Foundation skills on video: markers, luring, name recognition and recall

Five to ten minutes before or after the walk

Solo Walks, lesson 3, covered why and when to spend 5-10 minutes on relationship-building games with a juvenile or adolescent dog. The training videos in this lesson cover the mechanics: food handling and marker timing first, then name recognition, food luring and recall.

What you need for the food handling, marker, name and luring exercises

• A treat pouch
• Plenty of high-value treats
• A distraction-free environment
• At least a 10' × 10' area with no obstacles or clutter, 10' × 20' for name recognition and food luring
• Comfortable shoes you can move around in safely: no sandals, slippers, platforms or big boots

Food handling: feed the dog correctly

How to bait your hand, hold food, and deliver it safely: the mechanics every exercise in this course builds on.

• Place a piece of food (sized for the dog) between the base of your index and middle fingers, close to your palm: this is called "baiting an open hand".
• Cover the food with your thumb, keeping your hand open so the dog can see, smell and even lick it.
• Hold your palm in front of the dog's snout, fingers facing downward (not sideways), at a 45-90° angle to the floor.
• This way the dog's teeth move along the length of your fingers rather than across them, far less likely to catch your hand while feeding.
• Lift your thumb off the food to let the dog eat the treat.
• Repeat several times.

Marker timing: make "yes" mean something

Charge your two markers: "yes" ends an exercise and predicts movement and a reward; "good" means keep going: calm rewards come to the dog. Which words you use is your choice, but the standard is "yes" to end a behavior and "good" to keep it going, with "okay" or "break" as the release that tells the dog the exercise is over. Pick your words, keep them consistent, and tell the owner what they are: a dog with several people reinforcing the same training needs everyone using the same words.

Step 1: charging the completion marker "yes" (30s-1m, 3-6× a day)

• The goal: a classically conditioned response. "Yes" predicts food, movement and chase. In training it's a termination marker: the behavior is complete, come get your reward.
• Have high-value treats in hand A (your reservoir hand) and one treat in hand B (your delivery hand).
• Give the dog one or two small treats first, so they're interested and want more.
• As soon as the dog looks at you (generally at you, no eye contact needed), be still and say "yes" in a happy, cheerleader voice.
• Take a step back or to one side, then feed. Let the dog come to you for the treat.
• Sometimes feed 2-5 treats one after another: a "reward event" that builds extra value.
• When they look at you again: repeat, repeat, repeat. Say "yes", move, feed, and keep your movements random.

Step 2: charging the duration marker "good" (15-30s, 3× a day)

• The goal: "good" predicts calm, stillness, and a reward coming to the dog. It carries an implied "stay, keep doing what you're doing".
• Same setup: reservoir hand and delivery hand.
• When the dog looks at you, be still and say "good".
• Feed in place: sitting, standing or lying down is all fine.
• When they look at you again, repeat. Be still every time you say "good", then feed in place.
• Pro tip: if the dog is very excited or wiggly, hold off on charging "good" until they're calmer: a few hours later, after physical activity, or even weeks down the road.

Name recognition

Make the dog's name mean something good: attention, focus, and movement toward you. Three goals: a positive association with their name; they look at you and focus on you when they hear it; and they move with you or come to you when they hear it. Practice 3-6 times a day, 30 seconds to 1 minute each.

• Say the dog's name.
• Take 1-2 steps backward.
• Feed the dog a high-value treat.
• Repeat over and over for 30 seconds to 1 minute: aim for 20-40 repetitions per session (about 30 seconds for small dogs, up to a minute for larger ones).

Food luring

Teach the dog to follow (and to back off) a baited hand. Luring is the foundation of positive-reinforcement training, and these six patterns are its vocabulary. Practice 3 times a day, 1-3 minutes each.

Step 1: pushing into an open baited hand

• Bait your open hand and hold it in front of the dog's snout.
• When the dog pushes into your hand with their snout, say "yes" and be still.
• Think "wait": a split-second pause.
• Lift your thumb and let the dog eat the treat.
• Reload and repeat, repeat, repeat.

Luring type 1: forward, as you move backward

• Bait your open hand: start with your dominant hand, and practice with both once you get the hang of it.
• Hold it in front of the dog's snout, centered on your body so the dog follows you in a straight line. Avoid holding it out to the side.
• As soon as the dog pushes their nose in, take 2-3 steps backward. Make sure there's nothing behind you to trip over.
• Lift your thumb and feed. No marker, no cue: just follow and eat.
• Reload and repeat: gradually vary how many steps you take backward.

Luring type 2: forward on your right side

• Bait your open right hand. With the dog on your right, hold it at your side, palm facing backward.
• As soon as the dog pushes their nose in, take 2-3 steps forward: this is the dog walking nicely at your pace on your right.
• Lift your thumb and feed. No marker, no cue.
• Reload and repeat: vary the number of steps forward.

Luring type 3: forward on your left side

• Bait your open left hand. With the dog on your left, hold it at your side, palm facing backward.
• As soon as the dog pushes their nose in, take 2-3 steps forward.
• Lift your thumb and feed. No marker, no cue.
• Reload and repeat: vary the number of steps forward.

Luring type 4: right side to left side

• With the dog generally on your right side, bait your open left hand.
• Reach across your body and hold it in front of the dog's snout, palm facing to your right, fingers pointed down.
• As they push in, lure them across to your left side. No exact position needed: generally arriving on your left is the win.
• Lift your thumb and feed. Reload and repeat.
• Gradually move your hand across quicker.

Luring type 5: left side to right side

• With the dog on your left side, bait your open right hand.
• Reach across your body and hold it in front of the dog's snout, palm facing to your left, fingers pointed down.
• As they push in, lure them across toward your right side: generally arriving on your right is the win.
• Lift your thumb and feed. Reload and repeat.
• Gradually move your hand across quicker.

