FF145 Food Cues and Markers: Powerful Reinforcement for Clean Training

Are you finding yourself confused by all the new marker cues for everything? Toss, X, Yes, Sniff, Scatter, it’s hard to keep them all straight and your head is going to explode! What is the big deal anyway? A treat is a treat. Why do people have 20 zillion cues for a simple treat? And where does a clicker fit in all of this?

Course Details

Let’s explore that concept in my new 6 week class on location specific marker cues. I promise to simplify reinforcement procedures for you, with lots of real time practice of timing, and cue discrimination. We’ll cover the most popular marker cues in the first couple of weeks, along with looking at clean training loops, resets, and timing of simple behavior cues. I’ll add offered focus, down stays and some practice on how to capture and shape simple behaviors as well. We’ll talk about the emotion attached to different marker cues and how you can use that excitement or calmness to teach specific behavior skills. We’ll customize it to your dog, picking a behavior to teach and exploring why you might use a specific reinforcement procedure over another to help train that skill.

This sounds like a foundation class, right? It is, but I promise even advanced students will find something they need to learn. I’m continually seeing students with 15 different marker cues but the dog acts the same with each one until the sight of the actual treat. Tip-all those cues are not helping you if you don’t see anticipatory body language between the cue and the presentation of the treat!

Trainers who will benefit the most from this course are new trainers, trainers with lots of book experience but not a lot of hands on, trainers getting into dogs sports for the first time and of course, trainers who want to know more about Location Specific Marker cues.

Dogs that will do best in this class are ones that like food!

There will be a TA for this class!

Teaching Approach

Written out lectures, with bullet points, steps and video examples of each steps. Instructions are written out, not on the videos.

Syllabus

Week 1:

Definitions
How to feed
Mechanics
General Marker Cue
Marker cue #2-Move to Hand
Voice Control

Week 2:

Adding Known Behavior
Marker Cue #3-Toss
Eye Contact
Marker cue #4-Room Service
Cue Discrimination
Anticipatory Body language
Hand Touch

Week 3:

Arousal/Excitement Level
Marker Cue #5-Dish
Focus Forward
Marker Cue #6-Sniff
Recall
Marker Cue #7-Catch

Week 4:

Standby
Marker Cue #8-Ground
Imprinting Stays
Marker cue #9-Chase/Fight the hand
Marker cue dictionary-suggested uses
Marker Cue # 10-Slow/Freeze
What is the point of all these marker cues?

Week 5:

Position Dependent Marker Cues
New Behavior-How and what marker cues?
Reasons dogs may not want treats
Other forms of Reinforcement
Praise-a Marker cue?
Toy Marker cues

Week 6:

Multiple dogs-Multiple markers?
Switching Reinforcement
Dog Trainer's No
What if it isn't reinforcing?
Changing previously established Marker cues
Marker cue #11-Jackpot

Prerequisites & Supplies

Treats! Dogs that will do best in this class like food and are motivated by it.

Flooring and area for your dog to chase thrown treats. No slippery floors. :)

Instructors

Shade Whitesel

Shade Whitesel (she/her) has been training and competing in dog sports since she was a kid. Always interested in how dogs learn, she has successfully competed in IPO/schutzhund, AKC obedience and French Ring. Her retired dog, Reiki vom Aegis, IPO 3, FH 1, French Ring 1, CDX, was 5th at the...

Registration

Choose the plan that fits your goals and start learning at your own pace.

Gold