Missy's Corner

When someone says, "I'm thinking of getting a pet to keep me company," people suggest dogs for companionship; after all, they are man's best friend and they learn to depend on you for everything.  Even now you can design a dog to fit your needs!  For instance, my brother has been jonesing for a puppy since August of last year.  While he was on vacation here, his free time was eaten up by researching for the perfect dog and the candidates at the time were the Australian Cattle dog, a Yorkie, and a Golden-doodle.  Those of you who don't know what a Golden-doodle is, imagine a dog that is part Golden Retriever and part Poodle.  Interesting mix, no?  In the end, that's the dog breed my brother went for and he found a breeder that has been creating these puppies for so long, he was able to choose certain attributes he wanted the dog to have; curly hair versus straight hair, tall or short, some what active or hyper-active and just this past February, his puppy was born!  (Congratulations to him by the way!  Cutie puppy pictures here!)

I've learned something over the past year about companionship from pets, and that is don't count cats out.  Before I was a cat owner, I always assumed cats were these aloof creatures that preferred the top of the refrigerator then a nice warm lap.   They sleep 14 hours a day, purr when they are happy with you, and you can't train them to do anything they don't want to do (i.e. nothing).  But, Monkey and Savannah are slowly proving me wrong.  I have learned that the aloofness of cats is all an act; they are always listening to you and watching you, they just choose not to respond.  For instance, when Kitty or Savannah would lay down with their backs to us and we'd call their names, eyes would open or ears would turn.  They knew we were talking to them, but they didn't want to recognize us.  This got me thinking, can these three cats learn their names and respond?  So, I embarked on the laughable task of training a cat.  I picked up some tips from dog training shows like "It's Me or the Dog" and put them into action.

With my hand and pockets full of treats and a clicker at the ready, I started pairing the clicker sound with a treat; every time I clicked I gave the cats a yummy treat.  Then I upped the ante and now, the cats only got a treat and click when they looked at me.  The final step was to start inserting a name when they looked at me.  Lo and behold, it worked!  I can now get Monkey to look at Mister or me about 90% of the time we call his name and Savannah looks about 60% of the time, while Kitty still responds if she wants to.

The next item on my list was to try and get the kittens to learn the "leave it command."  That was also an adventure!  Since I do a lot of crocheting, I have pieces in all different states of completeness all over the house.  I used to keep the items I was working on under the living room coffee table, till we woke up one morning with all my pieces in different states of chaos.  Some were pulled apart, some were obviously chewed, and most were drowned or drowning in the water bowl.  I started by holding a treat in my hand so they can sniff it but not get to it, and rewarded them every time they pulled their noses away.  Then, I added the words "Leave It!" and eventually got Monkey to the point where he would leave the treat unattended on the floor till I gave him the OK (unfortunately, he has now regressed).  I didn't think Savannah was getting the idea, until I was able to put it to the test.  I was working on some crocheted flowers and I saw her jump onto the table to sniff them.  Before I realized what the mischief-maker was up to, she swooped one up and ran under our bed.  I quickly grabbed the treats and every time she lifted her face away from the flower I said "leave it" and rewarded her; eventually, she was more interested in the treats then the flower and I lured her out and got it back.  Still, there will be mornings when I wake to discover she's climbed the bookshelf to get to some hidden craft, but its a start.

But what does this all have to do with companionship you ask?  Well, there were a few nights that I couldn't get to sleep or mornings I had trouble getting up and Monkey would get visibly worried.  One night in particular, I was not falling asleep.  I had watched hours of television and even tried reading to get my eyes droopy.  While watching the rerun of the 11pm news (just to show how late I was up) Monkey comes crying in and hops up on the bed.  He takes his little head and starts to nudge my hand.  I figure he's just being a pets-hog, but instead of wanting the rub, he just laid down and snuggled with me.  With out any provocation, he turned his purr-box on full and he stayed there, in my arms till the morning.  Another wonderful morning, I decided I was going to sleep in.  At normal wake-up time, Monkey came in to check on me and when I didn't get up, he snuggled with me again.   He stayed with me right up until I rolled out of bed.  It's nice to know that he cares, and it was amazing for me to see a cat outwardly show emotion.  Even Savannah does it now!  As I'm writing this post, it is raining and thundering something fierce outside, and she keeps coming to snuggle! 

Mister swears up and down that these kittens are not "cats" in the normal sense of the word.  They are too snuggley and, for the most part, respect our rules.  As far as we know, all three cats know the counters and dining room table are off limits and know being up there is wrong.  Whenever Monkey is caught on the table, all it takes is a little "UH-UH!" and he's off in a flash; and on the rare occasions that doesn't work, once we stand up he jumps off and saunters into the bathroom for kitten time-out. I'm hoping the training will get better as we go and hope to soon report more successes.

I'm sorry I missed my post last month and I'll try to keep on top of it better.  Especially, since next month is a pretty important month!  Just a few business type things, I am still painting and crafting my little heart out, so please feel free to view my pieces at Missy's Creative Corner.  There is a menu link at the top that will always announce when I've updated the site with new artwork.  Feedback is always appreciated!  Also, all lolcat pictures were found at icanhascheezburger.com.  Enjoy!