tl;dr. My dog (TuxeDog) and the more bold and human-oriented of my two cats (TortieCat) don’t get along very well. Below, I introduce the basic outlines of the situation and write up my first CatSite TortieCat training log detailing cuddles, crate training, and nosework.
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Context.
TuxeDog & TortieCat didn’t get along very well. I now understand that they were both exhibiting species appropriate behavior and neither was likely in danger. However, at the time I knew much less about animal behavior and training, did not have access to a trainer, and was pretty stressed out by it all. About 2 years ago, TortieCat moved in with MrLoverMan. MrLoverMan and I got married a week ago (huzzah!) and so over the past couple months we’ve been working with an excellent trainer whose written up amazing training plans for us and coaches us in the implementation of said training plans. The training plans at this stage include introducing TuxeDog & TortieCat to each others scents, which they’ve taken to well. The next step is to introduce them to sight through a barrier at a distance. That’s been slowed down by TortieCat not being acclimated to a cat carrier or transportation. The training plan also includes adapted nosework and freeshaping for TortieCat as means of mental stimulation/to help her chilllllllllll out.
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28 July 2018
Cuddles & Scritches.
MrLoverMan & I dropped by MrLoverMan's former residence tonight to check in on TortieCat and work on some training. We just let her love on us. I was a little concerned because MrLoverMan was petting her with robust nose-tip to tail-tip strokes and I commented, “I don't want her to get overstimulated.” So, then instead of back to back strokes MrLoverMan began to pause between strokes and allow TortieCat to approach him for the next stroke. Also, he started focusing more on face scritches with his fingers and less on full bodied strokes with the full palm of his hand and fingers. I think it helped as TortieCat's tail switching died down, her muscles appeared slightly less tense and the tongue flicking died down a little. There was a lot of distractions around, including two toddlers, and much of TortieCat's attention was on the sounds and movements in the room. She appeared more vigilant than usual, as expressed by quick movements in the direction of various sounds, increased body tension, and at some of the sounds she wouldn't just startle but her pupils would dilate, too. Poor TortieCat! [~10 minutes]
Crate Training.
We moved onto a quiet bedroom to work on the crate training. Ideally, we'd help her adapt to the crate, and then to being moved within the crate, and then to traveling in the car. I thought we had another month to work on this. However, after observing the new toddlers on the scene, we might be speeding things up a bit and cutting a few corners.
Crate training went much better than expected. We got the side door within one inch of closing and the front door within two inches of closing while providing an open tuna bar of treats with minimal stress indicators that I was noticing. I already knew from MrLoverMan's reports that she was comfortable eating treats while inside the cage but had trouble taking treats with the doors closed. We don't have a “kennel up” on command yet. So, we used a mixture of luring and capturing (I think that's what it's called? When the animal just does something on their own and you click and treat when they are in approximately the position you want SHAPING it's called shaping.) So, we utilized a mixture of luring and shaping where I rewarded her first for two paws in the crate, then three paws, and then when her entire body and all 4 paws were in the crate I offered verbal praise and an open bar of treats. Then, I continued the open bar and gentle verbal praise while closing each door by micro-meters at a time. Eventually, she heard something outside and ran for the door. Still, that seemed like a successful session. [Both doors within 2” of closing. ~10 minutes.]
Nosework.
I moved the crate out of the room and began to prepare for an adapted nosework session. (My trainer utilizes an adapted form of nosework for behavior modification and refers out to a NACSW certified trainer for dog owners interested in competitive/formal/sport nosework.) Ideally, TortieCat would be in a separate room while I set up the field but, toddlers.
I set up 6 finds in the room. This one took TortieCat a while. I think she primarily used her eyes and not her nose. When she was sniffing, it was primarily along the edge of the room and I think that has more to do with the fact that the room we were in used to be MrLoverMan’s/her room and she was checking for her own and other familiar scents. Also, there were lots of sounds and things going on outside the bedroom that she seemed to be paying attention to. Most of the time, the base of her tail was either parallel to the ground, or pointing downwards toward the ground. Occasionally the base of her tail would raise upwards at a 45 degree angle towards the ceiling. Regardless of the position of the base of her tail, the length of her tail was in a slow swish the entire time.
Once she navigated towards the finds, she seemed to start to “get it.” As soon as she started to eat the piece of tuna at a find, I offered verbal praise and placed a little more tuna in the same location on the find. Each time we repeated this (she locates a find, starts to eat the tuna at the find, I praise and offer more tuna via the find) she was quicker to locate the next find.
Something that I found super interesting was that while she didn’t appear to be using her nose to locate the finds (I think she used sight), she would sometimes leave a tiny bit of tuna that would tumble down the side (I was using plastic bowls, turned upside down. TuxeDog has a traditional doggy snout, and I usually use a plastic bowl right side up with him but I was afraid a similar setup would irritate TortieCat’s whiskers and thought she might respond better to a more flat presentation.) Anyhow, she would sometimes miss or knock down some of the tuna. Then, when she would circle back to find that knocked down/off bit of tuna, it was very clear that she was using her nose/scent to locate the little bits of tuna that she had missed.
When MrLoverMan re-entered the room, TortieCat darted for the door and exited the room. At that point, we were about 20 minutes in and she had located 4 of the 6 finds. [4/6 finds. ~20 minutes.]
Toddlers & Time Constraints.
Just prior to MrLoverMan's and my departure, we observed the two toddlers chasing TortieCat back and forth. While we were planning for a more slow and steady introduction period, the stress of toddlers may be greater than the stress of sharing a new home with TuxeDog. We may be looking at moving TortieCat in sooner rather than later and just keeping her separated from TuxeDog whenever they aren't actively involved in training. This will require some thinking due to (1) 500 sqft 1 bedroom 1 bath apartment and (2) my bedroom has the best white noise, which is important for sound sensitive TuxeDog. We'll figure it out.
