I used to train a release with 'okay' . Wait for the ball....'okay' sit stay.... 'okay'.

Now that I am marker training can I completely replace 'okay' with 'yes' ? It makes sense that this would be alright as yes is a release. Just want to make sure.

Jen, are you saying that you are going to be using the word "yes" instead of a click?

the click or the "yes" isn't used as a release in marker training, it's used as the Mark to let the dog know that he's done what we want.
Mark, pause, then treat.

or am i confusing your question?

when i marker train i use okay as the release when we are done marker training so the dog know's were done.

 Quote: jennifer skeldon

I used to train a release with 'okay' . Wait for the ball....'okay' sit stay.... 'okay'.

Now that I am marker training can I completely replace 'okay' with 'yes' ? It makes sense that this would be alright as yes is a release. Just want to make sure.

If I understand the marker training DVD correctly...

You are correct in the "YES" acting as a release at the end of an exercise because the YES concludes that particular exercise. If you are wanting the dog to "down" you would say "YES" as soon as he downs; this lets him know that was the behavior you wanted and ALSO lets him get up. Eventually you will start adding duration by calmly saying "goooood" while he is in the down but once you say "YES" he is clear to get up.

When you are done with marker training for that session you can say something like "ALL DONE" so the dog knows he is done training. (The five "core" words involved in the process are "Ready??" to get him pumped up to work, YES, NO, Good (duration) and then Done or All Done.

I hope this helps!

shoot..ok ignore my post...i re-read ed's article and Barbara is dead on.

the yes is also used as the release.

the things i learn when i read slowly...lol

I think you could switch to a 'yes' as a release if you want to. In my oh-so-wide (sarcastic, yes!) experience, as long as you're consistent, you're all good.

(Note: I use 'yes' and 'okay' the same way Wendy does - I lengthen with 'gooood's but I've never used 'yes' as anything but the immediate behaviour mark. I've also used 'okay' as a release well before I started using marker training. But I don't think which words we use really matter, as long as our meaning is clear to our dogs. Mind you, Luc will come if I call 'DUMBS!' (in a loving tone, of course), so maybe don't listen to me on that one)

Wendy,

If it makes you feel any better, I double-checked on the DVD to make sure I wasn't confused on that detail! We are all trying to learn a lot - it only makes sense that we are going to misread or "mishear" a few things in the process. That is the great thing about marker training however... we might confuse the dog but we aren't hurting anything that can't be fixed!

So, if I'm following this. It'd be the command followed by "yes!" upon completion and the dog can move before getting the reward? I'm doing the same thing as Wendy and Jennifer. I show the treat, give the command, say "yes!", give the treat, and then say "okay" as the release...I use "take a break" with the older dog. It seems to be working well enough. I tried it the other way at first and thought I was doing it wrong because our puppy would move immediately following the marker and end up getting the treat while standing. Now he's picking things up a lot quicker. Would this be a case of just using what works? Inquiring minds and all.

For me, it's probably b/c using 'okay' as the release was what me and the 2 older dogs were trained to previously. So I when I started marking behaviours, and shaping behaviours (which I don't work enough, but that's a whole other story), I just kept it as the release and used 'yes' as the marker.
(edit: I actually started using 'good' as the marker but switched to 'yes' fairly quickly for Luc and Neb, though I kept 'good' as a marker for Teagan longer. Don't ask me why )

Maybe that's terribly wrong but I find the dogs like the training we're doing with the marker and I haven't seen any real issues with using it as the release. I won't claim to be the most experienced trainer out there, but the dogs are happy, having fun, learning, so to me, it's working for us. But perhaps I am a bit muddly....

So a bit of clarification. I've been marker training for about 6 months (got the DVD in Jan so I've been getting more in depth). I use both the clicker and 'yes' and they are both VERY charged . I can yell 'yes' or click anywhere in the house and he will come running.

I used to use 'okay' as a release, kind of a mark, but I wasn't using clicker training . Haha, 'okay' was a release for waiting. I use 'all finished' when we're finished with our session, but have used 'okay' throughout our sessions.

I would ask him to 'Wait' for his dinner then I would release him with 'okay' to go eat, wait for the ball 'okay' go fetch etc. The thing is when I say yes as a marker he looks to me for food. I guess a better question: is the ball/dinner enough of a reward? It seems like it is, but he expects it and can *see* it. Should I give him a little piece of treat after the yes, or just let him run after the ball/ eat his dinner?

BTW, I found a squeaky ball on a rope, so I'm teaching him to tug and hoping this can be a reward some day

Keep in mind that the MARKER (either a clicker or what ever word you use) is used to show/tell the dog the moment he performs the correct behavior and lets him know a treat is coming. So whether your dog has moved out of the position he was in when MARKED is not important; what is important is that you do your best to accurately MARK at the correct time. That is the "photo" that remains in your dog's mind... not the moment he gets the treat, but the moment which was marked.

Part of the beauty of this system is that it is designed to allow you to provide the reward a moment or two AFTER the behavior, but your dog knows which behavior it was you are happy with. One example might be if you are teaching your dog to jump over a hurdle and you want him to tuck his legs up under him in a certain fashion. (I'm must making this up to give you a "visual"....) You send him over the hurdle and he does it perfectly; you MARK when his legs are how you want them but you obviously can't give a reward at that second. If you have "charged the mark" correctly prior to beginning the training, he knows the sound means YES! TREAT and he knows as soon as he gets to you he will be rewarded for what he was doing the minute he heard the mark. That is an extreme example, but I hope it gives you the idea.

Cindy doesn't show the treat prior to the exercise. The treat is in her pocket or in a pouch until the MARK then a slight pause, then the treat. And when training a new behavior, she doesn't introduce a command or word until after the behavior itself has been learned by the marking/treating.

What I have seen is that when I follow the steps, Falcon does THINK more about what we are doing... he gets very involved in the process instead of just waiting for me to "show" him what I want. The hard part for me is to NOT help him when I see he is not sure yet - but then once he gets it the light bulb goes off and he gets all pepped up like "oh yeah, I'm bad..." LOL!