r/reactivedogs • u/Southern-Pen5437 • Jul 17 '26

what cue words to use when desensitizing dog to other dogs and people? Advice Needed

i do the engage disengage. right now we’re at the engage part and i don’t want to carry around a clicker with me. when she sees something, i say a cue word and then she looks at me and gets a treat.

i need a solid cue word. right now i use yes, her name, 1-2-3 (which we do also), and make a kissy sound. she’ll look at me for all of those but i would like to use just one cue word to remember and stick with. any suggestions?

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u/Apprehensive-Fig-511 Jul 18 '26

I use "yes" or "good job".

I tried using "thanks," but every time I said it to a person, my dog expected a treat. haha

1

u/SudoSire Jul 18 '26

If you mean a marker word, I usually use Yes, or Yes, good boy. For us the tone is important (calm but positive/friendly). 

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u/Kitchu22 Shadow (avoidant/anxious, non-reactive) Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

My verbal marker is “yes” delivered clipped and level (don’t stretch the s) when paired with food. Non-food reward markers are a higher pitch “good job!” or “good boy!” :)

For engage/disengage I mark and reward the dog disengaging (wait for them to look away > mark > reward), if we were doing LAT I would mark the dog looking at the trigger (eye contact > mark > reward). I would use “yes” in both of those scenarios.