07/27/2026
Okay, time for some real talk about your dog's "training" so far.
You've tried saying "good girl!” nice and enthusiastic. You’ve loaded treats in your pocket every time you left the house. You maybe even bought a clicker off Amazon that's been sitting in a drawer since April because you weren't totally sure when you were supposed to use it.
And your dog still looks at you like you're the teacher in Charlie Brown (bwa bwaa, bwa bwa bwa bwaaaaa).
Here's what’s missing: praise and treats aren't the same as communication.
If you're rewarding "sort of" the right thing, a few seconds after it actually happened, your dog has no real idea what she did to earn it. She's guessing. You're guessing. And after enough guessing that doesn't pay off, she stops trying anything at all — which reads as “she doesn’t like treats” or “maybe my dog just isn't that smart," when really, there's just no clear channel open between you two yet.
So let's go open one.
It's called a reward marker — a single sound or word, said the exact instant your dog does the thing you like, followed immediately by a reward.
Not "good girl” three seconds later while she's already moved on to running around again. The marker means one very specific thing to your dog: that, right there, was correct. Not the thing before it. Not whatever you did after it. Just that exact moment, snapshotted.
Before any of that works, though, your dog needs to actually learn that the marker word means something. That part takes about two minutes: say the word, then reward, say the word, then reward, fifteen or twenty times in a row — no cues, no expectations, just build the association.
You'll know she’s getting the idea when she perks up and turns toward you the second she hears it. That's the light bulb. Now the marker actually means something to her, and you're ready to use it for real.�
You can start using it, right now, today:
Catch your dog doing something you already like, on her own. Sitting to get your attention, instead of jumping. Lying down calmly instead of pacing. Checking in with you instead of checking out what’s on the counter.
Mark it the second it happens. She starts offering that behavior more, because you just told her, clearly, that it pays.
So today: pair the marker up first — two minutes, that's it. ��Then pick one thing you want to see more of, and for the rest of the day, every single time you catch it — mark it, reward it, nothing else attached. No conversation. Just clean feedback, timed to provide information.��That's the move. Not “better” treats. Not more enthusiasm. Just clearer communication..
