November 10, 2020
First let me say Happy 245th Birthday to all my Marine brothers and sisters! Don’t get into too much trouble tonight while celebrating!
I can not stress the importance of a verbal markers enough. What is a verbal marker? Well, it marks the behavior and predicts the treat, praise and or toy. I use “YES!” as my verbal marker. Some people use “GOOD!”, the trainers that kill me are the ones that use “YES!” as their release marker. AHHHHH! Everyone has their own way of doing things so I can’t get that upset.
Back to the verbal markers. Dogs like to know when they are doing things right. If you mark the behaviors you want, you will see your dog doing those behaviors more often. The more our dogs know what to expect from us the calmer, and more confident they become.
For example, when I catch my dogs doing something I like I say “YES!” “Good girl/boy.” give them a few pats and magically they do it more often. Not magically, they know what I am looking for from them, which makes them do it more often. When mine grumble instead of loud barking at the people walking outside, I mark that behavior as well. This keeps barking to a minimum but also alerts me to people (win, win)!
Funny story, one of my clients asked me if I mark my kids and my husband… “YES!”, yes I do. It does become habit, I do mark my clients as well. But hey, they know what they are doing is the behavior I want! 😉 Win, win right?
If we are all over the place and not consistent, dogs can develop anxiety, or they start to decide that we don’t have our crap together and then they try to control a situation! Dogs do not want to be in control, they like to be on the sideline enjoying life with you, so please make it enjoyable for them! We want a cooperative family unit not a dominance situation. This just means we do things together as a family unit, we all have our rolls not one is more important than the other. We work together as a team.
Using verbal markers is hard in the beginning. We will forget A LOT! The key is to practice. Starting out with Name Recognition helps.
Call your dog’s name, the second they turn their head toward you mark the behavior with your verbal cue, then treat and praise.
Good luck! Let me know if you need help!
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