Marker Training

Clear Communication

Establish clear communication with your dog by using a system of markers (the word or sound (e.g. clicker) that marks a behavior your dog just did as: good or bad, right or wrong, encouraged or discouraged, continued or released).

1 Click or "GOOD"

This is a Duration/Continuation Marker used for holding positions, building duration, or encouragement.

Example: I ask the dog to sit, once their butt touches the ground, I say "Good” or Click Once, this Marks the desired behavior and communicates to the dog that I like what they are doing but want it to continue. So, if I say "Sit" and I Click Once or say "Good”, I am telling them to keep sitting. If I reward them for this, it is usually with one food reward brought/delivered to the dog in position like room service. This builds duration for commands, can be used as encouragement and eliminates the need or rather takes place of a "Stay" command.

2 CLICKS or “YES”

This is a Terminal/Release Marker which tells your dog that they did the right thing and are released, and to come to the Handler for a big reward.

The patterned reward placement (dog comes to handler for reward) is intentional and useful for mitigating reactivity/aggression, as well as simply adding clarity to our communication.

Example: I ask the dog to “Sit” and once their butt touches the ground, I Mark the desired behavior with “Yes”, upon which they stop sitting and come to me in anticipation of reward. This reward should be a much better and more exciting event, like giving multiple food rewards or playing tug.

No and/or Phooey

This is a Negative Marker and tells your dog that they did NOT do the right thing and to try again. You can have 2 or more Negative Markers to differentiate between Negative Punishment (No Reward) & Positive Punishment.

Example: If I ask the dog to sit, and they do NOT sit, I will say "Phooey” to Mark the undesired behavior, and withhold reward (Negative Punishment), then when they do finally sit, I will use “Good” or “Yes" to Mark the behavior and reward them!

Alternatively, If the dog jumps on a guest, I can Mark the undesired behavior (paws on guest) with “No”, and then apply a Positive Punishment such as a Leash Pop, Pet Corrector, Squirt Bottle, Etc.

Reminder, the purpose of Positive or Negative Punishment is to decrease the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring.

The purpose of Positive or Negative Reinforcement is to increase the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring.

Break

This is a Terminal/Release Marker that tells your dog that they are released and free to be a dog!

You can use this as a Reward/Positive Reinforcement Marker as well, but this is primarily used to indicate to the dog that they are finished and free to relax, be a dog, and choose their reward.

Example: I ask the dog to sit, once their butt touches the ground, I Mark the desired behavior with “Break”, and the dog is then free to choose their reward which could be running free, playing, smelling, pottying, resting, etc.

When done playing or working with your dog, you can tell them “Break” and they can do whatever they want!

You can have and use several different Markers communicating Positive or Negative outcomes, Terminal/Release or Duration/Continuation, Direct or Indirect Reward Placement, Etc.

*Note: It is important that you wait 1-2 seconds before delivering the reward or the body language will override the verbal cue (Visual Overrides Verbal).

*Example: Use the marker, wait 1-2 second, then give treat. Repeat.

After enough repetitions, your dog will begin to anticipate a reward anytime they hear the Markers. This means the Marker Word or Clicker is Charged or Loaded with value to the dog and can now be used to pair the rewards with desired behaviors (Sit, Down, Etc.)

*Note: Once your Markers are “Charged” or “Loaded” you may also vary your reward schedule depending on where your dog is at in the learning stage of their obedience. But you must always “Recharge” or “Reload” with more rewards following the markers to maintain value. This is referred to as Maintenance Training. Dog Training is never finished or complete, there will always be maintenance work to be done.

Using Classical/Counter Conditioning to Create and/or Change Associations to stimuli

Just as you can create positive associations to obedience behavior/positions, you can also create positive associations to Stimuli/Triggers, or in other words change how they feel about anything and everything in the environment! Simply Mark & Reward anytime your dog perceives or acknowledges the stimuli.

Example: Your dog looks at another dog, Mark “Yes”, your dog comes to you for reward (Treat), repeat. Through many repetitions, your Dog will associate reward with the other dog. After which you can start to Mark and Reward when the dog looks away or disengages from the other dog to encourage/reinforce neutrality.

This concept applies to all things, fireworks, thunderstorms, vacuums, grooming, nail trims, leashes, harnesses, slick floors, dogs, people and so on!