One of the most important things you will ever teach your dog. Not a trick. Not an obedience command. The yes marker is the foundation of every piece of training you will ever do, and most people skip past it completely.
A marker is a word or sound that tells your dog exactly when they've done the right thing. Think of it as a bridge between the moment the behaviour happens and the reward that follows. Your dog hears "yes," and they know food or praise is on the way.
There are several types of markers, but the one we're starting with is the yes marker. A clear, consistent word that means one thing: that's it, you got it right.
This is the basics of training. It's also the bit most people rush through or skip entirely, and it's why so many dogs never really "get it." The dog doesn't understand what they're being rewarded for, so they can't repeat it reliably. The yes marker fixes that.
When you're working on reactivity, timing is everything. You need a way to tell your dog the exact moment they make a good choice. Without a marker, you're guessing. With one, you have precision. That precision is what turns vague improvement into actual, repeatable behaviour change.
Use your dog's daily food for this. Not high-value treats on top of their meals. We want the everyday food to become the reward, so we're not just pulling out special treats every time we need something from the dog.
Keep sessions short. Five minutes maximum. You're not building endurance here, you're building an association. Short, focused bursts work better than long drawn-out sessions where the dog switches off.
The word comes first, then the food. Always. Not the other way around. Your dog needs to learn that "yes" predicts the reward, not that the hand in your pocket predicts it. Break this rule and the whole thing falls apart.
Say the word "yes" clearly. Then go and collect a piece of food from your pocket and throw it away from you. Don't have the food in your hand before you say the word. Say it first, then get the food. The dog chases the food, eats it, and comes back toward you.
When the dog comes back in, say "yes" again, grab food, and throw it in the other direction. They go and get it, come back. Yes. Throw. Repeat. All you're doing at this stage is pairing the word with food. The dog doesn't have to do anything specific yet. There's no command. No expectation. Just the sound, then food.
Do mini sessions over two or three days. Five minutes here, five minutes there. You're letting the association build properly so it has a solid foundation. Don't rush this bit. The stronger the association, the more powerful the marker becomes later on.
After a few sessions, you'll start to see it. The dog hears "yes" and they snap to attention. Their ears go up, they look at you, they move toward you. It almost looks like a recall. That's the response you're looking for. That's the dog anticipating the food. That's the marker working.
When the dog starts orienting toward you as soon as they hear "yes," before the food even appears, that's the moment the association has formed. That's when you know it's working. Don't move on to the next step until you see this consistently.
Once the dog is clearly responding to the marker, after three or four days of good sessions, you add one thing: a step back.
When you say "yes," take half a step backward and then reach into your pocket for the food. Feed the dog directly from your hand to their mouth as they come into you. Your hand goes in your pocket at the last moment, not before you say the word.
If your hand is already in your pocket when you say "yes," the hand movement becomes the signal, not the word. That's a problem when your dog can't see you, or when you're working at a distance. The word has to be the marker. The hand reaching for food is just the delivery.
The step back does two things. It draws the dog into you, which builds the habit of coming toward you after a correct behaviour. And it starts building focus and engagement on you as the source of good things. Both of those matter a lot when you're working on reactivity.
You don't need to be fast about it. Slow is fine. What matters is the sequence: word first, then step back, then food delivered to the mouth.
If the dog can see or smell the food before the marker, the food becomes the cue, not the word. Keep it hidden until after you've said it.
The dog switches off. Keep it short. Ten to fifteen repetitions maximum per session. Stop while they're still interested.
Pick one word and use it every time. "Yes" works well because it's short, sharp and natural to say with energy. Don't swap between "yes," "good" and "nice one." Pick one. Stick to it.
If you're not seeing a clear response to the marker after a few days, keep going. The foundation needs to be solid before you start using it to mark specific behaviours.
This one skill underpins everything else. Once your dog has a solid marker, training becomes a completely different experience. They know exactly what they're being rewarded for, which means they can offer it again and again.
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