Hey there. Thanks for joining me. I'm Hannah Branigan, and this is drinking from the toilet, where we go behind the scenes into what's really going on

when we train our dogs. And they train us? Today, I want to talk about event markers.

Now, as you may or may not know, I self-identify as a clicker trainer. I have always struggled a bit

to find language that accurately describes what I do and how I do it in a meaningful way.

And I still don't have a way that I'm 100% happy with because, of course, labels can be somewhat limiting and sometimes even divisive, especially in online dog training communities.

But there's still some value in being able to briefly explain to another person,

who you are, and what makes you different from those other trainers on the block. And there is no

doubt that the choices and decisions I make are different from those that another trainer might

make and are influenced heavily by my own learning experience and philosophy. So for now, Clicker

Trainer is most comfortable for me. And of course, a key feature

of clicker training and being a clicker trainer means that I do in fact often use a clicker in training.

But there's a little bit of a misconception there because really being a clicker trainer is so

much more than just carrying around a little plastic box.

It's an entire philosophy that influences how I approach training and teaching and how I interact with the world in general. So really, it's kind of a lifestyle.

As a clicker trainer, I focus on building behavior, breaking things down,

using positive reinforcement whenever possible,

and I'm constantly striving to

find new ways to split behavior and to replace aversives with positive reinforcement. And yes,

using an event marker is a big part of that because it helps me communicate clearly with my learner.

The basic premise of clicker training is that by pairing the sound of a click with food, we create a conditioned reinforcer.

So the sound of the click isn't a reinforcer to start off with. It's initially just meaningless.

It's a neutral sound.

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