Do any of your dogs lick your hand when you place it out as the target for the touch? Keiko will first poke my hand but quickly goes to licking it. I figured it was because of placing the reward at the target after marking...or maybe my hands are just tasty from handling her rewards during the training session. This is probably a silly question, but is this a common occurrence or is there a way I can be doing something different that will cause her to just poke the hand and then wait for the reward?

When you mark, reward with the hand she doesn't "poke". She should start looking towards the other hand after the mark.
Randomly change hands for touching and rewarding.

So I reward with the other hand at the target? Or just go ahead and give her the reward anywhere, regardless of where the hand she poked actually was?
I usually alternate left, right, left, etc. between which hand serves as the target to touch.

If she knows the touch, reward the "touch" with the other hand. If she licks, step back and say, "Nope" or whatever negative marker you use, then try again. When she pokes, BIG party, multiple<---- (doesn't look right) rewards, so she knows you want a hard nose hit. Try it and see.

And yes, alternate the touch hand with the reward hand...although I sometimes reward with the touch hand and the reward hand, sometimes I toss it. Keeps it lively. (But they both know what I want.)

Oh...and when you get a good poke with the snout, reward greatly, but if after that you get a sloppy one, don't reward, no, no, no....sloppy begets sloppy.

 Quote: jo harker

If she knows the touch, reward the "touch" with the other hand. If she licks, step back and say, "Nope" or whatever negative marker you use, then try again. When she pokes, BIG party, multiple<---- (doesn't look right) rewards, so she knows you want a hard nose hit. Try it and see.

Okay, I will try this. The biggest problem I'm having is that she'll poke it first, THEN lick. If she goes to lick afterward do I just wait to mark until I get a poke by itself? What if I have already marked because she poked well? (Her poking and then the lick after happen in pretty quick succession)

If you mark it when she pokes, like pokes, "yes!" and she licks, you still have to reward her. You marked it. You have to have some down time between the poke the nose and lick the hand..a millisecond. You're young with great reflexes, move your hand...lol! I dunno. I think if you consistently mark for the nose touch and reward appropriately, then you can phase out the licking by bridging the touch and trying to keep the nose on the hand...CONNIE! Where are you!?

Edited by Jo Harker (07/09/2009 11:50 AM)
Edit reason: Man, your little girl is so sweet looking! Hi, Keiko!

Connie! Please weigh in, I could definitely use the help!

I'll try a session with jackpots for good pokes when I get back home and give moving my hand a try...hopefully Connie will weigh in by then as well!

Also, thanks Jo! She says "howdy!"

 Quote: jo harker

If you mark it when she pokes, like pokes, "yes!" and she licks, you still have to reward her. You marked it. You have to have some down time between the poke the nose and lick the hand..a millisecond. You're young with great reflexes, move your hand...lol! I dunno. I think if you consistently mark for the nose touch and reward appropriately, then you can phase out the licking by bridging the touch and trying to keep the nose on the hand...CONNIE! Where are you!?

I like it!

I didn't know what to say until I got to this post.

And Bob is a Master; maybe he'll see the thread again. In fact, I will go try to find that boy and drag him back.

I don't know if this will help, but with touch, I was teaching my dog 'high five'. I didn't really understand what touch was at the time (and maybe still don't) and my dog is wittle and would have to jump (or me bend waaaay over), so she didn't get an opportunity to lick.

Maybe you could try: hold hand for touch......dog pokes.......move hand and say yes simultaneously....give treat.

All this of course within 2 seconds.

Also, as I read a lot of these posts about marker work, I think many times the trainer isn't "charging" the mark.

It has taken me until just a few months ago (I've been doing this over a year) to understand that you "charge" the mark.

So, a few months ago after reading some posts on here, I wanted to make sure I had charged the mark (that she understood that she would get a treat when I said 'Yes!', so I waited for her to do something like put her foot on something (really nothing at all and I didn't give any command for her to do anything, I just followed her around the house), when she did, I said 'Yes!' and she immediately turned to me looking for her treat.

Hope this helps or I may be completely off.

 Quote: jo harker

If you mark it when she pokes, like pokes, "yes!" and she licks, you still have to reward her. You marked it. You have to have some down time between the poke the nose and lick the hand..a millisecond. You're young with great reflexes, move your hand...lol! I dunno. I think if you consistently mark for the nose touch and reward appropriately, then you can phase out the licking by bridging the touch and trying to keep the nose on the hand...CONNIE! Where are you!?

Jo got it!
Doesn't matter what the dog does after you mark IF the dog understands marker training. Just like the initial training for a "sit". You mark and reward when the butt hits the ground. If they get up to get the reward, no big deal. Your not working on time.
Same with the nose touch. The dog will soon start looking for the reward as soon as you mark. if you do it correctly (timing) then the licking should extinguish itself because the dog will be looking for the reward after the mark.
Ed and Cindy's marker training video shows Cindy marking and rewarding with different hands. It keeps the dog from focusing on one particular hand.