it; the pauses grow longer before each reward, and only then is a word such as quiet added. Shouting is left out, because the AKC notes that yelling can sound to a dog like joining in.

House training gets the same structure. AKC trainers suggest taking very young puppies and toy breeds out about once an hour whenever possible, cleaning accidents with an enzymatic cleaner made for pet urine, and never scolding a puppy for doing what comes naturally. A stay can set the timetable and the crate habit, but dogs learn where the bathroom is by place, so the real test comes on your own lawn. The go-home lesson walks you through the schedule the trainer used.

  1. 01

    Block the view that sets off the barking, with window film or a closed door

  2. 02

    Wait for a pause in the barking and reward it at once

  3. 03

    Stretch the silence a second at a time before each reward

  4. 04

    Add the word quiet just before the pause you can now predict

  5. 05

    Send the dog to its mat with a chew once the alert is over

Owner habits

Yorkie owners often scoop the dog up, answer every bark and relax the rules, and each habit teaches something

Picking up a small dog is often the kind thing to do, but a Yorkie that is lifted every time a big dog appears never learns to watch calmly from the ground, and one lifted mid-bark may learn that barking earns a better view. Let it watch from the floor at a distance it can handle, and reward the calm look. Answering every bark with a word, a glance or a treat to quiet it down has the same effect: the alarm gets paid, so it rings more often.

The other common mistake is underrating the dog. A Yorkie is not too small to learn, and the AKC says effusive praise and treats work far better with the breed than harsh corrections. Yet small dogs are often excused from rules a larger dog would have to follow, such as jumping on guests, guarding the sofa or slipping out of the door. The AKC also advises limiting a Yorkie's jumping height, especially as a puppy, to protect the knees, so leaping off furniture is a health question as well as a manners one.

  • Let the dog watch big dogs from the ground, far enough away to stay calm
  • Reward silence rather than talking over the barking
  • Keep the household rules you would set for a 70-pound dog
  • Use a ramp or a lift instead of sofa leaps

Home practice

At home, keep the potty timetable, the quiet cue and a small dog's share of terrier work

Your Yorkie's routine passes to you at Dogtown, in the go-home lesson that ends Foundation or the pair of coaching lessons that end Advanced. Keep the potty timetable strictly for the first weeks home, and keep the crate in use on the same schedule. Practice the quiet cue at the window you blocked, then slowly reveal more of the street. If the barking returns, go back a step rather than raising your voice. Winter tests a small dog's house training, so shovel a patch by the door before the first snow.

A Yorkie also needs a place to use the terrier. The Gloucester Dog Park at Stage Fort Park has a fenced section for dogs under 25 pounds and a separate agility arena, which suits a breed the AKC says can excel at agility. The park asks that every dog be licensed and vaccinated; in Gloucester the license comes from the City Clerk. Dogtown Academy half days at $69 keep the manners in use with a trainer, and private sessions start from $94.

At Dogtown

What a Yorkie's stay can include

The training program, an overnight suite, Academy half days to keep the habits going, and a groom before pick-up.

Australian shepherd sitting attentively during training Dog TrainingFrom $94 per session · Explore Golden retriever resting on a cozy bed in a Dogtown boarding suite Overnight StaysFrom $78 · Explore Dogtown trainer playing with a small doodle on the outdoor turf Dogtown AcademyNewFrom $69 · Explore Groomer blow-drying a red goldendoodle in front of the Dogtown Grooming sign Dog GroomingFrom $55 · Explore

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Asked and answered

Questions people ask about this

Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.

Can board and train stop my Yorkie barking at the window?
It can teach a quiet cue, a place to go when something passes, and ways to manage the view. It cannot remove the alert itself; the AKC gives Yorkies its top watchdog score. The realistic aim is a dog that alerts briefly and settles when asked, and that depends on the window routine continuing at home after the stay.
Will my Yorkie be house trained when it comes home?
A stay builds the habits underneath house training: a timetable, rewarded trips outside and a crate the dog accepts. Because dogs learn bathroom rules by location, some accidents at home are common while the habit transfers. Keep the schedule from the go-home lesson, supervise closely and clean accidents with an enzymatic cleaner, as AKC trainers recommend.
Is my Yorkie too small for a training stay?
No. The AKC notes that Yorkies can excel at rally, agility and obedience despite their size. During the stay, daycare time is with small dogs matched at the free evaluation, held on weekdays between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, and handling suits a seven-pound dog. For a very young puppy, ask whether Tiny Tails Puppy School should come first.
My Yorkie snaps at big dogs on walks. Which program fits?
Advanced is built for that: neutrality, structured socialization and outings where the trainer controls the distance. A Yorkie that lunges because it is frightened may need a longer plan with you present from the start, such as Focus & Flow (6 weeks, 12 sessions) or React Less, Relax More (8 weeks, 16 sessions). Gabriella Pope makes that call at the assessment.
What does a Yorkie's stay cost?
Board and train is quoted after a short assessment rather than listed, like every Dogtown training program, and individual sessions start from $94. Some extras are priced: a full-service groom before pick-up is $75 for a dog up to 25 pounds, and nail clipping is $16. Describe your Yorkie on the training form and we reply within an hour on business days.

More questions? Read the full FAQ

Sources

Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.

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A big terrier voice, a quieter house.

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