Foundational Skills

Last updated Jul. 15th, 2026

Classes at The Hub begin with a positive-reinforcement warm-up. During this time, you will practice your marker word or clicker, continuation word, hand target, and other familiar skills.

These tools give you something productive to do with your dog from the moment you enter class. They can help your dog focus on you, understand what is working, and recover when the environment becomes distracting.

Your Marker Word

A marker word is a clear, enthusiastic “Yes!” It tells your dog:

“That was exactly what I wanted. A reward is coming.”

Your marker functions like a camera shutter, capturing the precise moment your dog performs the desired behavior.

For example:

“Sit” → your dog’s rear touches the floor → “Yes!” → reward

“Sit” communicates the action you want. “Yes” identifies the exact moment your dog successfully completed it.

The marker must come before the reward. Over time, this order gives the marker itself value. Much like Pavlov’s dogs learned that a bell predicted food, your dog learns that “Yes!” predicts something they enjoy.

A reward may be food, play, affection, movement, access to something, or anything else that makes your dog more likely to perform the behavior again.

We often use food in class because it helps us achieve a high rate of repetition of our skills without needing to reset multiple times. But all food is not created equal, which is why having a variety of pre-cut foods or treats is important. Some dogs will work for kibble or carrots anytime and anywhere, while other dogs require cheese or freeze dried beef or smelly chewy treats. What matters most is that your dog values it enough to do the behavior again and again.

Marker Word or Clicker?

A clicker is a small handheld tool that produces a distinct clicking sound.

The primary differences are:

Accessibility: Your voice is always available, while a clicker must be carried and held.
Consistency: A clicker produces nearly the same sound every time, while the tone and volume of your voice may change.

Some families use only a marker word. Others use both a clicker and a marker word. Either can work well when it is consistently followed by something your dog values.

Charge Your Marker

To begin building meaning in your marker:

Stand in front of your dog. They simply need to be near you - they do not need to sit or do any specific action yet.
Say “Yes!”
Immediately offer a reward directly to your dog’s mouth or place it on the ground at your feet.
Repeat four or five times.

Keep the food close to you rather than throwing it away from your body. We want your dog to associate the marker with both the reward and re-engaging with you.

Next, ask for a simple action your dog already knows:

Say “Sit.”
The moment your dog’s rear touches the floor, say “Yes!”
Deliver the reward.

You can practice the same sequence with another familiar behavior, such as “Touch.”

Your Continuation Word

A continuation word, such as “Good,” tells your dog:

“You are on the right track. Keep working with me.”

A marker word ends the sequence and is followed by a reward. A continuation word allows the sequence to keep going.

Think of your interaction as a written sentence:

The behaviors are the words.
“Good” is the space between the words.
“Yes” is the punctuation that ends the sentence.
The reward comes after the punctuation.

A one-behavior sentence might be:

Touch → Yes → reward

A two-behavior sentence might be:

Touch → Good → Touch → Yes → reward

You can also combine different behaviors:

Touch → Good → Sit → Yes → reward

Or:

Sit → Good → Touch → Good → Heel → Yes → reward

The appropriate length of the sequence depends on your dog’s skill level, energy, arousal, and the distractions around you. In a challenging environment, your dog may need very short and easy sentences. As they become more comfortable, you can gradually ask for longer sequences.

Please do not use “good boy” or “good girl” as your marker or continuation word. Save those phrases for everyday praise and conversation. Your marker and continuation words should remain short, distinct, and predictable.

Touch: Hand Targeting

“Touch” asks your dog to walk toward you and target their nose to your hand. It is one of the most useful skills for moving, redirecting attention, and helping your dog reconnect with you.

There are two hand positions that tend to work well.

Open-Hand Target

Place your thumb near the top of your palm, around the base of your middle and ring fingers. Extend the four remaining fingers, but keep them together, so your dog targets the palm side of fingers.

Two-Finger Target

Place your index and middle fingers together. Fold your ring finger and pinky toward your palm, securing them with your thumb. Your dog targets the back of your index and middle fingers.

The best target option may depend on your dog’s size, sensitivity, and tendency to use their mouth.

To practice:

Say “Touch.”
Present your hand using the same gesture each time.
Wait for your dog to move toward your hand.
The moment their nose makes contact, say “Yes!”
Reward them.

Your hand should be level with your dog's nose and close enough for your dog to succeed. They should not need to jump up to reach it.

