Videos, and training materials, by Gary Wilkes as well as other books by Wilkes and Pryor are also available. This is incorrect. The crucial element in getting wonderful behavior out of a dog is NOT the food reward. The sound of the click is the magic signal that brings about that wonderful performance. The first step in training a dog using this method is to teach it that every time it hears a click, it's going to get a treat.
Lets take an example from dolphin training.
Soon it would start offering jumps every time the trainer showed up. So a raised arm becomes the green light, as it were, for jumping. The click tells the dolphin or dog, during or at the end of a behavior, that the trainer likes that behavior and the dolphin or dog deserves a treat for it. The click has now become a conditioned reinforcer. Because of the split-second timing that the conditioned reinforcer makes possible, the click also communicates just exactly what it is that the trainer is looking for.