MARKERS
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By Kelly Ryan
One of the most difficult parts of dog training is getting our timing right so that we are rewarding what we intend to reward or punishing what we intend to punish. Part of the challenge arises because, unlike with people, we cannot use language to associate a particular cause and effect. That is, we can’t say “You are getting this cookie because yesterday you were very good.” Or, “I’m swatting your nose with a newspaper, because you ate the sofa when I was at work today.”
Sometimes, the very tools we are using to help train our dogs hinder our timing. For example, let’s say you are using food as a reward and the food is jammed in at the bottom of your pants pocket. You ask your dog to “down” and your dog does. You go digging into the bottom of your pocket to get the treat and while you dig, your dog stands up, looks around, sits down, stands up again and nudges at your hand in the pocket. You finally get the treat out and give it to your dog. What behavior did you just reward? Certainly not the “down”. Your dog is going to think that the nudge at the pocket is what got her the treat, because that is what she did in the .5 to 1.5 seconds right before she got the reward.
One way to avoid this time lag problem is to use a marker. A marker is simply a way of clearly letting your dog know the behavior he has engaged in is either correct or incorrect. A marker is also known as a secondary or conditioned reinforcer. That is, it is something that is initially meaningless to your dog,
but that he learns to associate with something good. For correct behaviors, you can use a verbal cue, like “good” or “yes” or you can use a clicker.Once you have established a marker, use it to pinpoint the moment when your dog has done the right thing, and the food reward can come later. This is the principle on which clicker training is based, but you do not have to use a clicker for this method to work for you. Verbal markers can be just as effective as a clicker, and for many people are easier to use.
You will also have to spend some time making sure that your dog understands what the marker means. You can teach your dog what the marker means by pairing it with a primary reinforcer. A primary reinforcer is ANYTHING that your dog naturally thinks is great. Food, games, and toys can all be primary reinforcers depending on what the dog likes.
An example of pairing the marker and the primary reinforcer would be you ask your dog to “sit” he does, you say “good” and give a food reward at the same time. Over time, your dog will start to know that “good” means the treat is coming, and the “good” will have as much meaning as the treat. Once you’ve successfully taught your dog that “good” means the treat is coming, you have added to your list of things which are rewarding to your dog. In addition to helping you avoid the time lag problem, using a marker also means you won’t always have to have a treat (or ball, toy, Frisbee, etc.) available to reward your dog, since you always have your voice available.
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