Transcript of Episode 327: Beyond “Yes” And “Good”: Why Your Dog Needs “Spotlights”

Speaker Key

SG Susan Garrett

Transcript

00:00:00

If you're like most people, you have certain words that are general markers for your dogs. Things like
“good,” or “yes,” or “excellent.” But there's a problem and that is we use those words in everyday
conversation. Every single dog owner should adopt the use of Spotlights. “Whoa! What am I getting?”

00:00:24

Hi, I am Susan Garrett. Welcome to Shaped by Dog, where dog training finally makes sense at both
ends of the leash. Today, I'm going to revisit a topic that I first introduced in Shaped by Dog episode
number 151.

And that is that of Location Specific Reinforcement Markers. I know a mouthful, such a mouthful that I
actually have rebranded that phrase to “Spotlights.” I'll tell you why in a minute.

In today's episode, I'm going to share with you the Spotlights that I currently use for all of my dog
training. Why I think every single dog owner should adopt the use of Spotlights, what they bring to your
training, and what's lacking when you're not using them.

00:01:08

First up, why Spotlights? Let's face it, “Location Specific Reinforcement Markers,” it's a mouthful, it's
clunky, it's difficult to say. The word “Spotlight” does what it says. It shines a light of clarity on what's
important for your dog. Now, if you're like most people, you have certain words that are general
markers for your dogs.

Things like “good,” or “yes,” or “excellent.” I myself used to use those exclusively. Back in 1996, I
registered my dog training business as “Say Yes Dog Training.” Say Yes because “yes” was the
general marker word that I used for pretty much all of my dog training. But there's a problem with
general marker words, and that is we use those words in everyday conversation.

00:02:00

We may say to our dog, “That was so good. Yes! Excellent! Good boy!” But they're not necessarily
followed up with high valued reinforcement that the dog wants. And so, over the years they get dulled
in their importance.

Think of if you've ever used a clicker. When you click the clicker, your dog will get their ears up and
their eyes bright because they expect something amazing is about to be delivered to them, something
they find very reinforcing.

00:02:29

The clicker creates what we call a Positive CER, a Positive Conditioned Emotional Response. When
the dog hears the clicker, their emotions are that of excitement, anticipation of something they
absolutely love. That's what we want from any marker word that we use when we're training our dog.

Clickers are great, but we can do better, and that's where Spotlights enter the picture. Because dogs
aren't just learning behaviors when they're training with us, they're learning predictors, predictors of
what is reinforcing them.

00:03:07 

Because dogs are driven for what is reinforcing, which is why they pull on leash if there's something
exciting ahead, which is why they get into the garbage, get on the counters, raid your pockets if you
leave your coat hanging over the back of a chair.

They are great predictors of things that they find reinforcing. Which is why a Spotlight is brilliant for your
training. Because a Spotlight accomplishes three things, tells the dog exactly what they're getting.
There's no longer any question. Is it a toy? Is it a food? Do I get to go for a swim? What is it that I'm
getting as my reinforcement? The word good or yes, could be anything. It could be nothing.

00:03:49

A Spotlight always means something, tells the dog what they're getting, tells the dog where they will be
getting it. Either hold the position or drive to a different position. And it also triggers an emotional
response in the dog. And that one is super important. That one is telling the dog when they get excited
and when they shouldn't.

For example, I have a Spotlight that I only use when I'm creating calm in my dog. Maybe it's
conditioning a puppy for a relaxing massage. Maybe it's conditioning a puppy to have their nails
trimmed. I want them to assume a relaxation position.

00:04:32

And when I reward that puppy, I don't say click because the click is going to go, “Whoa! What am I
getting?” What I use is the word “Goooood.” It's the only time they hear that from me and I don't say
“good.” I coo it, “goooood.” And then I deliver a reward, a food reward, something that is easy for them
to swallow.

Not a crunchy, not a big one, just a small reward that they can continue to relax and eat that small soft
reward. Likewise, when I'm training a puppy and I want them to anticipate a fun game, I'll use the word
“chase,” and I'll stand up and run away dragging a favorite toy. The word “chase” very quickly
stimulates an excited pre drive.

