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FF145: Food Cues and Markers: Powerful Reinforcement for Clean Training

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  • Syllabus
  • Prerequisites & Supplies
  • Sample Lecture
  • Testimonials & Reviews
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FF145: Food Cues and Markers: Powerful Reinforcement for Clean Training

Course Details

 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?

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.

Shade WhiteselInstructor: 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...(Click here for full bio and to view Shade's upcoming courses)

 

Syllabus

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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

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 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.   :)

 

Sample Lecture

More
 

 Marker cue 2-Move to hand

 Goal:

Handler thinks about Marker number 2, what they will call it, whether they already have it, and then practices, first without the dog, then with.

 

This is the first of our location specific marker cues and is the one that I use most often.

My ideal is that the dog walks a step or two to my hand, takes the treat without biting me.

 

Energy level for “most” dogs is medium.

Focus after the marker cue is towards the hand that is moving or has the treat in it.

Anticipatory Body Language-Dog gets up and moves forward when they hear the marker cue

 

I call this X but you need to call it whatever makes the most sense to you.

Remember our bowl practice? This time you have 2 of them!

 

Materials needed:

  • Treats in pocket or pocket hand
  • 2 bowls/containers about 2 feet away from you on either side. We can adjust this as needed for individuals. No dog at this time.

 

The timing goes like this:

  • Home position-1 treat pre loaded in hand, rest of treats can be in other hand, or pocket or wherever is most comfortable
  • X-verbal marker
  • Pause
  • Feed one bowl
  • Reload hand
  • Home position
  • X
  • Pause
  • Feed other bowl

 

That looks like this:

(insert student video!)

 

Advanced:

Add the dog!

Feeding the dog on one side, then the other. The ideal is that the dog moves a step or two to either side.

That looks like this:

 

 

Checks for you:

Home position-are you still when you say the verbal marker cue?

Hand position-is it clear to the dog when they can follow the hand, eat the treat versus not eating the treat (hint-home position)

Do they move easily or need encouragement?

 

Dogs that try to eat your hand need clarity as to the hand position, closed versus open. 

Dogs that are unsure about following the hand need clucking noises, some hand movements, etc...

 

Homework:

Show me your steps!

Testimonials & Reviews

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A sampling of what prior students have said about this course...

I absolutely loved the class and firmly believe that everyone should take it! Marker cues completely changed Zorro's perspective on our training and significantly improved his engagement and our relationship. Zorro has never been motivated by food, so using a single marker and just delivering treats must have seemed like the most boring way to interact with me. However, different methods of collecting food sparked his interest and engagement. Once I became clearer on what I was marking and how he was supposed to receive his reinforcement, he enjoyed it even more. He started to get excited when he saw me picking up the food bag, something I never thought was possible. I now understand how important clarity about his rewards is for Zorro, especially when I ask him to perform tasks he isn't naturally motivated to do. In addition to clarity, the variety of reinforcers also makes a huge difference for Zorro. He likes to be surprised, and it keeps him engaged. I can see that he really enjoys learning new marker cues. Having several marker cues keeps me focused and adds fun to our sessions. I'm no longer just standing in the middle of the room as a food dispenser :) Dedicating 6 weeks to work on clarity and delivery of reinforcers was absolutely worth the time and is already paying off in our training! Shade did an amazing job developing the class material, making it very clear and easy to follow. She also provided fantastic personalized feedback!           


Shade's class was super fun and packed with insightful lecture materials. I am excited to take more of Shade's classes!     


Awesome class! I had hearing a lot about LSM - the timing of this class was perfect! Shade's class material and feedback is just what is needed to understand and apply the concepts! Going into the class I was not aware of the value of LSM, but after taking the class the value is very clear. The increased clarity in communication with dog using LSMs has increased his engagement level and enjoyment when we learn new skills together. Great class - highly recomment it!       


Having done some training on Marker Cues before and seeing the positive impact it had on my dogs I was keen learn more. This course did not disappoint. Shade Whitesel has a special gift when it comes to marker cues and her positive, easy teaching style encourages you to believe that you can train just like her. The lectures are clear and detailed giving great instructions. Shade's responses to submitted homework are swift and concise. Her ability to break down training in to small steps is very helpful and enables you to achieve more than you thought you could. The format of this course ran beautifully, with each new skill being a great foundation for the next. I felt empowered to improve my training skills leading to clear communication with both my dogs. I see this reflected in their calmness and understanding in our training sessions. I felt that this course was a bit like when you take driving lessons and you're beginning to learn to maneuver a car and do all the things that you need to do to drive. It seems a lot a first but soon becomes second nature. I have learnt so much about myself as a trainer and my dogs during this course. Everyone with a dog should take this course. It's packed with fundamental skills.     


It has improved the clarity of my training for my dogs and they show it with their enthusiasm. When planning my training sessions I now add the LSM cues to affect the arousal I want and add clarity for my dogs.       


These markers are a very clear enhancement of training for any sport or just everyday life. For people who really want to improve their training method it is essential.


For me (and because I'm relatively new to the dog training world - I'm just now addicted to FDSA and learning everything that I can), I think about how we first started rewarding Suki as a pup (using yes) versus now with LSM for more clarity. For Suki, I think one word gave her comfort in that she had completed her task well (sit, yes, ooo treat!) but it also made things harder when trying to teach her for example the relaxation protocol when it was we said yes and there was that uncertainty from her aspect as to whether it was can I move, should I stay. This has helped a lot in terms of giving her clarity where to expect the treat and where to go for her treat. Another thing that we have learnt on our training journey is that Suki really appreciates clarity which this gives her and she is more engaged and her returns to engagement are better than using a single marker. (Her face lights up when she hears superbowl and she's like oooo yay chase and food!) I'm also loving that she acknowledges them easier on walks and out and about. (Fine example, when we were waiting for hubby, and someone coming past, cue a go sniff, treats down, it took the pressure off of her needing to people watch at close distance and gave her a bit of space which is super useful for her). We are still working on impulse control with the dish marker but she is getting better at her own impulse control too From my perspective, it gives me more confidence that as she has clarity, if we cue a specific marker that she is more likely to be able to respond and find it a useful to help her regulate herself. Also that I can see what's too hard at a given point helps so we can lower arousal or keep moving as required. Absolutely loving ground for shaping her down stay which hasn't been super easy :)                


Shade put so much effort into designing the class material the way that all the steps were super clear and very easy to follow and make progress at my dog pace.

 

Registration

There are no scheduled sessions for this class at this time. We update our schedule frequently, so please subscribe to our mailing list for notifications.

Registration opens at 11:00am Pacific Time.

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