>>>She’s a very willing student - none of my others stick around long enough to learn, but Cotton follows me around all day waiting for training time.
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It is amazing how certain animals tend to be so receptive to training... (LOL plus your patience in teaching Cotton)
We have a Rat Terrier who we describe as ‘vocally predisposed’ For a treat, he quickly picked up on and started mimicking our saying ‘Yum Yum’ He does it very deliberately, and with a licking of his chops - first left, then right with a ‘Yum’ in between. He even responds appropriately when you say ‘What?’ and ‘Louder, I can’t hear you’ Of course we have even had him tell people on the phone what he wants too.
Jake is his name. When we went to Florida to pick up Christi, we set him up with the run of the kitchen, plenty of puppy pads, 2 waterers full (3 gal. each) and more food than we thought he could possibly eat. Upon returning 5 days later, he had barely eaten or drunk anything. So we were worried about leaving him alone again.
Then, when we had to go to Florida again for the adoption, we decided to put him along with our Great Dane in a kennel. This was a really nice kennel, air conditioned, his bed was on a mini trampoline so they didn’t have to lie on the floor, and the owner pampers all the dogs.
Jake didn’t do very well, sat in the middle of his trampoline all the time and calling to check on him, even talking to him on the phone didn’t help. Again he barely ate or drank.
When we got back, we picked him up and when we got in the car, as though he had spent the whole time we were gone thinking what to say, he put his head up like a wolf howling and ‘told’ us what he wanted..... Very clear, very deliberate - Home - Home - Home. He kept repeating it all the way home...
Even now, when he hears my wife get home from work, he jumps up and announces - ‘Home - Home - Home’.
Your Cotton sure seems to be a receptive student too... You will do very well when you can have your ‘critters’ when you start your survival living... LOL Should we be calling you Ellie Mae (Like -out thar in them Hills of Beverly).
OK, just 8 AM and already I am being bad... Sorry.
Jake is quite a special dog. And can’t bear to be away from you either - you’ll just have to take trips with him from now on ;)
Ellie Mae - wish I looked like her! She was darling.
I’m not sure I have her knack with animals but I do love ‘em. I spoil them and give them treats, so I think that’s why they stick around me. It’s not actually ME they like.
But I do think Cotton is just an Einstein of cats. (Mama braggging here!) She does different things than the others - like exploring everything she can. I am currently painting the house and am always finding her on top of the 6 foot ladder. When I’m trying to get her brother to push the pool ball into a pocket (he’s a slow learner), she will come over and respectfully watch. When he dosn’t get it after a while, she will eventually reach her arm way out and push the ball in for him. Or perhaps she’s showing off (teacher’s pet?)
That sounded like a DelWare pun, so I thought I’d say it first!
I’ve read that cats can see the low frequency end of the visible light spectrum, so I’m trying to teach her colors now. It’s not going well, but it’s fun trying. We’re never happier than when we have a training project. It’s a great way to bond with a pet and keeps them from getting bored as well. She’s getting a bit pudgy now too so I’ve set up an obstacle course for her to learn (I think it’s called an agility course in the cat shows). Anyway, she’ll get some exercise jumping over cans and through hoops and climb a short ladder. She can already do those things but I need her to learn to put it together as one fluid motion.