tl;dr. My primary interest is in training and behavior. I'm also interested in learning more from breeders that focus explicitly on breeding for behaviour. John Bradshaw's Cat Sense is pretty cool, particularly his closing chapter on the future of cats. My current thinking is also heavily influenced by Pam Johnson-Bennett, Sarah Ellis, Marci L Koski, the dog trainer Patricia McConnell, and in general the "evidence based/science based" training movements.
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Hi all. My name is Caesg. I generally prefer the discussion board/forum format over other forms of social media when it comes to the ability to form in depth discussions and reference previously shared content. A short poke around the internet and it looks like thecatsite is the most active current discussion board/form focusing on cats. So, here I am!
I am most interested in finding a space and online community where I can share and maintain a training log and chat with other folks interested in cat training for quality of life, household integration, relationship building, and husbandry purposes. Although, who knows, maybe we'll mix some silly trick training and the like in there at some point. We'll see!
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The following are secondary interests. Although, there a little harder to explain, and thus come out more wordy:
Since reading John Bradshaw's book Cat Sense several years ago, I've developed an interest in breeding and raising of companion/pet cats. I'm not interested in breeding myself. However, I'd be very interested in playing a supportive role to breeders influenced by Bradshaw's thoughts as outlined in Chapter 11 "Cats of the Future" or if not by Bradshaw specifically than influenced by other science and sociology-based thinkers in the cat world.
In a very oversimplified summary, Bradford muses over specifically breeding for (first health, and then second) the following characteristics: decreased hunt and kill motivation, increased comfort living in multicat households (mix of breeding and early training & husbandry), affection towards humans (mix of breeding, early training & husbandry). I imagine that most breeders account for all these things in their breeding program. It's more that he was musing over explicit work towards a new breed of cat whose pedigree would be primarily behaviour based. Off the top of my head, I imagine that ragdolls would be the closest to a current pedigree cat that utilizes a similar method.
Along a similar line, my current trainer tried offering "Kitten Kindergarten" at the local shelter. They didn't have many takers. However, I'd be super interested in talking with folks that have successfully developed a local community of cat enthusiasts that prioritize science based training and socialization among kittens and cats!
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Hi all. My name is Caesg. I generally prefer the discussion board/forum format over other forms of social media when it comes to the ability to form in depth discussions and reference previously shared content. A short poke around the internet and it looks like thecatsite is the most active current discussion board/form focusing on cats. So, here I am!
I am most interested in finding a space and online community where I can share and maintain a training log and chat with other folks interested in cat training for quality of life, household integration, relationship building, and husbandry purposes. Although, who knows, maybe we'll mix some silly trick training and the like in there at some point. We'll see!
~
The following are secondary interests. Although, there a little harder to explain, and thus come out more wordy:
Since reading John Bradshaw's book Cat Sense several years ago, I've developed an interest in breeding and raising of companion/pet cats. I'm not interested in breeding myself. However, I'd be very interested in playing a supportive role to breeders influenced by Bradshaw's thoughts as outlined in Chapter 11 "Cats of the Future" or if not by Bradshaw specifically than influenced by other science and sociology-based thinkers in the cat world.
In a very oversimplified summary, Bradford muses over specifically breeding for (first health, and then second) the following characteristics: decreased hunt and kill motivation, increased comfort living in multicat households (mix of breeding and early training & husbandry), affection towards humans (mix of breeding, early training & husbandry). I imagine that most breeders account for all these things in their breeding program. It's more that he was musing over explicit work towards a new breed of cat whose pedigree would be primarily behaviour based. Off the top of my head, I imagine that ragdolls would be the closest to a current pedigree cat that utilizes a similar method.
Along a similar line, my current trainer tried offering "Kitten Kindergarten" at the local shelter. They didn't have many takers. However, I'd be super interested in talking with folks that have successfully developed a local community of cat enthusiasts that prioritize science based training and socialization among kittens and cats!