Training cats, or thinking about it

Yep, you read that right.  I'm visiting my mom for a couple of days (and Swing is having a blast helping Amy with yard work from what I'm told) and you guessed it, she has cats (mom wants me to assure everyone that she has been and will always be a dog person).  Two of them to be exact, one is a rescue who showed up on her front door step around Christmas time in pretty bad shape, and the other is a, well his nickname is Lucifer.  Her rescue is basically a couch potato, kind of like Dirk.  She is epileptic so she gets medicated twice a day.  I swear that it makes her a zombie but if that keeps her from having seizures then WTH.  Her routine, and amazingly she doesn't deviate from it when company is here (if you have ever been around cats you know that they are either scared of anyone new and flee at the mere sight of you, or they are super friendly and could care less if you are invading their territory.  These two fall in to the latter) is to get up in the morning around 6am, eat breakfast, lounge on the kitchen table, get her meds and then retire to the bed by the fireplace.  She's quite passive and actually didn't mind that I cut her toenails (yes, knowing that I'm the toenail fanatic mom got a set of clippers and I'm now cutting cat nails).  But she isn't the one that I'd like to train, Lucifer (whose real name is Mouse) is the character and the type of cat that I know dog trainers would have a blast with.

This guy is inquisitive, nosey, pushy, curious, and basically can not stand it if he isn't the center of attention!  Sound like some Weims that you all know?  Oh did I mention that he is grey and white and of the longhair variety?

   Mouse (aka "Lucifer")

Anyway, just the personality that I love working with but with a twist (obviously, he is a cat after all!).  I've been observing him for the last two days and he's definitely trainable, oh how I wish I had gotten to him when he was a little kitten.  But I digress... cats, like puppies, appear to have a pretty short attention span, especially ones like Mouse.  He doesn't want to miss a thing, remind you of your M&M pup?  So training him would mean short, quick sessions lasting maybe a minute but I think you could have multiple sessions throughout the day.  And since cats love to play I'm going to say that using toys would be the preferred reinforcement method since most of the cats that I've known do not care to take treats from your hand (I believe that stems from the fact that they are not fully domesticated and prefer being the ones to deliver goodies rather than receive them).  But if you want to use food then I would say that the best time to use it is when the cat is hungry (so in Mouse's case that is at 5:30 in the morning!).  Crate games would be useful, cats like to get inside of things and they could blast out of the crate after that feather toy, and if you have a crate trained cat they would be less stressed going to the vet or kennel (kind of like our dogs).  And agility, especially contacts, we all know how they love to climb, walk across the counters and backs of the sofa (hey, that sounds like some Weims I know, present company NOT included, well at least not with the counter stuff) and run through things like tunnels.  Lucifer (sorry, Mouse) will fly up the stairs to beat you up there and I've noticed that his preferred side is in heel position.  Teaching him to move in that position could be challenging, he likes to lag and then forge (blasts) past you, wanting to make sure he beats you to your destination.  Yep, heeling would be a bit of an adventure with him.  Sounds like fun to me!

So what does all of this jibber-jabber mean or tie in to our pups?  Well nothing really but if you are constantly thinking of how to train or re-train something (and I do), watching other species may clue you in to something.  They all have their own signals, mannerisms and way of "speaking" that isn't that far off of what we observe in our dogs (admit it, Weims have their own language when you compare them to Goldens, BCs, Shelties, etc.), all you need to do it watch.  And that is what fascinates me about cats in particular.  We all know that every dog is different but sometimes people get caught up in using the same method every time.  I have tried different things with each dog and I'm still trying new things on each dog.  I evaluate every little piece of every exercise, be it in obedience, agility, tracking and yes, conformation (which is the one that I spend the least amount of time picking apart, sorry Amy) and by doing that I find that I'm always making adjustments.

I guess what I'm saying is take time to watch a cat if the opportunity presents itself.  While similar in some respects (like my dogs Mouse is now sacked out on the cat tree, the mid-morning nap that happens in my house every day) they can certainly teach you something about body language and communication.  I know that I'd be up for the challenge of training one!

Noel's version of a down stay, in style of course!