jumpingjacktrash:

blenderweaselhasopinions:

hollowedskin:

prokopetz:

Trainability in cats is a funny thing.

My cats understand and will obey a number of verbal commands, one of which is “go away”. I don’t use it often, but if they’re bugging me and I’m trying to work or doing something that could be dangerous for cats, I can tell them to go away, and off they go – they’ll only keep pestering me if there’s a serious problem they need me to look at.

That said, their idea of a serious problem that requires my attention is somewhat eccentric. Previous instances have included:

• There was an unfamiliar car parked across the street
• Their water bowl was four inches to the left of its usual position
• One of them had puked on the stairs and they didn’t want to walk past it
• It was raining
• One of them saw a weird bug

These are all very important things that required your attention. They’re doing a good job.

Dogs really aren’t much better.  I teach all my dogs the command “show me”.  How it works is if the dog needs something but I’m having trouble understanding what exactly they’re trying to tell me, I say “show me” and they lead me to whatever the problem is.  Usually they lead me to a real problem (like a toy that got stuck under the couch, their water bowl is empty, etc).  But sometimes they want me to fix things like this-

• They pulled the covers off my bed and now they want me to put the covers back
• They put their ball on top of the ottoman but the ottoman won’t throw it for them
• The cat is sleeping and won’t chase them
• A flower fell off the potted plant
• The cat is sitting in a box and they don’t like it
• One of them lost their bandana
• The cat won’t take the toy they’re trying to give her
• The cat DID take the toy they gave her and now they want it back

my cats have learned ‘show me’ as well. my favorite result is the time when molly cat fetched seebs to complain that her sun puddle had gone up the wall, and would we please put it back where it belongs, thank you.