For example, I like to train mine to accept me providing scritches (petting) with my feet and for them to be equally comfortable with using foot as hand
For example, I like to train mine to accept me providing scritches (petting) with my feet and for them to be equally comfortable with using foot as hand
Wow, thank you for this awesome write-up! You didn’t need to go so out of your way to teach a stranger, but I appreciate the heck out of it.
I never would have thought this could work with cats, or any kind of behavioral conditioning for that matter. It’s the exact thing I would expect from a dog-training regimen. Regardless, I’ll give it a shot. I think I’ll see great results from the one who used to be right behind my heels wherever I would go at home. She still adores all attention, but she’s a little more independent now 😊
Thanks again for the tips! You’ll have a share of the credit for any future snoot boops.
You made the mistake of getting me to talk about something I love teaching. The cool part, to me, isn’t that it works with dogs too, it’s that it also works with people. The only difference is people, for the most part, get to decide what they want to be trained to do. Cats and dogs tend to react more directly to the environment. This is a pretty critical part of DBT Theory which is one of the core theories I use whether I’m dealing with a substance use patient or some one who’s chronically self-injurious.
Behavioral Chain Analysis is also pretty cool and fun! It doesn’t even have to be about anything serious. The example given in the class I took was “I want to remember to drink more water,” and the easiest link to break in the chain (iirc) turned out to be proximity to the water, so the solution was to keep the water bottle at the work desk. Here’s a good worksheet if you ever wanna try it but need a good way to write it down.
I used to date a girl who was a psychology major. She was studying behavioral psychology so ever since those days, I’ve respected and appreciated the people who dedicate their careers to understanding the brain.
I’ve figured out the water example on my own after getting a water bottle for work. It started out more as a “I don’t want people to judge me for being a soda fiend, so I should ‘fall in line’” kind of deal, but now I really don’t crave soda at work. Unfortunately at home it’s like a switch gets flipped to “drink sugar now”, but I’m working on it. At least I’m getting lots of water at work. I’m gonna look into the links you provided and see if it helps. Thank you!