If your dog hasn’t
got a clue what you want him to do, it may be time for a
‘reward marker’!
Dogs modify their
behaviour in response to the consequences that follow it. This
wonderfully simple scientific ‘law’ enables us to change a
dog’s behaviour by changing the consequences of their behaviour.
But whilst we know exactly what we are rewarding our dog for doing,
the dog is often in the dark. Reward markers show the dog what
his trainer wants him to do and speed up the learning process
beautifully.
The problem
with our helpful ‘law of consequences’ is that it
comes with a hefty proviso.
The ‘consequence’
must take place within seconds of the behaviour we want to modify, or
it will have no effect on it at all. This means that it is often
difficult to change a behaviour effectively, because dogs don’t
behave in isolation. One behaviour follows another and another.
A dog sits, then
gets up, then wags his tail, then barks, then play bows, then
sits, then turns in a circle. All in rapid succession in
the space of a few seconds. How on earth do you reward
the ‘sit’ effectively when there is so much else going
on? It is hardly surprising that dogs get confused.
The secret to
accurate rewarding is the use of a ‘reward marker’.
What is a reward
marker
The marker is
a sound or signal that is so closely associated with a reward,
that to all intents and purposes it takes on the role of the reward
in reinforcing the behaviour that we want the dog to engage in.
How do we use a
reward marker
We use the signal
we choose as our marker to define the precise moment that the dog
does what we want. For example, when we teach a sit,
to begin with the dog may sit and then get up again very fast.
To make sure he
knows we are rewarding the sit, and not rewarding him for getting
up, we ‘mark’ the moment his bottom touches the
ground with some kind of precise signal. It then does not
matter if the dog has got up again when he is rewarded because the
marker has reinforced the required behaviour.
Different types of
marker
A marker can be
anything that give an instant, rapid, clear and consistent signal.
Suitable markers depend on the animal being trained. Marine
mammals such as dolphins are often trained using ‘whistles’ as
reward markers.
This is not ideal
for dogs because we use whistles as cues or commands. Using
them as markers too could be confusing. Clickers
have become the most popular reward marker for dogs and with good
reason. Clickers fulfil all the criteria (rapid,clear
consistent) for a good marker and they are cheap and portable.
Some people prefer
to use a spoken word or sound as a marker. And this can work.
If you decide to use a word, make sure you say it in a
consistent pitch and tone, and deliver the word clearly and
precisely. A short snappy word that is not in constant use in
your daily conversations with your dog is essential.
Building the
association
Before the reward
marker can become a useful source of information for the dog,
the trainer needs to make sure that the marker and the reward are
inextricably linked in the dog’s mind. The trainer builds an
association in the dog’s mind between the marker and the reward,
by repeatedly delivering them one after another, first the
marker, then the reward.
With clicker
training, we call this process charging the clicker And
it is simply a case of repeatedly making the click and immediately
following each click with a tiny treat (you will normally see this
referred to as C&T)
Using reward
markers
Once the marker has
become associated with the reward we can use it to define for the
dog, the exact behaviour that we want him to repeat.
The dolphin trainer blows her whistle at the highest point of the
dolphin’s leap into the air, he then swims over for his fishy
reward. The dog trainer presses his clicker just as the dog is
pressing his rear end to the ground, and then throws the dog
his treat, or throws him a ball. In both cases the
required behaviour, be it leap or sit, is reinforced, ie
is more likely to occur again in the future.
You can see that
the marker also buys us a little time, it enables the trainer
to reward the dog up to several seconds after the event,
provided that the event itself was clearly marked.
Can you train
without reward markers
Yes you can, and
many traditional trainers do so. However, bear in
mind that without an effective marker it can be difficult to time
rewards accurately. And if a reward is not timed accurately it
is likely to be ineffective at reinforcing the behaviour that
preceded it.
This in its turn is
likely to lead to the trainer becoming dissatisfied with rewards (and
to assume that the use of rewards is ineffective) and more
reliant on aversives.
Accurate reward
markers enable us to train more kindly and with fewer corrections.
If you enjoyed this
article you might like ‘The use of rewards in dog training’
How about you?
Do you use a reward marker?
