“Sit, Rover”. The dog sits nicely. The handler happily says “Yeah good boy”. Rover looks at his handler wagging his tail. The handler delivers a food reward. Next rep…“Sit”. Rover sits. “Yes”. The handler offers the reward and the dog carefully takes it. Next rep…“Rover, sit”. The dog pauses for a moment hesitating, then slowly sits. This time the handler says “Goood” and delivers the reward. One final time the handler asks Rover to sit. The dog slowly sits again, licking his lips. The handler says “What a good dog”. He again offers the food for reward, but instead of what should be a feeling of bubbling elation Rover continues to show a slight hesitation in taking the reward, almost conflicted.

On a different aspect, another handler asks their dog “Drop”. The dog drops then instantly breaks position eager for the reward. “No, drop”. The dog drops. “Waiiiit”. After two seconds the handler praises his dog “Goood”. It was too much. The dog breaks. “No, drop!” The dog drops. “Wait!!” says the handler, their finger up in the air. The dog waits but still eager in anticipation of the reward, his back legs flinching to spring up with the slightest movement from the handler. “Uh! Stay!” the handler enforces. The dog holds composure, this time for 3 seconds. The handler praises again “Yes, good boy. Waait”. And with this the dog leaps up and jumps at the handler’s hands frantic for their reward. “NO!” bellows the handler. “DROP!” This time the dog drops showing a slight air of caution. The handler says again “Waaaait! UH! Stay there!” anticipating their dog’s failure. The dog stays, 3 seconds. Finally happy with his dog the handler says “Ok, good boy”. The dog starts to get up then looks at him blankly, hesitating. “Yes” he says frustratingly raising both eyebrows ushering his dog to come over for his reward.

Is it just me or was it hard for those dogs to decipher exactly what their handlers wanted of them? Boy oh boy do I feel for both dogs! But these are real scenarios. If you are like me, I had many questions come to mind. How did either dog even know what they were being rewarded for? Was it the behaviour itself? Was it after the word “good”? Was it after “yes”? Was it after “good boy”? Or did words not matter at all? And what exactly was the behaviour the dog needed to perform? Was it with duration or without? Were they after speed or precision? What was the significant defining moment of reinforcement? The answer is, who the heck knows!! The above two scenarios do have one thing in common - lots of inconsistencies. Inconsistent commands, inconsistent rewards, inconsistent praise and flat out inconsistent communication. No one said training dogs was easy. But regardless of how hard training can be the key for success is to keep things SIMPLE. Simplicity can be the difference between clarity and confusion.

Yes, No, Uh-uh, Gooood, Whatta dog, Free, Break, Good boy, Good girl, Suuuuper - these are all types (note the key word here, “types”) of Markers. Our portal of communication! And there are 3 main types - Reward, Duration and Non-Reward (5 if you include a start and finish cue in your training regime - to open and close opportunities for the dog to work). But, for simplicity (hehe!) we will focus on the 3 main types. A marker word gives your dog INSTANT feedback on specific moments during training. Hallelujah! No more does your dog have to guess. A common mistake I see, especially by those new to the scene, are handlers using a mish mash of words to communicate to their dogs. Take the following sentences for example:
a) Goood, yes, what a good dooog!
b) Yes!
c) Yeah, good boy. Super.
d) Whatta dog! Okay.
e) Yes, come get it!
Let’s say these sentences are all used during a 5min training session with your dog, and that a reward followed each of these to mark a correct behaviour. Tell me…which one of these words marked the instant moment the dog was correct? Cue, the Three-Headed Dog. It's like unleashing a Confundus charm on our dog! This dog is so confused with what its handler wants that it doesn’t know which head to think with anymore. These dogs often lose focus during a session and inconsistently offer behaviours asked of them. By all means they will likely take the rewards offered to them but in essence don’t really know WHY they are being rewarded or what specific EVENT led to that reinforcement. This is where it becomes a guessing game, and a confusing one at that. The examples given above are more representative of praise rather than an actual marker of a specific moment in time. It’s an easy mistake to make. Heck, even the most seasoned trainers can falter (yes, they are human too!) but it’s a mistake you want to try and avoid. When a dog performs a behaviour correctly, or even incorrectly, that behaviour must be marked within a minimum of half a second of it occurring. Just process that for a moment...half a second even. That's a quick moment in time!

