So I've been enjoying the enthusiasm of Clicker trained dogs.

Now I'm wondering how I can add a remote Down via a raised hand signal in case I need to have him hunker down in an emergency.

The more traditional approach is to be close to dog, give the cue and lure with treat, to get the down. Then gradually work on increasing distance once the near down is established via hand signal. As I have the down behaviour established, I guess I can add the cue right away, and gradually increase distance.

Any tips for when to phase out the clicking on this?

I have done some distance control work, mixing it in with play which became self rewarding, so I don't have to try and accurately project treats 30m or so. I saw something about remote clicking in another thread, so I'd like to benefit from other's experience on this.

I'm not quite sure what you mean Rob. Do you mean asking him to down and stay and then leaving him approximately 30m or when he's 30m away from you asking for an instant drop and stay?
The reason I ask is because I teach these as two separate exercises.

The idea is that your dog is happily and excited running towards you, you see a hazard, raise your hand, the dog then lies down.

So instead of shouting "Down!" you raise your arm, cue by hand signal. I'm sure a Sheep Dog Whistle would be more reliable, as hearing is better than vision, but I was starting doing this as an exercise, and wondered how you'ld tackle that using Clicker methods.

Oh I see - much like an emergency stop?

I've never taught it as an exercise and have probably only had to do it 5-6 times in the past 30 odd years, when I think I almost certainly bellowed at the top of my voice and used a hand signal!! I've certainly done it a lot more when the dogs are running towards something.

I'm fairly certain that you are required to put a down in the recall for the KC Good Citizen Gold Award but at a much, much shorter distance than 30m, which is a heck of a long way.

For competitive obedience classes in this country, we teach a down stay which ranges from 2 minutes (back to dogs) upto 10 minutes out of sight in the highest class; distance control which requires the dog to be left in either the sit, down or stand and then to complete 6 positions without moving more than a body length in any direction with the handler approximately 10 to 20 paces away and an instant drop for the sendaway. The sendaway drop is the most useful in this context because the dogs are moving at speed and must go down instantly on command.

Yes, but my puppy stopped, when I shouted "Stop!" with both hands up in a "stay" gesture, the time he was running towards me and about to jump off a 6 foot high wall. I didn't train it, he just knew something was up and to stop coming back.

Well I was just starting to think how you'ld do it, L4l mentioned some remote clicker training in a recent thread. I suspect I can just reinforce the down cue by clearly marking completion with the Clicker on lured behaviour, then just work on distance slowly. In last Dog Training Club class, the hand signal cue was introduced, and I could see my pup noticing it, so I'm sure he'll learn this down quite quickly, adding distance will take longer however.

Practically though, learning to blow a Montana Lite Whistle, and capturing the behavious like "lie down" and "stand" that I see in off leash exercise would work, as done in Working Sheep Dog training seems more practical as there's no rush for him to do it.

My pup is a Border Collie and I'm proud of his remote stay, as part of a fetch game. To test his Down-stay & Stand-stay, I run off doing zig zags, jumping etc, and he waits for me to call him to heel, or throw a fetch object. I hear ppl commenting in the park sometimes, as he looks so much like a WSD in action. I just push out the distance to test him and so he has more fun getting to chase a decent distance.

I really do need a whistle now, especially with winter coming on