Back when I was training folks on how to work with their dogs I had a mantra that “training should be fun for everyone”. While part of that was advice on how to engage their dogs with training games, the other piece of that was that the humans should be having fun with the training as well. Part of that was having cue words that made the person smile or laugh, as a way to help change our brain chemistry during difficult training scenarios.
So, what are your jokey funny cues for your puppers?
I freaking love it when people say “thank you” as their marker! To me, it just shows how much stock they put in the intelligence of their dog and how deeply they respect the relationship they have. Language impacts how we manage aspects of our lives and small things like this build on themselves to awesome results.
We use “thank you” as our low key marker - rewards are settling activities like scritches or a chew toy, or sometimes pushing the cat out of his bed so he can use it. Our high energy marker is “wow” because it’s easy to say in a happy way but not something I say all the time.
Do it! Your dog will absolutely pick up on the fact that you’re having fun interacting with them.
I had honestly never had it occur to me to use “low energy” and “high energy” markers! that’s a great idea. “wow” is also great! I’ve been out of training stuff for a couple years since quitting the daycare job, so I’ve been working on this stuff on my own when I can.
I appreciate you teaching me something new today.
There’s no better compliment in the world. You’re very welcome and I hope you find it useful!