Mark my words: when Harry met Sally and the puppy

The first session with the puppy trainer was a strictly no-dog, owners only affair, with some great advice and a couple of ground rules. First off, ahead of next week's first real lesson, he emphasised the need for all the pups to be trained to respond to a 'marker' word - something short, that you can add some 'zip' to was his recommendation. And the chosen word for added zip? 'Yes'. This has to be used to reinforce good behaviour or a task properly carried out - such as sit or stay, only puppies don't understand too many words, so a good zippy 'Yes' keeps them on task and on side. We take our pup out for an early morning toilet session around 4.00am; which is when I discovered that zipping a few 'Yeses' together makes the garden sound like the venue for an al fresco after dark orgy. Oh, yes, yes, yes...