play tonight consisted of chasing the dot over my bed again. not sure of exact timing for clicking. as she is running, or the instant she stops with the dot on her paw? latter is tricky as it involves me having precise aim. she got tired (or bored) after a few rounds, but still showed interest so i wiggled the target on the bed right in front of her, which she pawed quite firmly several times. kept staring at me after that grew old but wouldn't chase the dot or do any target work so the session was over and i walked away.
later on caught her sitting on her shelf on the plant stand looking into an empty plant pot. c/r twice!
c/r twice for sitting on the paper again. i moved it to the hallway after that but she showed no interest.
from my lap, lured her to walk full circle around the papasan with me sitting in it. been working on this for a few days now, she has been reluctant to go too far up as the chair can be unstable without me to weigh it down. c/r every few steps tonight, with a greenie treat near the top.
managed to catch her with a paw behind the ear when she was grooming. she was a bit surprised at the clicker seemingly out of nowhere, but i got her several times. this is a recommended trick in karen pryor's book, intention is to shape it to look like she's listening hard. also clicked her grooming over her shoulder, hope i can shape this into something like looking over her shoulder.
got to decide when to start adding cues (commands, hand signals etc.). not sure if she is consistent enough in any of her actions to get it, but i will see what can be done tomorrow.
sweet kitten on my lap purring again. there was a moment of dirty look earlier, but i gave a slight nudge and she removed herself from my lap. all good!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
more ledge sitting and target training
this morning she hopped up on the ledge in pursuit of the target (currently a cork stuck on the handle of a paintbrush, originally started with just a pen, but she sometimes found that threatening, so the cork was added, pen was lost, paintbrush found, and all is good), c/r with regular food and she hopped right down in anticipation of breakfast. back up on the ledge with target prompting (a tap on the surface gets her attention) and a little hesitation before jumping up again, c/r. waited a few seconds and she almost jumped off then stopped herself! c/r, count to 5, c/r with brekkies on the floor. yum!
after breakfast she showed interest in going out on the balcony so i offered the target so she had to reach up at the patio door. paw to target, c/r with an open door. she wasn't sure if that was the reward and followed me back to the kitchen to see if there was more. there wasn't. eventually returned to stick her head out the door. i am unsure what to do when she seems unsatisfied with reward, especially as she is expecting food above all else.
as far as aggression goes, she did threaten my hand while on my lap last night. i was typing, of course. it started with little kisses, then graduated to rubbing the front of her teeth on my hand, then a gently test nip, at which point i removed her from my lap, preventing further damage! she accepted this boot and wandered off. hopped back on my lap a bit later and behaved herself, for the most part. dirty looks got another eviction, without argument.
dinner time tonight i started a bit earlier than usual and did some more target training. reaching up a wall, following up the cat tree, reaching out with a paw from the top of a cat tree (a bit hesitant, like she wasn't sure if she wasn't going to fall off!), follow into the bedroom, onto a chair, onto window ledge. preliminary introduction to ringing bells (i have a string of little bells hanging in the window, i think this would be a cute way to get attention). we only got as far as her brushing against them a couple of times, enough to produce sound for c/r, then she lost interest. which meant when we went in the kitchen she was not keen on hopping up on her ledge. got her to touch nose to target once, then tapped target on ledge a few times until she agreed to follow. c/r with greenie cat treat (special!) then a few counts, some with my back to her, and c/r (mix of regular food and greenies) before the final reward of dinner on the floor. bravo!
after breakfast she showed interest in going out on the balcony so i offered the target so she had to reach up at the patio door. paw to target, c/r with an open door. she wasn't sure if that was the reward and followed me back to the kitchen to see if there was more. there wasn't. eventually returned to stick her head out the door. i am unsure what to do when she seems unsatisfied with reward, especially as she is expecting food above all else.
as far as aggression goes, she did threaten my hand while on my lap last night. i was typing, of course. it started with little kisses, then graduated to rubbing the front of her teeth on my hand, then a gently test nip, at which point i removed her from my lap, preventing further damage! she accepted this boot and wandered off. hopped back on my lap a bit later and behaved herself, for the most part. dirty looks got another eviction, without argument.
dinner time tonight i started a bit earlier than usual and did some more target training. reaching up a wall, following up the cat tree, reaching out with a paw from the top of a cat tree (a bit hesitant, like she wasn't sure if she wasn't going to fall off!), follow into the bedroom, onto a chair, onto window ledge. preliminary introduction to ringing bells (i have a string of little bells hanging in the window, i think this would be a cute way to get attention). we only got as far as her brushing against them a couple of times, enough to produce sound for c/r, then she lost interest. which meant when we went in the kitchen she was not keen on hopping up on her ledge. got her to touch nose to target once, then tapped target on ledge a few times until she agreed to follow. c/r with greenie cat treat (special!) then a few counts, some with my back to her, and c/r (mix of regular food and greenies) before the final reward of dinner on the floor. bravo!
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!
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!
