To clicker train DS?

[FairfaxAikman]

Lighthearted.

I clicker trained my dogs and as a result have a couple of them still kicking about.

DS found them and loves the noise.

DS is 2.5 and where the dogs listen and return when told, DS increasingly refuses to hold hands and runs off - to the point it's becoming dangerous.

I've tried long line work (reins), which is fine at the moment but I want to be able to give him a bit of freedom.

WIBU to clicker train him so his recall is more like the dogs? 😁

TagTeach works great with kids, it creates small achievable goals that you then extend to build complexity. You can then eventually move to them tagging themselves and rewarding themselves. The book has lots of examples or there's also the YouTube channel. It's used a lot in children with autism as there is very clear goals.

This is a great video:

I read somewhere that whistle tones are far easier to hear over distance than a voice, I have a voice register that is not that audible unless I really put projection behind it and raise the tone but as I don't do that regularly it strains my voice. I decided to experiment with a whistle name for my daughter as she would wander off and just be out of sight and I would panic. So I used the pattern of her name in a whistle. Thing was it only needed to be quiet for her to hear in confined spaces so people didn't even really notice, so if she was next isle in the supermarket I would do the whistle and she could locate me. Became a bit of a game. Out side it worked even better and got her attention in the park when it was home time etc.

Still even now in a crowded noisy space I can use it at low levels and she hears it better than a shout, although she is older and I rarely use it - but I have in crowded London e.g. tube - then indicated she get on a tube if she is a bit ahead of me etc.

When we got a dog I trained her the same way - but she has the same name whistle pattern so we have kinda moved on. Again it works better than a voice call as it is more easily heard at distance

Haha we've been debating it too op we have a 10 week old puppy and have been finding ourselves accidentally doing the overenthusiastic "yes! Well done!" puppy training voice on the toddlers too!

Dogs have about the same level of intellect as a 3 year old, and the fundamentals of positive reinforcement work the same across all species. It's worth a go!

A few months ago, Channel 4 did a programme called Train Your Baby Like A Dog, involving a dog trainer and mother applying the same techniques to toddlers in a Supernanny type programme. The name of the programme provoked a lot of pearl clutching, but the content was actually very sensible. It's still available on 4OD.

@corythatwas

I do spot a snag- or is it just me that had the wrong kind of 2yos? How often does a lab turn round and say with a serene smile "but I don't want to be a good boy because it's much more fun being naughty"?

Not saying you can't get children to behave- I am a firm believer in keeping children on the straight and narrow- but I can see some ways in which the dog analogy might not hold up.

(That might of course be one of the great advantages of keeping dogs instead: I don't suppose they tell you that when they're grown up they'll be able to do what they like because you'll be dead by then).

That made me laugh out loud. I remember when ds2 was about 5 and dh got a new bike (about 25 years ago) he said to his dad "can I have it when you die?" Poor dh was a bit upset I was hysterical. But yes op go for it.