Aw cute!! Hmmm Can ya teach old dogs.....oops I mean cats... new tricks? That would be cute if my cat would fetch!!
She does take walks with us! My son is like mom, you are walking a cat!!
I call her and she walks along side of us. tis cute!
Her latest thing is wanting only water from the bathtub faucet! She will keep on meowing till we turn it on..... OR she will jump in the tub and just lay there till I come in to turn it on. Patience she does have .....sometimes!! Other times, she yells at us (in cat language of course!) because she wants something. She has become quite the communicator in her old age!!
The bathtub thing started when we needed to drip the water for a freeze in the winter months.
My son said one of his friends has a cat that will
ONLY drink water if it has
ICE in it!!
You really have to be careful what you expose them to. They can form the strangest habits, from something they've only seen once, like Ice Water.
What I've taught cats are things like this. I built a scratching post from a plywood board and a 2x4. I wrapped the 2x4 with gnarly rope, and covered it all with carpet. But I had to teach the 2 cats to use it. I held them near it, and rubbed their paws on the rope. It didn't take long. Most cats take to a scratching post naturally, but I've had to teach others to use it.
Another thing I taught 2 Siamese sisters was this... We had one of those poles that goes from ceiling to floor, held up by spring tension, with 3 decks on it. They'd climb up it OK, but the wouldn't climb back down... they'd jump off from the top. When we moved the pole to the Living Room, by our 2-seat lounge chair rocker that was in front of the TV, they'd jump down, and into my Ex's lap, which was a lot of weight to hit you when you're not ready for it. I worked with them, holding them on one deck, and taught them to ease down, one deck at the time. That didn't take long either.
Those are just two examples. I also taught the Siamese Sisters to follow us to the Utility Room at bed time, so we could sleep at night. Maybe once a month, one of them didn't want to go in. I taught them many things over the years, and when I got my new baby, I had to teach her a couple of things too, but she's very smart. The smartest cat I ever had. Maybe because she was feral for a while. Fetch was a natural for her, though. I saw her do it one time, and played with her at it, and now it's a game.
Maybe SJ's technique will work for you, Destiny. I don't know. I've had more trouble teaching dogs things than cats, and couldn't teach a Chiweenie Dog to fetch. I've only tried that once, but my Ex did it, so there's definitely a technique to it, but I have no clue. She also house broke that Chiweenie Dog, after I could not. I guess some people are better with dogs. I'm better with cats. Some people teach animals, even birds, to Lay Down and Play Dead, when they Shoot them with the Hand-Finger Gun and say Bang. I've never had any luck with Tricks... only Practical stuff.
