I was skeptical about Marker Trainer - didn't like the idea of having to use all those treats all the time, and I had to give up the old correction! But it's been amazing!

I wanted to thank Cindy and Ed for putting together such a great DVD in the Power of Marker Training! I didn't really understand how it worked until I bought that and watched it. It made so much sense and I wanted to see MY dog think! He's only 2, so he caught on to this new method pretty quickly. We only started marker training 3 weeks ago (he already knew basic obedience commands), and in that short time he's solidly learned touch, gimme 5 and 10, wave, play dead, and now we feel confident to start tackling heel - we started the first step of heel a few days ago, with teaching him to sit right at my left side and watch me, and he's already got that down pat.

So I just wanted to encourage anyone who hasn't tried it, and wants a great, fun way to teach your dog (instead of correcting), to get the DVD and watch it. Ed and Cindy show in such clear ways how to do it and why it works - and it's really, really fun! Don't worry if it seems a little complicated at first, once you start and see how your dog picks it up, you get the hang of it and it really makes you a team!

How do you like watching a dog change from anxious or apprehensive about training (which is usually what I see in adopted dogs who have had any training at all) into a dog whose brightest parts of his day (after his meals) are his training sessions?!

This makes me happy every day. Every time I say "Ready?" and see all the dogs leap to excited, eager attention, waving their paws to say "Me first!" I am thrilled all over again at what this kind of partnership-training does for the dog.

When I hear it said that folks not yet doing marker work are heading for a time when they will no longer make it to the podium, I understand why.

But even bigger, for me, is the sheer joy of training this way. Watching a dog who is starting to perceive his active role in the process and starting to think rather than react by rote (or even with fear or anxiety) -- it's a terrific thing. It has changed my own training forever. I was using what I call "positive-motivational" (yes, I know that there are terminology challenges; I mean simply reward-based teaching of new behaviors), but even from that to marker training is a big shift.

I'm afraid that many folks who hear "clicker training" perceive it as bribery-based. This is so far from the reality that I'm very sad about its prevalence.

I just wish that it was easier to explain marker training in a couple of sentences so that folks who don't know anything at all about it could grasp the elegant simplicity of it.

But I haven't found one. The new terminology list that describes it best is harder to learn than the marker work itself!

Like Lori, I end up saying "PLEASE get the video or attend a seminar; see it done. You will be doing it within 5 minutes."

http://leerburg.com/219.htm

 Quote: connie sutherland

I'm afraid that many folks who hear "clicker training" perceive it as bribery-based. This is so far from the reality that I'm very sad about its prevalence.

I just wish that it was easier to explain marker training in a couple of sentences so that folks who don't know anything at all about it could grasp the elegant simplicity of it.

That hits the nail on the head for my wife and I. We were thinking "oh great, we have to bribe the dog to get it to listen". All it took, though, was giving marker training an honest effort.