---
Context.
TuxeDog & TortieCat didn’t get along very well. I now understand that they were both exhibiting species appropriate behavior and neither was likely in danger. However, at the time I knew much less about animal behavior and training, did not have access to a trainer, and was pretty stressed out by it all. About 2 years ago, TortieCat moved in with MrLoverMan. MrLoverMan and I got married a week ago (huzzah!) and so over the past couple months we’ve been working with an excellent trainer whose written up amazing training plans for us and coaches us in the implementation of said training plans. The training plans at this stage include introducing TuxeDog & TortieCat to each others scents, which they’ve taken to well. The next step is to introduce them to sight through a barrier at a distance. That’s been slowed down by TortieCat not being acclimated to a cat carrier or transportation. The training plan also includes adapted nosework and freeshaping for TortieCat as means of mental stimulation/to help her chilllllllllll out.
---
28 July 2018
Cuddles & Scritches.
MrLoverMan & I dropped by MrLoverMan's former residence tonight to check in on TortieCat and work on some training. We just let her love on us. I was a little concerned because MrLoverMan was petting her with robust nose-tip to tail-tip strokes and I commented, “I don't want her to get overstimulated.” So, then instead of back to back strokes MrLoverMan began to pause between strokes and allow TortieCat to approach him for the next stroke. Also, he started focusing more on face scritches with his fingers and less on full bodied strokes with the full palm of his hand and fingers. I think it helped as TortieCat's tail switching died down, her muscles appeared slightly less tense and the tongue flicking died down a little. There was a lot of distractions around, including two toddlers, and much of TortieCat's attention was on the sounds and movements in the room. She appeared more vigilant than usual, as expressed by quick movements in the direction of various sounds, increased body tension, and at some of the sounds she wouldn't just startle but her pupils would dilate, too. Poor TortieCat! [~10 minutes]
Crate Training.
We moved onto a quiet bedroom to work on the crate training. Ideally, we'd help her adapt to the crate, and then to being moved within the crate, and then to traveling in the car. I thought we had another month to work on this. However, after observing the new toddlers on the scene, we might be speeding things up a bit and cutting a few corners.
Crate training went much better than expected. We got the side door within one inch of closing and the front door within two inches of closing while providing an open tuna bar of treats with minimal stress indicators that I was noticing. I already knew from MrLoverMan's reports that she was comfortable eating treats while inside the cage but had trouble taking treats with the doors closed. We don't have a “kennel up” on command yet. So, we used a mixture of luring and capturing (I think that's what it's called? When the animal just does something on their own and you click and treat when they are in approximately the position you want SHAPING it's called shaping.) So, we utilized a mixture of luring and shaping where I rewarded her first for two paws in the crate, then three paws, and then when her entire body and all 4 paws were in the crate I offered verbal praise and an open bar of treats. Then, I continued the open bar and gentle verbal praise while closing each door by micro-meters at a time. Eventually, she heard something outside and ran for the door. Still, that seemed like a successful session. [Both doors within 2” of closing. ~10 minutes.]
Nosework.
I moved the crate out of the room and began to prepare for an adapted nosework session. (My trainer utilizes an adapted form of nosework for behavior modification and refers out to a NACSW certified trainer for dog owners interested in competitive/formal/sport nosework.) Ideally, TortieCat would be in a separate room while I set up the field but, toddlers.
I set up 6 finds in the room. This one took TortieCat a while. I think she primarily used her eyes and not her nose. When she was sniffing, it was primarily along the edge of the room and I think that has more to do with the fact that the room we were in used to be MrLoverMan’s/her room and she was checking for her own and other familiar scents. Also, there were lots of sounds and things going on outside the bedroom that she seemed to be paying attention to. Most of the time, the base of her tail was either parallel to the ground, or pointing downwards toward the ground. Occasionally the base of her tail would raise upwards at a 45 degree angle towards the ceiling. Regardless of the position of the base of her tail, the length of her tail was in a slow swish the entire time.
Once she navigated towards the finds, she seemed to start to “get it.” As soon as she started to eat the piece of tuna at a find, I offered verbal praise and placed a little more tuna in the same location on the find. Each time we repeated this (she locates a find, starts to eat the tuna at the find, I praise and offer more tuna via the find) she was quicker to locate the next find.
Something that I found super interesting was that while she didn’t appear to be using her nose to locate the finds (I think she used sight), she would sometimes leave a tiny bit of tuna that would tumble down the side (I was using plastic bowls, turned upside down. TuxeDog has a traditional doggy snout, and I usually use a plastic bowl right side up with him but I was afraid a similar setup would irritate TortieCat’s whiskers and thought she might respond better to a more flat presentation.) Anyhow, she would sometimes miss or knock down some of the tuna. Then, when she would circle back to find that knocked down/off bit of tuna, it was very clear that she was using her nose/scent to locate the little bits of tuna that she had missed.
When MrLoverMan re-entered the room, TortieCat darted for the door and exited the room. At that point, we were about 20 minutes in and she had located 4 of the 6 finds. [4/6 finds. ~20 minutes.]
Toddlers & Time Constraints.
Just prior to MrLoverMan's and my departure, we observed the two toddlers chasing TortieCat back and forth. While we were planning for a more slow and steady introduction period, the stress of toddlers may be greater than the stress of sharing a new home with TuxeDog. We may be looking at moving TortieCat in sooner rather than later and just keeping her separated from TuxeDog whenever they aren't actively involved in training. This will require some thinking due to (1) 500 sqft 1 bedroom 1 bath apartment and (2) my bedroom has the best white noise, which is important for sound sensitive TuxeDog. We'll figure it out.
