My puppy is six months old now. She's my first dog to marker train with so I've been trying to work through the learning/distraction/correction phases as outlined by Ed. Since the day she got here almost three months ago, I have worked on the sit. (She had to sit before going in and out of doors.) I give this background because I believe that she knows what sit means. She will sit under distraction, she'll sit for the few other people I have asked to give her the command...she'll sit in the water...she knows it!

I taught the platz about...two and a half to three weeks ago. We do frequent short sessions each day and I ask her to perform various things for me before putting on her leash or collar, setting down her meal, etc. She will platz on carpet, tile, outside, inside, in the crate, etc. I haven't tried asking for the platz under heavy distraction yet.

I started using them interchangeably in short marker sessions or while playing fetch or for her food or even going in and out of doors. I'll also stop at random points along the walk and ask for a sit or a platz. I believe I read in one of the marker training articles that performance expectations for previously learned commands should be relaxed a bit when teaching a new command, which I did in the beginning. I believe it is reasonable to expect her to be able to differentiate between the two now but sometimes if I tell her to sit, she will platz and vice versa. I have been simply telling her "try again!" in an upbeat voice and resetting, giving her the opportunity to try again. However as of late this has been getting a bit frustrating as sometimes she does this three times in a row. It sometimes feels like she's not really listening to what I'm saying but I hesitate to jump to that conclusion.

When can you set your expectations "higher" again?
When can you expect the dog to perform the previously learned command along with the new command in the same session reliably?
When do you correct the dog if you've given, say, the "sit" command and they platz? (Assuming the dog knows what both commands mean)

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Jasmine Dillon~When do you correct the dog if you've given, say, the "sit" command and they platz? (Assuming the dog knows what both commands mean) -- I taught the platz about...two and a half to three weeks ago

It sounds like your basically starting your training, so I would not physically correct her. The correction would come with a "NO" and then withhold the reward. Remember to use a reward the dog likes to keep her Drive high.

Just a side note here. I've been to three Michael Ellis seminars here in California (not recently though), and he is an Excellent Trainer and he communicates well. You might want to consider the new Leerburg Video with Michael Ellis. It's all about Marker Training and I think anyone can learn from him.

I wouldn't correct either. In this case it sounds a bit like she is confused.
I would do a session luring her into the positions or use the leash to prevent her from lying down and mark then.

 Quote: jasmine dillon

... When do you correct the dog if you've given, say, the "sit" command and they platz? (Assuming the dog knows what both commands mean)

What you describe is a dog who doesn't quite know the two commands yet in every situation. The dog isn't giving the wrong behavior (choosing the wrong one of two) deliberately.

Ditto to the previous posts.

When one of my dogs did this (and it was these same two commands, BTW), he would chuff with his frustration having once given the wrong behavior, and do it again two or three times. I could see his frustration mount, kind of shutting off his thinking. I could hear it, in his chuff sound, like a human would sigh gustily or say "argghh!"

When this happened, I stopped for a second, let him calm down, gave the commands slightly more slowly, and let him get un-frustrated.

I also knocked back my own frustration, because I could hear it in my voice on the third try and I knew this had to feed his frustration. I made my voice calmer, said "nope" (or "try again," if you use that) in a neutral voice, and tried again.

I also reminded myself that change of venue (doing it during a walk) is a kind of distraction, and really, so are doggy pushups (two or more commands in a row) if the dog has so far been used to just one command at a time. So I didn't do both at once at first. I interrupted the walk with one command for a while before adding the second.

This kind of foundation work is invaluable.

 Quote: connie sutherland

When one of my dogs did this (and it was these same two commands, BTW), he would chuff with his frustration having once given the wrong behavior, and do it again two or three times. I could see his frustration mount, kind of shutting off his thinking. I could hear it, in his chuff sound, like a human would sigh gustily or say "argghh!"

Yes, she does sometimes display this sort of frustration behavior! But when I go back and forth between the commands, I mark and reward each time. I haven't yet asked her to do both without rewarding one and then asking for a new one.

I just finished working through dinner with her and tried some of the suggestions given here...I slowed down, I used just a verbal correction "no" and withheld the reward if she offered the wrong command, and broke up asking for the platz and the sit by walking in a couple of circles or down the street and then back to the front yard. I also had a leash on her when working on the platz and sit but ended up not needing it except to get her attention. I think she mixed them up twice, if that this time. Thanks for the help!