Luring type 6 (optional): between your legs

• Optional because: some people simply don't want it; mobility issues can make it unsafe; but it's brilliant for crowded places like farmers' markets and outdoor events.
• Lure the dog in between your feet: from the front and turn them to face forward, from either side and step around them, or turn around and lower your baited hand between your legs.
• As they push into your hand, take 2-3 steps forward, careful not to step on paws (if you do, immediately feed several high-value treats).
• Lift your thumb and feed. If they hold position, repeat; if they pop out, just lure them back in and continue.
• Vary the steps forward each repetition.
• Pro tip: don't teach going around your leg into position yet. Some dogs love it, and it turns into leash-wrapping trouble later.

Step 3: backing off a closed hand

• The opposite of pushing in, and the foundation of impulse control: your closed hand will come to mean something different from your open hand.
• Bait your hand and close it. Hold it in front of the dog's snout.
• When the dog pushes into it, just wait. Stay still.
• The moment they disengage and back off, say "yes", pause a beat, then open your hand and let them eat.
• Reload and repeat, with your right and your left hand.

Step 4: luring a back-up with spatial pressure

• With the dog standing, hold your closed baited hand in front of and slightly below their nose.
• Gently move your hand under and into their snout so they back up 1-2 steps.
• Say "yes" as they step back, pause a beat, then open your hand and feed from it.
• Reset and repeat. Build up to several steps backward, always increasing and decreasing, never just ramping up.

Recall: the most important skill

Come when called: the skill that keeps the dog safe for life. Three games build it: the food throw, the food bowl, and the client's whole family playing team recall. Practice 3 times a day, 2 minutes or more.

Food throw recall, step 1: chase the tossed treat

• On carpet or a soft floor, lure the dog in one direction with a high-value treat in your open baited hand.
• Toss the treat a few feet forward so they see it go.
• Move away from the dog as they go for it.
• Just as they're about to pick it up, say "pup, pup, pup, pup" (or any consistent enticing sound: whistles, smoochy noises).
• The moment they commit to moving toward you, say "yes".
• Feed a random number of treats when they arrive: sometimes 2, sometimes 5, sometimes 8.
• Repeat several times.

Food throw recall, step 2: add "get it"

• Same game, but now pause, be still, and say "get it" right before you toss the treat.
• Move away as they chase it; "pup, pup, pup, pup" as they pick it up.
• "Yes" the moment they commit to you, then the random jackpot.
• Repeat several times.

Food throw recall, step 3: add "come"

• "Get it" before the toss, as before.
• As they're about to pick up the treat, say "come! pup, pup, pup, pup": the new cue goes in front of the backup sound.
• "Yes" as they turn toward you; random jackpot on arrival.
• Repeat several times.

Food throw recall, step 4: "get it" and "come" only

• Be still, say "get it", toss, and move away.
• As they're about to pick up the treat, say "come!", on its own.
• "Yes" as they turn toward you, jackpot on arrival.
• If "come!" doesn't bring them, fall back to "pup, pup, pup, pup": it always works.
• Repeat several times.

Food bowl recall, step 1: building value

• In a hallway or long room, drop 3-6 small high-value treats into a food bowl. Make sure the dog sees you do it.
• Move 10-15 feet away.
• The moment their head pops out of the bowl, say "pup, pup, pup, pup".
• "Yes" as they run to you; feed a random number of treats.
• Once they've got the hang of it, swap in "come!" before the backup sound.
• Repeat several times.

Food bowl recall, step 2: room to room

• Same setup, but this time walk into another room while they eat from the bowl.
• Call "pup, pup, pup, pup" (later, "come!") until you hear them running.
• "Yes" as they reach you, random jackpot, reload and repeat.
• Kitchen to living room, living room to bedroom: vary it endlessly.

Two-person recall: with the client's family or friends

• Two people sit on opposite sides of the room with the same high-value treats.
• Person A feeds a couple of tiny treats, then person B calls "[Dog's name], come!".
• Person A immediately hides their hands behind their back and ignores the dog.
• If the dog turns to person B: "yes", then several treats on arrival. If not, person B says "pup, pup, pup, pup…" until they come.
• Then swap roles: back and forth for roughly 5 minutes.
• Everyone in the home should play: the dog learns that every family member is worth running to.

Proofing the recall outdoors

The games above build the recall indoors, with no distractions. Before you rely on it in the field, proof it outdoors in stages: a long line (15-30 ft) in a quiet yard or fenced area first, then a legal off-leash area with mild distractions (a long line is still a leash longer than the law allows anywhere else), then real distance with real distractions: another person, another dog at a distance, food on the ground. Increase difficulty on one axis at a time, and go back a step the moment the dog fails to respond.

The emergency recall: a separate, protected cue

An emergency recall is not the everyday "come": it's a distinct cue reserved only for true emergencies (a loose dog, a dog running toward traffic), so it never gets diluted by low-stakes practice or an unanswered call. Choose a unique word or sound the dog has never heard used any other way. Charge it exactly like the markers in this lesson: say the word, then deliver the single highest-value reward you have (real meat, not kibble), every time, no exceptions, for the life of the dog. Build it on a long line outdoors, at increasing distance and distraction, before it becomes the dog's off-leash safety net.

Foundations first, longer walks later

Fingers down and thumb on the food. "Yes" ends the exercise and predicts movement; "good" means keep going and the reward comes to the dog. The name means pay attention and move with me. Lure in silence, and let the closed hand teach backing off. Recall pays a random jackpot every time, with "pup, pup, pup, pup" as the backup that always works. Five to ten minutes of this in a safe, low-distraction spot, before or after the walk, or both, over several days or weeks, and the longer walks come easier.