00:05:21

The puppy can't wait to charge after me to start a great game of tug. Now, I would never be training a
dog to relax and say the word “chase”, would I? Because then I'd have a dog who's like, “Oh, is it now?
Is it now?” Spotlights bring clarity and as Brené Brown says, “clear is kind.”

And anytime we can amplify kindness in our dog training, we know we're on the right track. Because
Spotlights don't just mark behaviors, Spotlights share with the dog exactly where success lives. I'm
going to share a little analogy, so stick with me on this because it might be a little farfetched.

00:05:59

Imagine for a moment you loved to hear the sound of your phone ring. And you loved for your doorbell
to ring. I get it most of the time neither are true but just play a little game of make believe. What if every
time your phone rang, it was amazing news. “You just won the lottery.” “You just won a vacation.” “You
get to take the day off today.” Every single time that phone rang, it was nothing but good news.

The sound of your phone ringing would become a Spotlight for you. You could be relaxing watching a
favorite movie and your phone would ring. You wouldn't go, “Oh, just put that on Do Not Disturb.” You
would run. It would be like the Chase cue for my puppy. “Where's my phone?”

00:06:46

Alright, now imagine the sound of your doorbell and every time the doorbell rang you got an amazing
delivery, maybe dog beds, whatever. Every time that doorbell rang, it was variety. Either someone you
hadn't seen in a long time surprising you, it was somebody delivering an amazing gift for you. Every
single time that doorbell rang, it was something crazy good.

Now we have two Spotlights. Your phone wouldn't ring and you suddenly run to the door, would you?
No. Your ears up, your eyes bright, you'd be looking for your phone because you have the clarity of
where the reinforcement lies.

00:07:30

It doesn't lie at the door. Now imagine if you have a back door and the back door, the front door, and
the phone all had the same ring. Imagine when you'd hear the ring the frustration as you ran from door
to door to, “Oh my gosh, oh my God! I've got to get my reinforcement.”

That's kind of how your dog feels when they get a general marker. And the difference in the clarity we
bring when the dog knows what they're going to get and where they're going to get it. And that's what a
Spotlight delivers to them.

00:08:04 

Because the truth is, confusion absolutely slows the learning for all of us, including our dogs. Specificity
accelerates that learning. And the secret is that I've come to learn over time is that Spotlights or
Location Specific Reinforcement Markers are both markers and cues that prompt behavior. General
markers are not.

I'm going to say that once again, Spotlights are both a very specific marker for your dog and a cue that
prompts behavior. Knowing this, you should then understand that when you give your dog a cue that
they understand number one, and that they love you now have an additional Spotlight. That will make
sense in just a minute. But the key to all of this is that the reward that you're using should strengthen
the behavior.

00:09:01

It should be something that you know with great certainty that your dog absolutely loves. And that's
why I think it's really important to grow things that your dog loves. There's three categories that of
things we can use for reinforcement. Obviously number one, food rewards, but they take on all different
shapes and sizes.

Toy rewards. That could be a game, a fetch. It could be a game of tug. It could be a game of chase.
And activities that reward. Sending the dog to a pool or a pond to swim in. Sending the dog to chase
another dog. Sending a dog to go see somebody or taking the dog on a car ride. Activities that you
know the dog loves, can be reinforcements and can be reinforcers to your dog.

00:09:51 

And the higher the reinforcer, the more likely I'm going to include them into my everyday training.
Therefore, it might be something I'd consider building a Spotlight for. All reinforcement should
strengthen the behavior. It shouldn't take the dog away from the behavior. Back in Shaped by Dog
episode number 151, I mentioned something very powerful I learned from my mentors, Doctors Bob
and Marian Bailey. That is, we should mark for behavior, reinforce for position. A Spotlight allows you
to do just that.

00:10:22

For example, I'm going to share with you my food related Spotlights. The first one I've already told you
about, and I don't use it very often, only during anything relaxation, “goooood.” Now, I might say “good
dog” or “good girl” to my dog. That's not the same as “goooood.” They understand the difference. They
understand a soft, easy to swallow cookie is coming when I say that “good.”

