Marker Dog Training — Capture, Shape, & Reward!

Marker dog training is fun, effective, and helps your pup learn how to communicate. Check out our tips below, plus a short video demonstrating how quickly dogs catch on to this training style.

Part 1 marker dog training video. Head to this post for part 2.

There's a dog training joke that goes like this: "If you get three dog trainers in a room, the only thing two can agree on is that the third trainer is wrong." Like all jokes, this one has its roots based on reality. There are a lot of dog trainers who do things similar to one another and a lot who disagree with methods that they don't use. My training style is pretty much, "Let's read the dog, keep our cool, try some things to see if they work, research new tactics, and if something goes completely above my pay grade, seek another professional."

For example, certain types of behavioral issues may require veterinary intervention. Not everything will work the same way with every dog. And that's part of what makes dog training fun and magical. There are also plenty of trainers who just use the my way or the highway method.

There is never only one way to do things. Avoid any style of dog training or any dog trainer that doesn't allow you to advocate for your dog. Don't go with an option that doesn't feel right to you.

Despite differences in dog training opinions, one style has become a widely used approach for pet dog training, dog sport training, and working dog training: Marker/Clicker training.

Clicker/marker training is the concept of using a marker (click sound & food reward) to communicate to your dog that they've done the correct thing at the correct time.

This process allows you, the doggy parent, to capture, shape, and mark behaviors your dog offers. And soon enough, you'll transition to pairing a word you want your dog to associate with that behavior. Marker training is used not just to teach your dog basic obedience but also to build a clear-cut communication system. Karen Pryor is one of the original trainers to teach this remarkable method, and her books are full of amazing information regarding the science of why marker training works. She even used it to teach pet crab to ring a bell!

Quick facts about marker training and what you're seeing in this video.

1. Rewarding your dog needs to happen fast. To associate that behavior with the reward, dogs need to be rewarded for an action in seconds.
   

2. Capturing behaviors allows your dog to use their brain. The concept of applying a positive marker (clicker sound and treat reward) to capture a dog's behavior is the process of waiting for your dog to do something you like, marking that behavior with the 'click' the second they perform the action, then rewarding your pup.
   

3. Capturing behaviors will lead to shaping behaviors. Using a marker to shape a dog's behavior is similar to capturing behaviors. When capturing a behavior, you're waiting for the dog to perform a single task, like a sit. When you shape a dog's behavior, you use the click and reward system to start building on more complex tasks, like grabbing an object and bringing it over to you.
   

4. Commands/cues come after your dog readily offers the task. You do not need a cue when starting out with marker training. In fact, you shouldn't use a cue (like sit) with a dog until they understand the behavior. When you use a word, and your dog doesn't perform the task associated with that word, you're effectively teaching your pup that a cue can be ignored. Even though your dog may not understand the command/cue and doesn't realize they're ignoring it, he/she is still hearing it and not offering the behavior that pairs with it.
   

5. Human voices bring emotion into the mix. Using your voice to pair a reward can create a challenge because your tone isn't always going to be exactly the same. Using a clicker can take away some of the room for human error.

By capturing and shaping behaviors using a marker in your dog training, you eliminate having to use a lure.

Lures are when you hold your hand above your dog's head or gently push their butt down to promote a sit. Why remove lures? Well, if your dog hears sit, but they are accustomed to waiting for your hand to move over its head or for you to tap them on the badonkadonk, they aren't learning to sit. They're learning to wait for your lures to then offer their own response, which creates less effective and more confusing dog training and communication.

If you feel like you have a good grasp on the concept of using a marker to train your dog, head over to our next marker dog training article, where we dive into how to add a cue, a bridge word, and the release word. Plus, that post features another video with the adorable Denali pup as our main star. Woot! So many things!

Are you having any issues with helping your dog understand marker training, or figuring out how to make sense of it yourself?

Drop a comment below or email me, and we'll be happy to help you sort it out! Thanks for putting in the time and effort to help teach your pup how to be The Best K9.