The goal is for your dog to move toward your hand—not for your hand to reach out and touch your dog while they're in a sit or down.

Your dog does not need to sit first. Touch is intended to be a movement-based behavior.

When Touch Is Not Working

Avoid repeating “Touch” several times without changing anything. Instead, consider why your dog may be struggling:

They are highly focused on the environment.
They need more time to process your request.
Your hand gesture has changed.
Your hand is too far away.
Another movement you are making is distracting them.
They do not yet fully understand the skill.

Pause and make the next repetition easier. You might move your hand closer, create more distance from a distraction, use a higher-value reward, or practice in a quieter location.

If Your Dog Begins Vocalizing

If your dog begins barking, whining, lunging, or fixating, please do not pop or tug the leash or repeatedly ask them to sit.

Instead:

Walk your hands up the leash while moving your body closer to your dog.
Position yourself near or in front of your dog. You might even kneel in front of your dog.
Hold the leash close enough to maintain connection without pulling it tight.
Scatter several treats on the ground directly in front of you and your dog.
Once your dog begins eating and disengaging from the environment, move into a familiar pattern game such as 1-2-3 or Ping Pong.

The 1-2-3 Pattern Game

The 1-2-3 game creates a simple and predictable pattern.

How to Play

Count out loud: “One, two, three.” Must be loud enough for your dog to hear.
On “three,” deliver a reward to your dog’s mouth or place it on the ground in front of them.
Begin counting again.
Reward every time you reach “three.”

If you need to toss the food toward your dog more than twice because they are facing away from you, move your body closer to them. Place the next treat on the ground in front of both of you so it becomes easier for your dog to begin reorienting toward you. If your dog does not take the food on “three,” do not repeat “three” multiple times. Instead observe your environment and why your dog may not be able to engage with you. When a dog's arousal level is low enough, and they understand what 123 means, they will be able to look back at their human by “three,” or even earlier.

The game can be played while standing still or moving.

Adjusting Your Tempo

You can change the speed of your counting based on what your dog needs:

Slow: Helps your dog decompress, recover, or sustain attention for longer.
Medium: Maintains engagement while moving or working around manageable distractions.
Fast: Helps you move through a situation before your dog reacts.

You may change tempos within the same interaction as the environment changes.

Food is often convenient, but the reward on “three” can also be play, physical affection, movement, or another reinforcer your dog values in that moment.

The Ping Pong Pattern Game

Ping Pong reinforces your dog for choosing to return their attention to you after moving away to collect a treat.

Introducing the Game

Stand in one place while your dog moves from one side of your body to the other.
Hold your dog’s leash and toss a treat approximately one foot to your left.
Allow your dog to find and eat it.
When your dog looks back toward you, say “Yes!”
Toss the next treat approximately one foot to your right.
When your dog looks back again, mark “Yes” and toss back to your left.
Continue alternating sides.

The moment your dog turns back toward you is the behavior you are marking and reinforcing.

Once your dog reliably re-engages for five or six repetitions, you can gradually increase the distance of the toss.

Eventually, you may work up to tossing the reward a full leash length away.

Advancing Ping Pong

In a low-distraction environment, you can:

Mix shorter and longer tosses.
Continue standing in place while your dog moves around you.
Use a 10- to 15-foot long line to provide more freedom of movement.
Observe how quickly and easily your dog returns after finding the food.

Do not use leash pressure to pull your dog back.

If your dog has difficulty returning, use a “positive interrupter sound” such as a kissy sound or mark “yes” earlier and faster. On the next repetition, make the toss shorter.

Difficulty returning may also indicate that your dog is distracted, tired, or ready for a break.

Using Ping Pong Around Distractions

When distractions are present, keep the same basic pattern but shorten the distance of the toss.

Only toss the treat as far away as you are confident your dog can travel and still return to you successfully.

Remember:

The farther the treat lands from you—and the closer it lands to the distraction—the more difficult the repetition becomes.
Make the game easier before your dog becomes unable to disengage.

Practice Before Your First Class

Before attending class, practice:

Charging your marker word
Using your continuation word in a short two-behavior sequence
Five successful hand targets on each side of your body
Several rounds of 1-2-3
Five or six close Ping Pong repetitions

Begin in a quiet environment. Once your dog understands the pattern, gradually practice around manageable distractions.

These skills do not need to be perfect before your first visit. Familiarity with them will give you and your dog a shared vocabulary—and give you a clear plan whenever the class environment becomes exciting.