“Cook” is something that I normally use in training, it means ‘hold the position you are currently in. I will
be delivering a food reward to you.’ So, if I was working on a sit stay, if I was working on my dog
staying in Hot Zone, if I clicked my dog for staying in the Hot Zone, they would look towards me and
come running over to get their cookie.

00:11:11

So sure, I would be able to mark for behavior if I wanted to reward a dog with a clicker in the Hot Zone,
but I wouldn't be able to reward it for position because the click would bring the dog out of position. So,
“cook,” my dog understands, means ‘You're doing a great job. I'm about to deliver something you really
love but hold that position.’

The next Spotlight I use for food is “search.” It means ‘you can now leave position and look for food
that I just threw on the ground.’ This Spotlight also has the benefit of helping the dog understand
there's no need for looking for food on the ground if you didn't hear the word “search.” Search means
now you can search for food on the ground. Otherwise, it's out of bounds.

00:11:55

There are two more Spotlights I use for food. One of them, even my own students don't know about
because I haven't really talked about it. So, the first one I absolutely love, and I use it a ton in my
training, and that is the word “chow.”

Chow is there's food in a bowl on the ground and you now can run and grab it. I love this because I
train with raw, but even if I didn't, I could leave like a nice meaty treat or something I know my dogs
really value. I could put it on the floor, and it could be a distraction. It could be a squirrel running by.

00:12:29

It could be something the dog really loves and I might have the dog work around me, and when they're
say walking on a loose leash or walking off leash beside me, I could say, “cook” which means ‘hold
your position. I'm going to deliver a reinforcement.’ And when they ignore the food on the ground, I
could say “chow” and they could run to the bowl.

Now for those of you who are saying, “If I put a bowl of something really, really exciting on the ground,
my dog is not going to walk beside me off leash. They are beelining it over there.” I'm going to share at
the end of this podcast episode how you can get that clarity from your dog and it will be worth it.

00:13:16 

Okay. The final Spotlight I'm using for food is when my dog might be walking ahead of me, and they
made a really good choice, they sniff something, but instead of rolling in it, they kept walking. I'm going
to say the word “treat.” Which means ‘come running to me and get a cookie from my hand.’

This is the last food related Spotlight that I've ever used. I never really thought I would use it. It's
surprising to me how often I do use it. Where I want my dog to be in motion, they don't have to wait till I
get there.

00:13:47 

So, I'm not dulling the effectiveness of my word “cook.” I'm telling the dog ‘run to me and I'm going to
give you a food reward that you're going to love.’ You'll be surprised how fast your dog starts running to
you when they hear that word.

Okay, let's step over to toy Spotlights. So, the Spotlight “strike” tells my dog ‘Spin back towards me.
Grab a tug toy and let's start an amazing game.’ Imagine the emotion that I am triggering for a dog who
loves to tug.

00:14:18

Likewise, I could leave a toy on the ground just like the food reward on the ground, have my dog work
around it, and then if I say, “bring” it means ‘you can leave position. You can leave work, you can leave
anything you're doing right now, fly out and grab that toy, bring it back to me, and we can then start a
great game with that toy.’ It might be tug, it might be Retrieve games.

I've already shared with you the cue I use with puppies, which is “Chase.” Which means ‘game on,
chase after me. I've got a great toy.’ The toy might be dragging out in front, but I might drop it as the
puppy gets closer. I'll evolve to that stage once the puppy gets a little bit older.

00:14:57

And a Spotlight that I rarely use anymore, but Momentum, my dog who is now doing rally with Michelle
who works here. Momentum understood this one. I would hide a favorite toy in my armpit, and I would
walk and she would be in heel position. And if I said “pit,” I would just open my armpit, and it would
drop right into her mouth.

Well, Momentum was not the best catcher but toys she actually could catch good when she heard the
word “pit” because she knew exactly where to look. You don't need to use all of these. There's probably
many more that I don't use that a lot of my friends would use. I strongly encourage you to adopt one or
two. The ones that I would pick are the reinforcement you use most often.

