Your seven-pound Yorkie drags you down the sidewalk like a tiny sled dog! This isn’t about their weight. It’s about being a terrier.
Yorkshire Terriers were made to hunt rats in old English cloth factories. They needed to be brave, never give up, and chase moving things through loud, busy places. That hunting brain doesn’t just disappear because your Yorkie lives in an apartment now and has never seen a real mouse. When a leaf blows across the path or they spot a Labrador three blocks away, those old hunting feelings wake up. Add in the terrier stubbornness that made them good at their job – they couldn’t quit just because a rat went down a hard-to-reach hole – and you’ve got a dog who really thinks they’re protecting you from every danger, even though they weigh less than a gallon of milk.
Most popular leash training videos are made for medium to large dogs. The trainer shows you with a 50-pound Golden Retriever at waist height. Your Yorkie is down at your ankles! When they pull, you’re bending way down or trying to find a treat while looking for a dog the size of a guinea pig against grass, sidewalk, and your own feet. The timing, the angles, how you move – nothing works the same way.
Yorkies also have different personalities that decide which training will actually work:
• The Napoleon is bossy and protective, pulling to face other dogs or act like the sidewalk belongs to them
• The Nervous Nelly is scared and worried, pulling to get away from scary things or because the world feels huge when you’re six inches off the ground
• The Social Butterfly is super excited, pulling toward every person, dog, smell, and interesting thing because life is happening over there and they need to check it out RIGHT NOW
Same pulling behavior, but different reasons, so you need different solutions.
Resource #1: Kikopup’s ‘Loose Leash Walking for Small Dogs’ Video Series
Emily Larlham’s YouTube channel (Kikopup) teaches positive training that actually works for small dog bodies. Her videos show how to give treats at the dog’s eye level – not hanging down from way up high, which teaches your Yorkie to jump, not to walk calmly. She rewards the dog a lot, every few steps when you’re starting out, which fits the Yorkie attention span that lasts seconds, not minutes.
Start with her ‘Teaching Loose Leash Walking to a Puppy’ video. It works great for adult Yorkies too! The ideas are the same: reward your dog for being in the right spot (near your leg, leash loose) before they can mess up. She talks about using 300 treats in one practice time. That sounds like way too much until you remember that a “treat” for a Yorkie is a piece of kibble the size of a lentil. You’re not feeding them a whole pound of food. You’re giving them quick positive feedback that keeps their brain focused on you instead of everything around them.
Works best for: Social Butterfly Yorkies and owners who can practice for 10 minutes every day with a treat pouch holding at least 50 tiny rewards. If you’re someone who forgets to bring treats or gets annoyed by stopping and rewarding a lot, this method will frustrate both of you.
Resource #2: Zak George’s ‘How to Stop Leash Pulling’ for Terrier Temperaments
Zak George’s training style is full of energy and fun, which terrier personalities love. His main trick – changing direction the second your dog pulls, making yourself unpredictable and interesting – turns that stubborn independence into a game instead of a fight. Your Yorkie isn’t being forced to walk nicely. They’re solving the puzzle of where you’re going next!
The important change for Yorkies: his stop-and-wait trick needs you to notice the split-second before your seven-pound dog hits the end of the leash. With a bigger dog, you feel the pulling building through the leash. With a Yorkie, they’re already fully stretched out and pulling before you even notice! You need to watch their body language – ears pointing forward, walking faster, head turning toward something distracting – and respond right away, not three seconds later when they’re already pulling hard.
Picture someone walking an invisible obstacle course with a tiny dog, turning left, then right, then stopping, then walking backward. It’s effective! It also looks pretty silly to people watching.
Works best for: Napoleon-type Yorkies and owners who don’t mind looking a little funny doing animated direction changes on the sidewalk.
Resource #3: The AKC’s ‘Loose Leash Training’ Article Series
The American Kennel Club’s training articles work for all dog breeds and are very organized, which makes them a great starting point. Their loose-leash series shows you clear steps: practice in your hallway with zero distractions first, then your driveway, then a quiet street, then slowly add more distracting places. They give you realistic timelines – 8 to 12 weeks for good loose-leash walking in most places – not the three-day miracles some Instagram trainers promise.
Their equipment suggestions need changes for Yorkie size. A six-foot leash is perfect – it gives your dog enough freedom to sniff around without getting so far ahead that you can’t see them. But their harness sizing guide thinks dogs start at 15 pounds! Most Yorkies need XXS or custom-fit harnesses in the 12 to 14 inch chest size, and you’ll need to measure around their ribcage just behind the front legs to get the right fit. A harness that’s even a little too big will slip over a Yorkie’s head or twist uncomfortably.
Important Tip: When you’re three weeks into training and seven different YouTube videos are confusing you, the AKC’s simple step-by-step plan is really helpful.
Works best for: All Yorkie types, especially as a main guide to come back to when other methods feel too complicated or confusing.
Resource #4: Simpawtico’s ‘Leash Reactivity in Toy Breeds’ Blog Post
This resource is super important for Nervous Nelly Yorkies because it talks specifically about fear-based pulling and barking that comes from feeling small and unsafe. A reactive Labrador is annoying. A reactive Yorkie is actually scared for a good reason: they’re six pounds in a world of 80-pound dogs who could hurt them by accident, just by being too excited and rough.
