oooh, tough one! It's taken me an exceedingly long time to get this with Pongo, and still it's not very well on-cue the way most of her other non-prop behaviors are. i think it's an emotional statement for her - if she's not in the mood, and i can't get her there, she literally can't do it. Of course this theory of mine flies in the face of classical conditioning...

Bob Bailey, one of the living legends of operant conditioning/animal training (trained spy cats for the CIA, among many other colorful exploits), has been hanging out on one of the lists i'm on... he's a real proponent of practicing your timing without the animal present before training sessions. There are timing games for just general speed - how fast can you c/t to a bench or table in a ten-trial run, for instance - but he really likes to have people design timing practice around their specific training plans. i might be tempted to video tape a session with Darwin and run it with the sound off, clicking the tape.

I never managed the co-ordination of clicking with a handheld clicker. I use a bridge word, it is not s'posed to be as good as a clicker but the timing is so much easier. I figure a word given at the right time is better than a click given way too late. We did practise but when we were doing the real thing, I just couldn't get it. No hand eye co-ordination. Nicky

They *do* have those online co-ordination "games" to help with the Hand/Eye. They help to reduce your reaction time.

http://www.happyhub.com/network/reflex/

This second one makes you think a bit before you react:
http://www.bodymindandmodem.com/Games/sam4.html

Practice without the animal present helped me a lot.

i use a whistle instead of a clicker, may be easier for you also.