The trainer clicks at the moment the behavior occurs: the horse raises its hoof, the trainer clicks simultaneously. The dog sits, the trainer clicks. Clicking is like taking a picture of the behavior the trainer wishes to reinforce. After “taking the picture,” the trainer gives the animal something it likes, usually a small piece of food but sometimes play, petting, or other rewards.
Very soon (sometimes within two or three clicks), an animal will associate the sound of the click with something it likes: the reward. Since it wishes to repeat that pleasurable experience, it will repeat the action it was doing when it heard the click.

Any behavior can be trained with any animal following these three simple steps:

1. Get the behavior.
2. Mark the behavior.
3. Reinforce the behavior.

1. You CAN train a dog using a traditional approach AND use the clicker. It depends on your style, but yes... I've had very good results using the clicker as an event marker, and for getting the dog to understand a new behavior... especially a more complex behavior. However, THIS IS ONLY USED DURING THE FIRST PHASE OF TRAINING ... the "learning phase." Once you move into the reinforcement and proofing phase, the clicker loses it's benefits.

2. The idea that "some methods work better for some dogs," is a falsehood. It stems from people who are not completely competent in working with dogs.