Good morning, everyone:

Here's a training/behavioral modification technique I have found very useful:  attune your pup to the word "yes." 

I guess you might describe the technique as a variation on clicker training. The idea is to reward your dog every time you see her exhibiting any behavior you like and want to encourage by saying "Yes!" in a bright, enthusiastic tone of voice and then immediately giving her a treat.  Over time, the word "yes!" spoken in this tone becomes a marker in the dog's mind, associated with positive, pleasant things, and further, helps her understand what you want from her in both general and specific contexts. 

Why not just reward her with food and skip the "yes," you ask?  The theory is that dogs live in the moment, and that you want to administer the positive reinforcement as close in time to the desired behavior as possible, so that the dog knows exactly what he did that was good.  You can say  usually say "yes" much faster than you can get a treat out of your pocket, assuming you actually have a food reward on your person.  "Yes" becomes the marker and stop-gap until you can actually get to the reward and give it to your pup.

Make ithe reward something really yummy.  If you are worried about your dog getting fat, cut down the amount of food you give her at her regular meal to compensate for the calories she's getting through treats.  However, do not give her so many treats and reduce her regular food so much that she's not getting proper nutrition.  In my case, the treat of choice is chopped carrots.  Lady loves them and they're low-calorie.  Or, since Lady is very food-motivated, I give her some of her kibble that she would otherwise get at meal time.

Some examples of how to begin (the "general context" I mentioned above): 

Your dog is lying calmy on the floor chewing her bone.   This is calm, relaxed behavior you want to encourage.  The moment you see her doing it, say "yes!" and give her a treat. 

Your dog is sitting or lying down a few feet away from you rather than pawing at you, demanding attention.  This is polite behavior you want to encourage.  Say "Yes!" and give her a treat.

Your dog does not rush the cat as the cat enters the room.  Say "yes!" and give your dog a treat. 

The dog and cat are peacefully co-existing in  the same room.  Say "yes!" and give your dog a treat. 

The dog does not bark at the mail man.  Say "yes!" and give her a treat.

Pretty soon your dog will get it that she's done something good (i.e., something that will get her a reward) when you say "yes!"  You may even find that she begins to offer some of the behaviors for which you have rewarded her in the past. 

On to the next stage (the "specific context".  Once your dog is really grooving on the word "yes!", you can use the word when teaching her new commands to let her know when she's gotten it right.  Let's say you are trying to teach her to sit on cue.  When her bottom hits the floor, say "yes!"  She already associates "yes!" with doing something you want her to do, and so, with luck, the lightbulb will go off in her brain and she will  quickly understand that "sit" means "plant my bottom on the ground." 

Oh, dear, I hope I have explained this clearly. . . Ciao for now,

LM

You've brought up a great point! My dog is clicker trained but if I don't have my clicker handy, I've been using 'yes!' with her since she was 12 weeks old. In my studies (because I am fascinated with clicker training!), I came across this article offered by a member of another group I am in. I thought it was absolutely fascinating! It helps me understand why, when I use the clicker to help train new skills, I get better, more solid results than if I just use that verbal marker. Here's the meat of the article in case you don't want to read the whole thing:
"Meanwhile, there are a lot of simpler pieces of fieldwork that various people are undertaking. For example, some clicker instructors have done informal comparisons between using the voice \"Yes\" as a marker, in some pet owner classes, vs. the clicker in others. Empirically, the outcome is usually that the class curriculum is covered in much less time, with a higher degree of success, in the clicker class. The difference is apparent because it leaves the teacher with two or three weeks at the end of a six or eight week course and nothing left in the teaching plan! (People may go on to tricks, introduce agility, or move into their intermediate curriculum, to fill up the weeks students have paid for.)"
http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/clickvsword.html
It's really an interesting article.
Erika

That's really interesting.  I haven't read the article yet, but I will, I promise.  Clicker-training might be the next step for us . . .  Thanks for the link!

LM

Great posts, both of you!  I was told by an instructor friend of mine that the clicker is always a "constant"--no changes in volume or inflection, whereas saying "yes" can vary somewhat due to the mood you may be in,  or just how thrilled you actually are with your dog's particular good behavior thing that you are rewarding for.  So, I think probably the best would be to incorporate the "yes" and the clicker together.Oh, and the treat rewards, too. 

I use the verbal marker if I don't have a clicker handy, and sometimes I use them together. Saying 'yes' is a habit for me now, whenever I ask my dog to do just about anything. She has a solid 'sit' for example, but I still say 'yes' when she does it. It doesn't mean she gets a treat for sitting each time, but she knows that she got it right.

Ladysmom, I wanted to say that your description of this method is very well-written! Nice job, and great topic.

Erika

Aw, shucks . . .     *hands behind her back, shyly digging her toe in the dirt*   Thanks!

LM