first entry: one week progress report

written: wednesday, 24 september, 2008 11:30 PM

one week since we started and big improvements! tonight she pawed the target with more vigour than she's shown before, for a piece of her food thrown into the bathtub! she has also started following the target: up and down the cat tree, up onto the kitchen ledge to wait for her dinner (started that yesterday, i think she's already catching on to waiting until her dish is on the floor.)

i was just in the kitchen after hearing her fishing in a sink of dirty dishes for a bit of food i had dropped there earlier. started to clean up a bit since i was there. (thanks chelse!) and lo! she hops up on the ledge of her own accord, after abandoning the top of the fridge (no reward there)! i had to click and reward and she hopped down for the food. called her back and she hopped up again for the target. c/r every few seconds when she stopped meowing. even when a piece fell on the floor she stayed up. i turned my back to be busy for a bit, she stayed up. finished by throwing a piece of food into the hall, then she thought about it briefly and followed the long way round. i asked her if she wanted more by offering the target but she wanted to lead me into the bedroom for more playing on the bed but i declined. definitely enough food for today!

she probably wanted more of the game we are developing. chase the laser pointer dot, catch it with your paw, c/r with food where you caught the dot. almost like catching a fly, but with better success rate, and greater frequency! the best place to chase a dot is on my bed, according to chelsea, which is fine by me when i'm not in it. (i have not been mauled in bed since we started, only once threatened her with spray bottle at the very beginning and she walked away. last night she did kick at my leg under the covers when i invaded her space too much but she stopped without incident.) she obviously likes the sound and feel of zooming around and pouncing on the duvet, and now dot chasing lasts longer than pre-clicker, and is probably more satisfying to end up with something to crunch on rather than nothing but a dot to stare at (or to ignore, or one that just vanishes).

started holding her paws last night when she was grooming on my lap. c/r for relaxing under my touch. little kisses on my hand or arm also c/r, so much better than the threat of a hand mauling when i am typing a long email to a friend!!

caught her sitting on a paper i had left on the floor, c/r twice until she moved. will work on that some more.

keep missing her looking up at the ceiling when a car passes by (she likes to watch the reflections which appear when the sun is in the right place).

missed her turning around for the dot at one point, will work on that with target or dot. maybe i can get her to do it on the ledge for dinner!

she did bite my hand (but not with great force) at one point this afternoon. i was petting her when she was only in the mood for food. i can't remember if i had clicked and tried to reward with a pet. obviously the wrong idea if i did. anyway, she didn't get food after biting! i walked away.

i have been rewarding by opening the door to the balcony, today she sort of hesitated before going out, apparently considering if there was food as well. there wasn't. she seemed okay with that.

glad she is accepting regular food as reward, either after dot chasing, or thrown to chase as a reward. greenies cat treats are too big to keep up with demand, especially as she likes them so much. will have to keep them somewhat special or she'll get bored of them too. i may look into keeping a bit of chopped up cooked chicken in the freezer for variety. she simply doesn't love peppers or mushrooms enough (or is too picky about them) for me to use them as regular rewards.

overall very pleased with results despite my occasional bumble. nice relaxed purring kitty on my lap now, relaxed me typing this account! thank you karen pryor and all those sensible clicker trainers out there!