Simpawtico teaches about threshold distance for small dogs. Threshold distance is the exact spot where your Yorkie notices another dog but hasn’t freaked out yet – they’re paying attention, maybe on alert, but still able to hear you and take treats. For reactive Yorkies, this is often 30 to 50 feet away, much farther than the 10 to 15 feet typical for bigger breeds. Your job is to figure out that distance for your specific dog and practice there, slowly getting closer over weeks as your Yorkie learns that other dogs aren’t dangerous.
The real-world tricks that work:
• Use parked cars as walls to block your Yorkie’s view of other dogs while you reward calm behavior
• Practice in quiet dead-end streets before trying busy sidewalks where you’ll see three dogs in five minutes
• Learn the emergency U-turn sized for a dog with a 12-inch stride: you scoop your Yorkie up (if they like that) or guide them in a tight 180-degree turn with a really good treat, creating distance before they react
Resource #5: Fenzi Dog Sports Academy’s ‘Attention and Focus’ Free Course
This resource is surprisingly helpful for regular Yorkie owners (not just competition people) because loose-leash walking is really about your dog choosing to pay attention to you instead of everything around them. Denise Fenzi’s free course breaks that skill into tiny teachable behaviors: eye contact when you ask, checking in with you on their own, looking away from distractions when you ask.
The check-in behavior changes leash walks completely! You teach your Yorkie to look at your face on their own every 10 to 15 seconds, which stops pulling before it starts instead of fixing it after. When your dog is checking in with you, they’re not looking for squirrels or staring at the dog across the street. The course shows you how to build this behavior in quiet places, then use it in the real world.
Imagine a situation where your dog cares more about the hot dog chunks in your pocket than the squirrel 20 feet away – this course teaches exactly that!
Works best for: Owners who like organized training and Yorkies who love food.
Resource #6: r/Yorkies Subreddit ‘Leash Training Megathread’
The Reddit Yorkie group offers crowdsourced advice from people solving real problems: “My four-pound Yorkie pulls so hard she coughs” (switch to a harness right away, never attach the leash to a collar on a Yorkie). “He’s perfect until he sees another dog, then becomes a furry piranha” (threshold distance work, see Resource #4). “She stops and won’t move after two blocks” (could be tired, could be temperature – Yorkies get too hot quickly and their short legs get tired faster than you’d think).
The product recommendations are worth reading:
| Product | Why Yorkie Owners Like It |
|---|---|
| Puppia Soft Harness (XS) | Fits most Yorkies well and doesn’t rub |
| Four-foot leashes | Fewer tangling problems when your dog is right under your feet |
| Hands-free waist leashes | No constant bending down (works best after your Yorkie learned not to pull) |
Filter the advice carefully! Look for posts from people who’ve owned Yorkies for two or more years – they’ve gotten past the puppy craziness and know what actually works long-term. Ignore any suggestion about prong collars, choke chains, or dominance talk. All of these are wrong and potentially dangerous for a four-to-nine-pound dog with a delicate throat and neck.
Resource #7: Victoria Stilwell’s ‘Positive Training for Small Dogs’ Video Collection
Victoria Stilwell’s gentle training philosophy is really important for Yorkies because their windpipes are truly fragile. Tracheal collapse (when the windpipe gets damaged) is a common health problem in the breed, and correction-based training that involves leash pops or any pressure on the neck can cause it or make it worse. Beyond the physical danger, fear-based training can permanently damage the confident, spirited personality that makes Yorkies wonderful companions. A Yorkie who’s been scared into obedience isn’t a well-trained dog. They’re a shut-down dog.
The specific trick to steal from her: the “be a tree” method changed for small dogs. When the leash gets tight, you stop moving instantly and become completely still. But standing still at human height means nothing to a dog staring at your ankles! You also need to bend down to your Yorkie’s level to get their attention again – make eye contact, use your voice, show them the treat that’s available the moment they make the leash loose. Then you move forward again. Do it over and over.
Works best for: All Yorkie owners as a basic philosophy, and especially helpful for anyone moving away from old training methods they might have learned with previous dogs. If you successfully trained a German Shepherd 20 years ago using corrections, Stilwell’s videos will help you adjust your approach for a dog who needs completely different handling.
How to Actually Use These Resources (Without Falling Down a Training Rabbit Hole)
Bookmark all seven resources. Then start with just one method for two to three weeks before adding tricks from others. Mixing approaches too quickly confuses both you and your Yorkie – one method says to stop and wait, another says to change direction, a third says to use treats, and you’re standing on the sidewalk trying to remember which trick you’re supposed to be using while your Yorkie yanks toward a pigeon!
Which resource to start with depends on your specific situation:
• Kikopup for puppies or newly adopted Yorkies who haven’t developed strong pulling habits yet
• Simpawtico for reactive dogs who lunge or bark at other dogs
• Zak George for stubborn pullers who ignore you completely
• The AKC series for organized learners who want a structured plan with clear steps
The realistic timeline: picture a situation where after six weeks of regular practice, your Yorkie walks on a loose leash 70% of the time, with occasional pulling when squirrels or other dogs appear. That’s success! That’s not the Instagram-perfect heeling that takes six months of daily training and a dog who naturally loves focusing on their owner. Your Yorkie is a terrier, bred to work on their own and make their own decisions. A loose leash most of the time, with manageable excitement in high-distraction moments, is a truly well-trained small dog.
In my experience walking Yorkies around town, you’ll get there. Some days your little one will surprise you with perfect walking. Other days a leaf will blow by and suddenly you’re being dragged like you’re water-skiing! That’s just life with a terrier. The key is consistency, patience, and remembering that your Yorkie isn’t being bad – they’re just being a Yorkie.