00:15:46

One reinforcer that tells the dog to hold position, I'll bring the reward to you, and one that means drive
to me or drive away from me. So, you might pick two or three Spotlights to start with, one at a time.
Build value for your dog's understanding before you move on to the next one. Which ones should you
choose?

The ones that reflect the reinforcements that you currently use in your dog's training. Now, I also said
that we can use activities to reward our dog, therefore say the sport of dog agility. I have my dog at the
first obstacle. Remember, Spotlights are both a marker word and a cue that prompts behavior. So,
when my dog is at the start line, I'm very present to what they're doing.

00:16:34

So, if my dog is paddling their feet, or maybe looking in the wrong direction, if I gave them the word of
the first obstacle, that Spotlight would be telling them, ‘That’s exactly what I want you to do at the start
line. You do that.’

So, if my dog is getting antsy and maybe getting out of their sit or creeping towards the first jump and I
said, “jump.” The Spotlight is saying, just like a clicker, ‘I like what you're doing. Please do that more
often at the start line.’ A Spotlight is both a marker and a cue. Therefore, cues that your dog already
knows can be used as Spotlights.

00:17:16

But the double edge to that sword is you have to be present to every part of the behavior the dog is
doing before you use a Spotlight. My dogs love to swim, so “swim” is a Spotlight. And I'm going to have
them do something I like.

So, if they're screaming and barking and they're on leash and they're pulling, if I take off the leash and
say, “swim,” what am I going to get more of? Spotlights are both markers that tell the dog ‘I love what
you're doing.’

00:17:47

Just like very similarly to other markers, like a click, but they're also a cue that prompts behavior. I think
it's a super important distinction that all dog owners need to be aware of. When you give a cue that the
dog knows you are actually reinforcing them for what they're doing when they hear that cue. It's both a
marker and a cue that prompts behavior.

So, what's the downside of choosing never to use Spotlights? I think that you are giving up access to
an amazing tool that will bring far more clarity to your training than what you're currently doing. I think
you will run the risk of your dog always moving from position when they hear anything that might trigger
the predictive reinforcement cycle is about to begin.

00:18:41

You run the risk of dogs hesitating because they're unsure of where their reinforcement is going to be
delivered. You run the risk of dogs becoming frustrated because they don't know where they're getting
the reward or what that reward is.

And it's really very little effort on your part. Just to adopt a few cues and use them consistently in your
training opens so many wonderful opportunities for your dog to get clarity in their training. It isn't a
concept just for sport dogs or agility dogs.

It's a concept that will improve the relationship of every dog and their owner. Because you're growing
confidence. You're growing clarity. You’re giving an expedience to the dog's reinforcement process
because they know exactly where the reinforcement is going to be delivered and what they're going to
get.

00:19:29

And you're going to add more joy to behaviors that should be stimulating and more calmness to
behaviors that shouldn't be. So back to our food or toys on the ground, and there's no way that the dog
is going to be able to work through that.

I want that process to be something that is growing your dog's confidence. Like, “Oh yeah, you can put
that on the floor. I know this game. That's no problem.” How do we get there?

It starts very simply by a game that I call ItsYerChoice. And it just so happens that we've just improved
our ItsYerChoice Summit and we'd love for everybody listening to this to have access to it.

00:20:08

So, you're going to find a link to the show notes. It's 100% free. There you will learn potentially your first
Spotlight while you're learning how to give your dogs autonomy to have the freedom of choice and how
that dog can learn to ignore things they really want until they hear a Spotlight that gives them access to
grabbing it.

00:20:32

So, click the link in the show notes. Join the ItsYerChoice Summit. We love to help dog owners just like
you, evolve your understanding of dog training so that you can have a deeper, more meaningful
connection with your dog, both in training and outside of training.

00:20:46

Thank you for joining me today. And as always stay curious, stay humble, and continue to make life
amazing at both ends of the leash. I'll see you next time right here on Shaped by Dog.