Just want to say - clicker training, if done properly does NOT require a clicker to mark the behavior the rest of the animal's life. My dog was clicker trained, and always gets compliments on how well she's trained.
Part of proofing the behavior is phasing out the clicker.
We also crate trained her from the moment that we brought her home, which I believe is a MUST for a positive relationship with your puppy. If you don't set them up for failure when you aren't home, then you're not going to come home to various items torn up, or pee and poop around the house.
She "graduated" from her crate at about 1.5-2 years old, with short sessions out of the crate while we were gone. She now no longer has her crate, but when it's pulled out for visiting dogs (Canine Assistants) she still enjoys going in it and napping in it.
We also were there to re-direct her when she was out of her crate and grabbing something as a toy that wasn't a toy (a shoe for instance) that we removed from her and gave her an appropriate toy instead.
And we set up clear rules for her, most of it was just intuitive to us. We knew what we considered acceptable behavior and didn't allow any less.
This is a dog that has never had any physical punishment or corrections.
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