Here is a clip we took of Arlie’s clicker introduction last January (I’m a little slow getting posts up!).
All we’re doing in this clip is teaching him what the sound of the clicker means. This is called “charging the clicker”.
With no commands involved , you click/treat, click/treat, click/treat. Within about 20 or 30 repetitions most dogs will begin to anticipate that a treat will be coming shortly after the click. At one point late in the video, I click while he’s looking away and he swings his head to me. I know at that point, that he knows what the click means.
If you notice in the video I keep my hand motions to a minimum. Dogs are masters at picking up on our body language. I want him to associate the food with the click, not with my hand motion.