Marker, Praise and Release word, and how to use them!
During training we use three different, very important words. These words and method of training will help your dog not only learn faster but also enjoy every second of their training time.
If you clicker train the clicker would be your “marker word”. We use the word “yes” as our marker word, but there’s tons of words that you can choose. Choose something that is easy to say but not something you say often. It’s important that once you say “yes” reward the dog. “Yes” means “that is perfect, exactly what I wanted, you’re a genius!” so whether you’re using food or toys to reward, you must reward after using your marker word to show the dog that they did something right. You can choose whatever word you’d like but for the remainder of this post I will be using our word “yes”.
We also use a word or words for praise. This tells the dog that you’re getting close to what I want, and you’re doing good. Praise is important because it will keep your dog trying when the tricks and commands get harder. When you praise the dog, you’re telling them that the reward is coming soon, and typically they’ll try harder once they hear the praise. My main praise word is “good girl” but for the praise it’s all about the tone of voice you use. So just talk to your puppy and say whatever you want to them while they’re doing good, then when they do great you can say “yes” and feed. Just make sure you say the praise before the marker word to have the “try harder” effect on the dog. I tend to tell Petunia that she’s a genius, that she’s the “best puppy in the world” etc. Anything you say in a happy tone will tell them that they’re getting warmer to what you want!
The release word is also important. This is the word that you’ll say when they are finished a command. If you have them in a sit/ stay and you’re ready for them to move again, it’s time to use your release word to release them! We use the word “okay” but you can use anything. Some people use “free”. The important thing about the release word, is that you need to always use it when your dog is finished, otherwise they’re “stays” and everything else will start to get sloppy and unclear; you want everything to be very clear. That’s how dogs learn faster, when everything is very clear!
Marker Word
So let’s get started with teaching the marker word.
What you’ll need:
- A hungry dog or puppy
- Yummy treats
This part is easy, and your dog will very quickly catch on and have fun learning this. One or two sessions is all it will take for this. Simply be with your puppy and say “yes” then immediately feed your puppy. At first your puppy will be confused but be like”oh food, yay!”. Repeat over and over until your puppy hears “yes” and looks to you for food. Eventually your puppy will get excited when they hear the word “yes” and that’s when you know they’re ready to move on and start teaching other tricks using their marker word!
Praise
Praise isn’t something that necessarily has to be taught, but rather something that with everyday training they’ll get used to and learn. When you’re training everyday tricks, start praising them more and more before you feed and they’ll learn very quickly that when they hear praise, the reward is coming soon!
Release Word
The release word is an important one to teach, typically they’ll learn the release word first when learning a stay. Whenever we put our dogs in a sit, or down etc they know that they have to stay there until we release them, no matter what! We call this an automatic stay. This means, our dogs don’t really know “stay” but rather anything we say to them is considered a stay in that position until told otherwise.
So start with your dog in a sit and imediatley reward. At first you’ll reward every second, and once you’re out of treats (about 5-10 small treats) say your release word and allow them to move.
At first you have to make the word VERY clear, so you can say “okay!” and clap your hands, throw a treat, anything to make them move out of position.
Eventually you can space the treats out a bit more (every couple of seconds), then eventually less and less until they can stay for longer periods of time before you release them.
We also use the release word when feeding them supper, they can’t eat until we say “okay”, releasing them from their kennels (they are expected to stay even after we open their door), and for literally everything in their everyday life!
With the help of these training tips you should transform your dog into a very eager to please canine citizen who loves to learn and work with you!
