Teaching the Marker or Bridge Cue (Yes/treat)

• Introduction to Marker Training
• STEP 1 — Teaching the Marker
• STEP 2 — Using the Marker in Training

How long will it take?

Teaching your pup the marker doesn’t take long. Some pups will complete this training in one day, others might take a few days.

When to move on

When your pup hears the marker it looks expectantly at you for its treat.

Help and Tips

• Once your pup knows the marker, you should use it in your daily interactions and training. We will use the notation yes/treat to tell you when we think you should use it.
• If your pup won’t eat the treats, find something the pup likes better.
• If your pup is afraid of the sound of the marker, say a clicker, change the marker. If you are using a clicker, use a word instead.

Introduction to Marker Training

A marker or bridge cue indicates to your dog that what he has just done is EXACTLY what you wanted and, most importantly, that something super good is coming. It is ALWAYS followed by a highly valued reward, usually food but for some non-food-motivated dogs, play will have to do. Delicious treats are better so do your best to find the treats that turn your dog on.

This is often called a bridge cue because it bridges the time period between the moment they do what you want to when you get a treat to them. It is also called a marker because it marks the exact thing the dog did right that earned it the treat. It often takes us seconds to get the treat to the pup after it responds, say it sits. During that time, the pup may have looked around, laid down, got up, and wagged its tail. When you give it the treat after any of these things, it doesn’t know which earned it the treat. What is so obvious to us ( I want you to sit) is anything but obvious to dogs.

So we mark the instant its butt hits the ground to tell it that’s what we wanted. Anything that came after that is unimportant. Thus if we drop the treat, can’t get it out of our pocket, or anything else that delays giving our pup the treat, it’s okay because we marked the right behavior.

Most trainers use a sound as a marker. We use the word “Yes!” as the marker but you can also use a clicker if you would like. Initially, dogs don’t know what the sound means so we have to teach them that ”Yes!” = treat. The benefit of Yes!” as a bridge command is that you always have your voice with you. (If your dog is deaf, you can use a small flashlight as a marker.)

Marker Rules

• When you mark, you ALWAYS give a treat. Always means 100% of the time.
• Have treats available all the time while training a puppy. This won’t be forever but it will be for a long while so get treat pouches, put treats in containers around the house, such as at the front door, on the mantel, and in your bedroom.
• If you messed up and marker but don’t have a treat, run with the puppy to the refrigerator or treat jar and get a treat. DON’T BE CHEAP!
• If you know you don’t have a treat, don’t use the marker!
• Don’t mark when your pup is doing something you do not like, say jumping up on you.
• Mark when your pup is doing what you want him to NOT when you hand him the treat.

Training For You!

Timing your mark is a skill that *you* have to learn. It’s best if you learn it away from your pup so you can focus on your skills. The Tennis Ball Game is one that everyone in the family can do to improve their timing.

1. Get a tennis ball or other light ball.
2. Toss it up in the air and mark (Yes or click) when it is at its highest point but before it starts back down.
3. Catch the ball and repeat 10-20 times until your mark is happening at the apex, not before or after.

Play this game when you first start marker training and go back to it again any time you feel your timing is off.

STEP 1 — Teaching the Marker

To get started you will teach your pup that when it hears the marker, a delicious treat is coming. Adding cookie power to the marker is like charging a battery, it makes it stronger and stronger.

To teach your dog that the marker means a treat is coming:

• Say “Yes!” or click the clicker and give your dog a small treat. The dog doesn’t need to do anything to get this treat except hear the marker; you are simply teaching your dog that the marker means he is getting a good reward.
• Repeat this 15 times in 3 sessions over a day or two.
• If your puppy doesn’t look expectantly when it hears your marker, do a few more sessions or find better treats.

HINT: You can go back to this step and re-teach the marker any time over the pup’s lifetime when you feel as if it has lost its power. The power of your marker will fade if you forget to give a treat after every mark.

STEP 2 — Using the Marker in Training

Now you should use the marker to train your pup. Say “Yes!” or click to mark the instant your dog does something right. Avoid saying “Yes!” at the moment you put the treat in your pup’s mouth your dog the treat and instead say it when your pup does the right behavior. Reward the behavior, not the eating!

From now on, your cue sequence should look like:

• Say “Sit.”
• Puppy puts its butt on the ground.
• The second the pup’s butt hits the ground, say “Yes!”
• Put a treat in the pup’s mouth.
• Say “Okay” or another release word.