Buddy has a little issue, is it me? :(

[Doberluv]

Yes, you can either muffle a clicker with a cotton ball or use a ball point pen or something else....or a word. The distinctive sound of a clicker though, has been shown to be more effective than our voices. But it's best to do whatever makes your dog more at ease in the end.

If he runs and hides and you toss him a treat, you may be reinforcing that running and hiding. You might wait for him to come back out of hiding and then toss him a treat. LOL. But I know what you mean. You want to comfort him in some way and that's okay.

Yeah...if he feels vulnerable lying down, maybe it would be a good thing to work on some other behavior for now. There are all kinds of neat things you can teach him. High five is a fun trick. Just be careful not to reinforce it when you don't ask for it or he'll be bugging you, slapping his paws up on you uninvited. That can be annoying. But if you only reinforce when cued, that should keep that spontaneous behavior at bay.

Here's something that could be very good for you and your dog:

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/546