The Language of Dogs by Justin Silver

Author:Justin Silver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

CHAPTER 6

TOOLS, TERMS, AND TRAINING

“Here, gentlemen, a dog teaches us a lesson in humanity.”

—NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, WHO WAS SAVED BY HIS DOG AFTER FALLING OVERBOARD HIS SHIP (HE COULD NOT SWIM)

Every dog owner needs to have an understanding of some basic dog training techniques and their application. The most challenging task for a dog is to connect words to actions, so we begin with markers or marking words.

MARKERS

And you thought dogs got to do all the marking? Since dogs do not have an instinctual association with verbal praise or punishment, it must be taught. Markers allow dogs to connect to and define words when they are paired to a particular action. The marker word is the word we choose to say the moment before we give a reward.

After a dog executes a command I consistently say, “All right!” and give the dog a treat. It will know what “All right!” means. The mark of saying “All right!” builds a bridge between the act of executing upon the command and the receipt of a treat. There is always a little downtime between the dog’s positive action and the reward; the marker creates a continuum between the positive action and the delivery of the reward. The fact that it comes before the treat makes it the most important link in this little daisy chain of requests (“Doggy, sit”), action (sitting), marker (“All right!”), and outcome (treat goes into waiting mouth).

Delivering the treat right after saying the marker word(s) is essential. Using markers in conjunction with rewards will cultivate a dog’s vocabulary and act as a homing device to the right behavior.

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