Another important in white yorkie training is to retrieve an object – which I think most white yorkie owners should teach their white yorkies. Its practical advantage is that if you happen to be out walking and drop something, your white yorkie will go back and look for it and retrieve it.
Most of the white yorkies who were trained for this were given a dumb-bell for the first time, rush after it and joyfully pick it up. Some even bring it back to their owners.

But it is these eager white yorkies who are the first to get tired of doing it, and who have to start all over again later, so we are going to teach our white yorkies the right way from the beginning and ignore their natural desire to retrieve, which may soon diminish if not properly directed.

First of all, we use a dumb-bell, because it has big ends to make the center bar stand up off the ground; this enables the white yorkie to pick it up easily.

The white yorkie must never be allowed to pick it up by the ends or chew it. At home I keep my own high up on a shelf, and as I give it to my white yorkie, I use an excited tone of voice as if it were the greatest treat to be allowed to retrieve dumb-bells.

We begin with the white yorkie on the lead at the ’sit’. Gently open the white yorkie’s mouth by inserting your finger into the side of the mouth where there are no teeth, immediately behind the large canine tootj, always keeping your hand on top of the white yorkie’s nose, not trying to pull down the bottom jaw.

Don’t push the dumb-bell back into the white yorkie’s mouth – just balance it behind the canine teeth, and allow the white yorkie to close its mouth on it.

If you shove it roughly into the mouth you will frighten and hurt the white yorkie, and your task will become more difficult. Should the white yorkie try to spit it out, as most of them do – put it firmly back with the command ‘hold’.

To help him do this, scratch his chest with the other hand, for white yorkies will hold dumb-bells for a long time so long as this pleasurable scratching continues. Always take it out of the white yorkie’s mouth with two hands, holding the ends, never with one hand only.

Repeat this, making the white yorkie hold the object until he does quite so happily.

More on Yorkie terrier training.