There are two general methods of getting a behavior going.

--You can CAPTURE it by simply waiting until the dog does something that resembles or leads into the behavior you are looking for and clicking that. Simple example: to get a dog to Sit, you might just wait for it to Sit on its own, and then click and treat. You give no commands or signals to help in any way. For a more complex behavior, you would break the behavior into pieces, and then shape each--again by CAPTURING.

In this method, the dog must do all the thinking and experimenting, and figure out what you want it to do--(although once you are done, the dog will think IT has trained YOU to treat it when it does what it wants to do!)

--The second method is to LURE the behavior. (If you have Pat Miller's book, she calls this the Magnet Method.) To teach the Sit command using this method, you might hold a treat over the dog's head while it is standing, and it will sit to get at the treat. Then you C & T. My "tip" is to force yourself to do as much CAPTURING as possible rather than LURING. There are times when luring is necessary and there is nothing wrong with using it, but you will pick up the "fine art" of Clicker Training better if you become an expert at capturing and shaping behaviors. And most authors and trainers claim that a behavior that is learned through Capturing will usually be stronger and more dependable than one learned through Luring.

There are some fun games that help you and your dog become experts at capturing like the Box Game where you place a box on the floor and click and treat each time the dog goes near it. As the dog learns to approach to within say 2 feet, you stop clicking the 2 foot distance and wait for the dog to go closer before you C & T. Then closer and closer, until you get the dog to touch the box with a paw. Here you are learning the art of shaping and differential reinforcement--where you keep raising the bar and expecting the dog to get closer and closer to the goal you set by clicking only "better" responses. Remember, no prompting or helping! The C & T should be the only feedback. So good luck, and if you have any specific questions or would like some suggested books to read, just ask. Lots of nice folks around here will be glad to help. So start Capturing!