Kori Bigge

Tonight I started teaching Kodee a new game (Find It!), and I didn't have any treats handy. Instead of taking my lazy butt into the kitchen & getting some , I tried just using verbal praise/petting as a reward for his marker ("Yes!"). Normally, "Yes!" means a food reward. Tonight is the first time I've used a different reward (praise/physical affection).

It seemed to work fine (he's catching on to this new game quickly), but before we proceed any further, I wanted to double-check and make sure that this won't end up confusing Kodee. Can a marker mean "Something (anything) good is gonna happen" - treats/praise/ball toss), or does it always have to mean the exact same thing? (I have always used treats and the marker to teach new commands, then once he's learned the command, from then on I usually use a ball to practice/reinforce his training on the new command - he will do anything to get me to toss his Ultra Ball.