So how on earth do marker words fit in to our training regime? Here is where we channel our inner Philosopher. Sometimes we just need to stop and think about things. In the scenarios above while the handlers themselves understand the meaning behind their “marker” words (I use the term loosely here), and even the feel-good emotions behind them, in actual fact those words had no valuable meaning to the dogs. They didn’t hold as much power as they could have due to random assortment in which they were used. And over time the more these random assortments of "markers" are used, they eventually turn into white noise. To counteract this confusion we simply choose ONE consistent word (or mini phrase) that paints a clear defining moment for our dogs, whether we mark for instantaneous behaviours (reward marker), duration (duration marker…go figure!) or times when our dogs have made an error (non-reward marker). For example, instead of marking our dog’s correct performance with variational praise like “Good boy, yes, what a good boy” in one sentence, we just say “Yes”. Simples!  You could use a clicker  for this instead if you want. In fact, you can use whatever word or mechanical aid you choose (wands optional!). As long as it remains the same and is consistent every single time! This word then becomes a clear predictor of reward. Easy peasy! One word that defines a perfect moment in time that your dog can decipher. Not to mention much quicker and easier for you as the handler to say too!

The marker word I personally put a lot of emphasis on and build strong value for, especially for dogs starting out and/or learning new techniques and exercises, is the REWARD marker. This is the the word that signifies the celebratory moment the dog did something correctly and enables them to come and collect their reward! I call it “The Ka-ching! Factor”. When I tell a dog “YES!” (their ONE word defining reward marker) I want to see that dog snap it’s head around at me like a cash till snapping open at the checkout. KA-CHING!!! Here comes the money!!! That’s when I know the dog truly understands the meaning of the word. A reward marker also acts as a termination cue to signal the end of the exercise - mission complete soldier, here’s your reward! Duration markers (e.g.: good, super, nice, good boy/girl) are used to encourage the dog to keep doing what they are doing. It only comes into play when the dog has a very solid understanding of the basic behaviour you are aiming for. For example, we teach a dog to sit and only once the dog is solid in the sit do we further progress the dog - assisting with a gradual increase in duration during the sit and marking the durational moments with "Good" to signal the dog they are on the right track. A lot of people try to jump to duration too quickly. Don’t be in a hurry. It’s better to solidify basic foundations for a little longer than not enough. So it’s important to note that if your dog is still in the learning stages, forget about duration for now! A non-reward marker is a word that signifies to the dog when they didn’t perform correctly. It is not intended as a correction. Instead it signals the dog to try again. We never want to create a dog that is scared to make a mistake or not confident enough to push buttons and see what works to earn reward. There is a time and place for corrections in training, but learning is not one! We want to create a dog that sees the word “No” as a motivator to find the missing puzzle piece!

So is there a place for “mish mash” in our training sessions? Yes! Praise is an absolute must when we train our dogs. I highly encourage handlers to actively engage with their dogs and work as a team, celebrating each others successes and also spending some time after the event just hanging out and praising the dog on what a good dog they are. There’s nothing wrong with that. But don't confuse praise with markers. Make sure if you’re going to praise (aka mish mash) that it is AFTER the termination of an event (i.e.: once you have marked a behaviour, the dog received its reward and the exercise is well and truly over). Then you can praise away! Another important aspect to note is that giving your dog a reward within half a second of marking a behaviour is not always physically possible. But this is where the beauty of marker training shines. You can instantaneously mark correct behaviours and buy yourself some time in the process. If you build a strong reward marker this is enough to enable the dog to cope for a few seconds while you present and deliver the reward. Obviously we want to reward as soon as physically possible, however there will be times in your training where your dog will need to wait a little longer to receive their reward so having a reward marker paired with a strong association of reinforcement is key.

So, next time you step out for a training session with your dog have a look at your communication. Is your dog thriving or are they fading? If they’re fading ask yourself if your dog truly understands the meaning of the words coming out of your mouth, or are they just doing their very best to guess? If your dog is guessing go back and charge that mark! Your reward marker is your money maker! Load this word up and you are on your way to a dog that craves to hear that beautiful word we humans utter…“Yes!” Gone will be the days you struggle to hold your dog’s focus and prevalent will be the moments that define your dog’s successes. Channel your inner philosopher! Think things through, define your moments with clear communication and keep it simple.

 Don’t train a three-headed dog!