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A REAL marker system changes what’s possible with your dog: precise credit, hidden rewards, real duration, and an honest, kind correction. Here’s exactly what’s inside my latest course, KNOW Games!

Precise credit, hidden rewards, clean turns, real duration, honest corrections, here’s where it all comes together. Any one of these, taught on its own, makes a real difference in a dog’s training. But something different happens once all of them are in place at the same…

There’s a common misconception in dog training that teaching a dog a clear “you’re wrong” signal makes things harsher. In practice, when it’s built correctly, it’s almost always the opposite. Here’s why unsignaled corrections have to be so much bigger…

Quick, honest question: do you ever say a cue word twice? “Sit… sit.” “Down, down.” “Stay, staaay.” If so, you’re in very good company, nearly every handler does this without thinking about it. Here’s the uncomfortable part: that second repetition isn’t accomplishing anything close to what it feels…

Here’s a pattern a lot of handlers notice but can’t quite explain: their dog has a gorgeous sit stay on the start line in training, but as soon as there’s any excitement, the dog acts like it’s rear legs are hydraulics, and it takes forrreeeeevvvver to sit. Or a dog that sits, but then almost immediately leans forward (we call that being a vulture) and you can see daylight under that fluffy butt…and they seem unresponsive to further requests to sit.

Sensitive dogs need structure even MORE than confident dogs do, because they’re the ones most likely to spiral when they don’t know what’s expected or how they’re doing.

If you’re withholding a no reward marker to ‘protect’ your sensitive dog, you may be doing just the opposite.