Why specifically is this a thing for pets and not kids? People keep posting stuff like this without any logic behind it. I have a staircase in my house, ill be fencing it off to prevent my kids getting into to it much like I fence off areas of my yard from my dog. Does that mean I'm treating my child like a pet?
Ultimately just like pets kids aren't necessarily aware of things that are dangerous and don't always follow instructions so it seems reasonable that there may be some overlap between the 2. That doesn't mean you're treating your child like a pet.
This is a good take too. We do lots of things for really little kids that we don't consider demeaning: fence off areas, put covers on wall sockets, put them in diapers, put them in cribs/cages. I'm curious where the studies are about psychological damage done to these kids by the leashes, considering all the opinions here about how terrible they are for kids.
I watched two episodes of Bluey recently (an excellent show aimed at kids, where everyone is, apropos to this subject, actually dogs):
In one, the dad is reading some new age book about letting your kids define boundaries. It's time for them to get out of the bath and he tries and tries and tries to get them to come to that conclusion themselves using reason, and they're having none of it, they want to stay in the bath. In the end he just tells them what to do and they do it, and the book is in the trash. That's not to say that all these techniques are ineffective but that kids are different and there are many different, valid ways to raise your kid.
In another, the mom is recounting how Bluey (their firstborn) as a baby started crawling. She was in a moms group and was so proud that Bluey was the first in the group to sit up. But then Bluey was way behind the others in learning to crawl, to stand up, and to walk, to the point that the mom left the group because she felt like a failure. Another mom comes over to check in on her and reveals that this is her 9th kid, and she knows how hard it is especially the first time, and most importantly tells Bluey's mom that she's doing a great job.
But I guess parenting is similar to how everyone thinks they are a great driver and everyone else around them is below average/terrible.
