The Power of Positive Parenting

Maybe I am making a mistake, saying that I want to apply animal training techniques on Dario. The book "The Power of Positive Parenting" by Glenn Latham focuses completely on behavioral techniques. Lucky we are: research in behavioral science has shown that positive feedback is more efficient than negative feedback.

If this hadn't been the case, the book would have been titled "Better Children with Punishment and Surveillance", and it probably would not sell as much.

There is no mention of animal training in the book, no mention of clickers. Yet, all the ideas that matter to me are there, i.e. amongst others: reinforce desired behavior; ignore inconsequential undesired behavior; replace undesired behavior by something else; change the environment; judge a technique only on the effect on the behavior; etc, etc.

I am still hoping that I will be able to use a clicker on Dario before he is able to understand the flourished language of his parents -- who, reading "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo," are now trying to imitate the mid-19th century style of the Parisian high society.

The book sounds fabulous, by the way. And if I can't use a clicker on Dario for all that matters when a child grows up, I'll use it to teach him how to play ping-pong with a pigeon.