Part One: Markers, Reinforcement Systems, and How They Can Help Your Dog Learn Fast

Let’s chat about what markers and reinforcement systems are, how to teach them to your dog, how to use them, and some common mistakes.

If you want to improve your training and your dog’s ability to learn, one of the most helpful things you can do is focus on markers and reinforcement systems. If you have a really strong marker and your dog is clear about how to collect reinforcement following that marker in a given context, you can build and shape behavior so much more quickly. Not to mention, you’re very likely to create conditions where your dog experiences comfortable emotions since your communication is so darn clear! As a bonus, a strong marker is one of the “key ingredients” in building a super strong recall and turning a distraction into a cue to automatically orient or come to you. So for part one of this series, let’s really breakdown what markers and reinforcement systems are, so then we can get into how to teach them, how to use them, and some common mistakes.

What Is a Marker?

Before we define it, here are a couple quick examples of using markers. You say “sit,” and your dog puts his butt down on the floor (sits). The moment his butt hits the floor, you say “yes” and deliver a treat. In this example, “yes” is the marker. Another example could be shaping your dog to put their back feet up on a platform. When your dog takes a step backwards, you click your clicker and deliver a treat. In this example, the click is the marker. 

It’s pretty common to hear people describe a marker as a way to communicate to the dog that they did the right thing and can now get their “reward.” While this description may help paint an initial picture of a marker, I think we can be even more accurate, which will help us use markers even more effectively. 

A marker can be described in a number of ways (saving my favorite for last):