Someone working through my Distraction Training Program asked me recently, "When working distraction training with pet dogs, when should the student be instructed to mark the correct behavior?"
I'll address this based on how I think and problem solve – as a relationship-based trainer.
"When should a student mark a behavior?"
Regardless of whether you use a clicker, a marker word, or just stick a cookie in the dog's mouth, the moment is always the same:
At that moment when your heart knew that your dog would succeed, mark it! When you felt pride!
Your dog walked past a tempting cookie on the ground and completed the recall instead. Did you feel pride? Great; that's the timing you want!