A clicker is just something to make a "marker" sound. The click noise is distinct so the animal can distiguish it from background noise easily and unconsciously. They do not learn that "click" = "treat". They unconsciously 'know' the noise = did good. IF you time your click right.
Timing is EVERYTHING.
I personally watched a 'trainer' teaching a horse to walk through a gate. They led the horse to the gate. Horse balked at the gate. Trainer gave feed. Trainer walked horse in circle, came back to gate. Horse balked at gate. Trainer gave feed. Trainer walked horse in circle.... repeat.
The trainer gave up after an hour, horse never went through the gate. My offer to help was spurned as they "know what I'm doing! I have YEARS of experiance."
Once they gave up and left, I asked the owner if they wanted me to train the horse to walk through the gate. She shrugged. Within ten minutes the horse walked calmly through the gate. The trainer had taught the horse to STOP at the gate, by rewarding AFTER the horse stopped. By rewarding only when the horse was in motion, it learned extremely quickly that moving forward = reward, while stopping = no reward.
So just having a clicker doesn't mean you're training the dog to do something. It's timing of the reward. Any noise maker can be used as a "clicker". I used a soda can and "clicked" it by squeezing it once to make a sharp "clack" noise, to teach a chicken a trick. Don't get hung up on items, use the technique.
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