Marker Words
But what's in a word?
Training a dog to perform any behavior is comprised of three parts:
Cue/Command
Behavior being performed
Reinforcement or punishment
To unpack this information, we first must define what each component means. A cue or command is any indication you wish your dog to act in a certain way, be it verbal, physical, or situational. For example, one can ask a dog to look at them by saying their name, or get as complex as walking with one’s left foot to indicate a “heel” or one's right foot to indicate a “stay”. A behavior is any action performed by the dog, whether prompted, conditioned, or organic. Here is where it gets confusing: reinforcement does not equal reward, just as punishment does not equal physical discipline. Reinforcement is anything used to increase the frequency of a behavior, while punishment is anything used to decrease a behavior. We will explore Skinnerian behavior theory ,Operant Conditioning, and the quadrants of behavior as well, but this is the basis needed to begin our education in the basics of dog training theory.
But what even is a marker?
Imagine: you come home from work, your dog greets you at the door all smiles and wags. He doesn't jump, although you know he wants to, so you lead him to the kitchen where the treat jar is, as is your routine after attending Practically Positive's Jumping Workshop. You approach the jar, and your dog automatically sits. He knows what's up! You give him his nightly treat and give him an exuberant “GOOD BOY!”.
How many psychological occurrences did you subconsciously exhibit here? For now, we will point out just two. First is Classical Conditioning, originally theorized by Dr. Ivan Pavlov and his dogs. I'm sure you know the story: he rings a bell every time he feeds his dogs, so over time, if he rings a bell, the dogs salivate. In a nutshell, Classical Conditioning is an unconscious association between two stimuli. Now, where did we see Classical Conditioning in the story above? Realistically, your dog knew you were coming home by a variety of sounds; the car in the driveway, footsteps on the porch, the key in the door handle, so he rushed to the door. Another example, you approach the treat jar, your dog sits in anticipation of the treat. The most subtle, yet important example: your “GOOD BOY!”. While all of these examples display Classical Conditioning, which in turn become markers, the subject here is the marker word.
Marker Words
In the above example, we used “GOOD BOY!” as our marker word, which indicated to the dog he was receiving a treat. In theory, if you were to go through the entire routine in that example, except this time the treat wasn't actually given, your dog would experience the same endorphins he does when receiving a treat just from hearing his marker word.
Let's imagine, instead of teaching training and behavior theory, you’re actually learning a different language. You’re presented with three words: kukaa, kuja, and ndiyo (all Swahili dog commands listed in our glossary). You’re expected to give a different response for each command. The easiest word to remember will be “ndiyo” and will get the quickest and most efficient response. This is a perfect example, as it is actually the marker word, meaning “yes” in Swahili. Let's compare common phrases we use to reinforce or punish (remember our definitions above) our dogs. We say “good boy” when we want to increase the frequency of a behavior. We say “bad boy” when we want to decrease the frequency of a behavior. Why are we complicating our communication with a species that doesn't even have a proven language?
The simplicity of “yes”
Using “yes” is one of the most effective marker words because it is quick, concise, and efficient. “Yes” is unlike most words we hurl at our dogs expecting a behavior and is easy to remember. We can effectively communicate with a single syllable that, yes, our dog did exactly as we anticipated. This simple action will convey not only that we are happy, but will also release the endorphins associated with a treat when introduced properly. Think of Pavlov's dogs when teaching your dog what a marker word is and always pair the word with a treat within the same second. Eventually, we can move the dog to an Intermittent Schedule of Reward until completely eradicating the need for treats. The marker word has become the REINFORCEMENT.