The Recall Activity Guide: Food Markers

Work on a "yes marker," location specific markers, and more to help build your dog's recall.

Welcome back to our Recall Guide series.

You’re probably just joining us from the article about gathering some data before you get started. It’s so helpful to have an idea of how strong your marker cue is, where your dog’s recall behaviors tends to show up and where it doesn’t, how often they come, how quickly they come, and what types of reinforcers they naturally seek out.

In this section, we are going to cover markers (related to food as a reinforcer) because having a strong marker cue is so helpful (I am tempted to say critical, but I can imagine dogs and scenarios where that word doesn’t fit) in building recall — especially when it comes to distractions.

The key for this section is to walk away with your dog moving to you and taking food out of your hand when you say “yes.” There’s a lot of extra information here that you can dive into if it interests you or skip it if it overwhelms you.

Food markers