Dog Training Glossary
Dog training can sometimes sound like its own language. You don’t need to become a dog trainer to understand your dog, but understanding some of the terminology can help you better understand why your dog behaves the way they do and why we train the way we do.
Below are some terms you’ll no doubt hear throughout your dog-training journey, whether you work with us, another trainer, or take the journey on your own. During a training session, there can be a lot to take in, and terminology can be easy to forget when you’re trying to learn everything else. Save this page and come back anytime you need a quick explanation—or take a deeper dive with one of our Learn More extensions.
Classical Conditioning
A form of learning in which a dog develops an automatic response to something because it has repeatedly been associated with something else.
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Confidence
A dog’s belief in their ability—or inability—to handle what happens next. Confidence can affect learning, attention, recovery, reactivity, socialization and many other areas of a dog’s life and training.
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Consistency
Creating clear and predictable patterns for your dog through your rules, rewards, corrections, timing and expectations. Dogs learn patterns, and both consistency and inconsistency teach them something.
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Correction / Punishment
In learning theory, punishment is a consequence that makes a behavior less likely to occur again in the future. At BFF, we generally use the word correction when talking about applying that concept during training.
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Cue
A signal that tells a dog which behavior we’re asking them to perform. A cue can be verbal, visual, physical, environmental or communicated through something such as leash pressure.
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Distraction
Anything competing for your dog’s attention. What qualifies as a distraction—and how valuable that distraction is—is ultimately determined by the dog.
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Drive
A dog’s natural motivation toward something. Food drive, play drive and prey drive are common examples. Drive can often be redirected and used productively during training.
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Duration Marker
A marker that tells the dog they’re doing the correct behavior and should continue doing it. At BFF, our duration marker is generally “Good.”
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Generalization
A dog’s ability to understand that a learned behavior still applies when the environment or circumstances change. Dogs are contextual learners, so a behavior learned in the living room isn’t automatically understood the same way at the park.
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Impulse Control
A dog’s ability to resist an immediate urge and make a different choice. The stronger the desire to do something, the more impulse control may be required.
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Learned Behavior
A behavior that develops or changes through experience and its consequences. Dogs are constantly collecting information about what works, what doesn’t, and what produces outcomes they value.
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Leash Pressure
Communication created through tension on the leash. The basic teaching pattern is pressure on → correct movement or choice → pressure off. The timing of that release is what helps give the pressure meaning.
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Luring
Using something the dog wants—commonly food—to guide them into a behavior or position. Once the dog understands the behavior, the lure should gradually be faded rather than becoming permanently necessary.
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Marker
A word, sound or signal that identifies the exact moment a dog performs the behavior we want. At BFF, we primarily use verbal markers.
Think of it as taking a mental screenshot: That. Right there. That’s what I wanted.
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Operant Conditioning
A form of learning in which a dog learns that their behavior produces consequences, making that behavior more or less likely to happen again.
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Proofing
The process of making a learned behavior more reliable by gradually practicing it under increasingly difficult conditions and around different distractions.
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Reinforcement
A consequence that makes a behavior more likely to occur again in the future. What matters isn’t what we intended as reinforcement—the dog’s future behavior tells us whether something was actually reinforcing.
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Release Marker
A word that tells the dog a maintained behavior has ended and they’re free to move. At BFF, common release words include Free, Break, and Okay.
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Reps
Short for repetitions—the number of times a behavior is practiced. Quality matters more than simply accumulating repetitions. Watch the dog, not the clock.
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Resilience
A dog’s ability to experience manageable stress, frustration or uncertainty and then recover, re-engage and try again.
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Resource Guarding
Behavior intended to protect something the dog values because they believe they may lose access to it. This can involve food, toys, spaces, objects or sometimes people.
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Shaping
Teaching a behavior by reinforcing small steps—or successive approximations—toward the finished behavior, allowing the dog to think, experiment and discover which choices earn reinforcement.
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Socialization
Teaching a dog how to comfortably and appropriately exist in the world around them. Socialization is much more than meeting people and dogs; learning to observe things without needing to interact with them can be equally important.
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Terminal Marker
A marker that tells the dog they performed the correct behavior, the behavior is finished, and a reward is coming. At BFF, our terminal marker is “Yes.”
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Threshold
The point where a dog moves from being able to process what’s happening around them toward becoming too overwhelmed, excited, fearful, frustrated or aroused to respond as they normally would.
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Trigger Stacking
When multiple stressful, exciting or frustrating events occur before a dog has completely recovered from the previous ones. The final trigger may simply be what pushes an already-full stack over threshold.
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Trust
Built through communication that is clear, fair, consistent and predictable. Trust doesn’t mean a dog never encounters boundaries or corrections; it means the dog learns that communication from their handler is reliable and understandable.
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Working Distance
The distance from a trigger or distraction at which a dog can still think, learn and respond to their handler. Working distance can change depending on the dog, environment, situation and even the particular day.
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Working Level
The lowest e-collar stimulation level a dog can clearly perceive and understand, particularly during conditioning. A dog’s working level is not a fixed number and can change with environment, arousal and distraction.
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