WHAT BEHAVIOR MARKER SHOULD I USE?

 A behavior marker is a unique sound or word or visual (a flash of light, for example) that is used consistently to pair with a reward in order to tell the dog the precise moment it did something you liked-- and that a reward is coming now as a thank you for doing it. In other words, it is a tool that lets us communicate to our dog exactly WHY he's getting a reward. We know that behaviors that get rewarded will increase-- so let's make it crystal clear to our dog why he got the reward. This way of training is a great kindness to the learner (dog) because it reduces confusion.

Having a behavior marker let's us "shape" behavior that is tweaked and changed by us to achieve the final goal. The marker lets the dog know the exact part of the behavior that is about to be rewarded or reinforced.  Through its use, the dog is then “shaped” as we reward baby steps of progress toward our final goal. This allows us to "shape" even difficult behaviors. 

To understand the importance of marking, I borrow one of Karen Pryor’s excellent examples:  In teaching a dolphin to jump out of the water into the air, what good would it do to give him a fish after the jump?  He could think he is being reinforced for making a big splash, or for landing slightly harder on his right side.  But when the trainer blows a whistle while the dolphin is at the height of his jump, the dolphin quickly learns that jumping will earn whistles and fish!  With that established, later withholding a whistle for that same jump will result in momentary frustration for the dolphin, who will make an extra effort and give higher jumps, for which he will then be reinforced.  The dolphin can learn to jump on command without an event marker, but with less information to work from, the process will take much longer and will be more stressful for him.  Animals that are clicker trained quickly become "clicker savvy" and come to understand that when you withhold the click you're looking for something else, and they exaggerate the behavior or start offering something else.  So it is nuanced, and we need to be skilled with how we use this giving-or-withholding of the marker (and subsequent reward).  More on that another time.

You need to choose what you'll use as your behavior marker. The term "clicker training" came about when the science of operant finally made its way to the world of dog training in the late 80's (yes folks, I was training dogs even before that, back in the old days). Karen Pryor (one of my heroes) published a book called "Don't Shoot the Dog" that explained how operant conditioning works, and it revolutionized the dog training world. I was an early adopter, I'm proud to say.

A clicker is a little rectangular device you can use to make a distinctive "click" sound. Many of them come with a little hole in the end that you can loop a rubber band through, and you can wear it like a bracelet to keep it handy.  

Can you click distinctly with your tongue like a “giddy up horse” sound? I can imitate the sound of the clicker very well with my tongue, meaning I never have to worry about having a clicker in my hand.  Try it, see if you can do it. 

The timing of the click is very important, as you’ll soon see, so having a “clicker” always available in your mouth is great. If you cannot make this sound well, you can also choose another signal- but don’t choose a word like “yes” or “good” unless you’re committed to NOT using that word in regular conversation.  Why? Because the behavior marker (aka click) must be a unique sound that is only used when a reward is about to be delivered for the behavior that just occurred.  

Lastly, many dogs find the click of the actual physical clicker device to be too sharp of a sound for their sensitive ears if you click it near their head.  If you can find a bottle top from a Snapple or similar drink, it has a little nub in the center that you can easily press to make a more gentle click sound.  Or, you can put a bit of tape inside the edge of your physical clicker to mute the sound a bit.  I use my tongue-click, and only if I am working at a longer distance from my dog I will use a physical clicker for its louder volume.

So you need to choose a behavior marker.  I will use the word "click" in this blog when I refer to the behavior marker, but please know you can choose something else like "yahhhh"  or "si"  or "zip" or whatever word you want.

When you click, always follow within a few seconds with a reward.  Even if you made a mistake and clicked by accident-- you want to preserve the sacred relationship/association between that sound and a reward coming.

Remember that your marker is not a CUE-- it is not requesting a specific behavior, it is announcing the impending arrival of a nice reward.