Agility at home! Guests for a week! A breakthrough in a behavior problem! September was a month of upheaval for our family. It started with us buying and moving into our first house, and finally having space to set up an agility course at home. After that, my parents came to visit for a week, which provided all the pets with lots of socialization opportunities. Finally, seizing the opportunity to start anew, I tried once again to keep Rainy off the counter tops, and this time might have found a long-term solution.
Back in February of this year, I wrote an article called Cat Agility, where I shared my attempts to replicate an obstacle course at home. At the time, the biggest hindrances were space and cost. Regarding space, I even posted questions to a Facebook agility group, asking members: “Where does everyone practice?” It turned out that I wasn’t alone. Others were doing agility in the hallway of their apartment building or in the living room. And we all were frustrated that we couldn’t leave our equipment up to use as time allowed. Hence, my excitement that I could reserve a portion of our new home’s finished basement for agility. At last, the pets and I could do agility whenever we want without the hassle of having to put up and take down a course. Moreover, I now can teach agility to even our shyest cat. As for cost, there are economical ways to build an agility course. As I noted in my Cat Agility article, I found a small affordable tunnel at Toys R Us. In addition, I bought two sets of weave poles and hoops for cats from Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Since writing my article, I also bought a foam jump through Lincoln Pet Exchange. Next purchases will be the supplies for an A-Frame and a pet walk!
In September, my parents came to visit for a week. None of the cats had met them before. Rainy hung back initially, but by the evening she was coaxing them for food and attention. Throughout their stay, she also tried to visit them in the guest room more than once while they were sleeping. Also, during my parents’ visit, we invited friends over twice for games. Rainy once again made her presence known. We also had my in-laws (Andy’s parents) over for a visit. All the pets welcomed them. They brought their dog too. Prior to this, Rainy had met their dog a few times at their home. For the most part, Toby maintained a respectful distance from Rainy, but they remain curious about one another too. I suspect one day they might even become play buddies! All these visits have got me thinking again about Rainy’s potential as a therapy cat. Keep watch for future articles on this front
“Down!” “Get off!” “Leave it!” If you’ve ever yelled any of these commands at your pets, you’re not alone. Rainy is over two years old, and until recently nothing that we’ve tried has successfully kept her off our counters. First, we attempted the standard methods of using a spray bottle, double-sided tape on placemats, aluminum foil, and cans with coins in them. The idea behind all these contraptions was to make the counter unappealing, and indeed they’ve worked with other cats of ours. Unfortunately, none of these things have ever fazed Rainy. Next, we tried creative methods such as motion-activated deterrents. Andy found these scary rubber snakes that strike out when they detect movement. The first few times Rainy got “attacked” by these, she fled the kitchen. But the prospect of food encouraged her to persist, and soon she had learned how to stay out of the reach of the snakes. Then I tried an idea I got from a podcast. Just before preparing food I let Rainy down into the basement, where I let her explore until I had all the cat dishes filled. My latest idea has been the most successful. While I prepare the cats’ food, I have Rainy sit on a small stool next to me. Each time I open a new can, if she has kept her bottom on the stool, I let her lick food from my finger. This way, instead of simply restricting her access to food, I’m rewarding her good behavior. This idea has worked so well that as soon as I place the stool next to our kitchen countertop, Rainy jumps up on it and gives me her attention.
With the arrival of October, life is more settled at the Frederick household, and I’ve finally resumed daily training with the pets. I’ve also begun a new kind of training, one that involves all the pets, and will introduce you to it in my next installment of Rainy’s adventures.
Reprinted with permission from Lincoln Animal Ambassadors Pet Talk. This article is original in content and not to be reproduced without permission. Copyright 2017.
Book Blogs
members read, blog, write, and publicize books
Children's Book Review
helping adults to grow readers by offering reviews and book lists of the best books for kids of all ages, as well as interviews and literacy-based articles
Fourth Musketeer
Reviews of historical fiction and nonfiction for young people
From the Mixed-Up Files
group blog of middle-grade authors celebrating books for middle-grade readers.
Kid Reads
info about favorite books, series, and authors for kids
Kids Right To Read
Offers support, education, and advocacy to people facing book challenges or bans and engages local activists in promoting the freedom to read.
Midwest Review
major Internet resource of reviews for publishers, writers, librarians, booksellers, and book lovers of all ages and interests
Nonfiction Monday
Rounding up the best nonfiction for children and teens.
Teen Text Talk
reviews and teacher advisories for young adult literature
Américas Award for Children’s & Young Adult Literature
CLASP founded the Américas Award in 1993 to encourage and commend authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.
American Library Association Awards
awards include Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott, Sibert, Theodor Giesel, and Laura Ingalls Wilder medals
Children's Book Awards
The Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards is the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by children and teens.
Christy Award
The Christy Awards are awarded each year to recognize novels of excellence written from a Christian worldview.
Cybils
children and young adult blogger literacy awards
Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award
The Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award was initiated in 2000 to recognize authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality fictional and biographical books for young people that appropriately portray individuals with developmental disabilities
Hans Christian Anderson Award
The Hans Christian Andersen Awards is given to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature. The award is the highest international recognition an author can receive.
Middle East Book Award
The Middle East Book Award recognizes quality books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of the Middle East and its component societies and cultures.
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award
Honors fantasy books for younger readers, in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia
National Book Award
Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
Red House Book Award
The Red House Children’s Book Award is a series of literary prizes for works of children’s literature published during the previous year in England.
Sydney Taylor Award
The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
Top Ten Tuesday
Born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
YALSA Awards
YALSA honors the best teen literature each year with its six literary awards, including Alex, Morris, and Printz.
Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind
blog about children’s and YA books set in Asia, with Asian characters or characters of Asian descent, and with Asian authors and illustrators or of Asian descent.
IBBY
international network of people from all over the world who are committed to bringing books and children together
Jewish Book Council
book list curated by the Association of Jewish Libraries, which fosters access to information, learning, teaching and research related to the Jewish experience
Latinos in Kid Lit
Exploring the World of Latino YA, MG, and Children’s Literature
Oyate
educational organization that reviews children’s literature and advocates for Native Americans to be portrayed with historical accuracy and cultural appropriateness
Paper Tigers
emphasis on books set in Pacific Rim and Asia
Sea Stacks
information about Atlantic Canada books for children and young people
The Brown Bookshelf
push awareness of the myriad of African American voices writing for young readers.
Saturday Snapshot
To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and write a caption for it.
Six Word Saturday
All that’s necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words.
Wish List Wednesday
Post about one book per week that has been on your wishlist for some time, or just added, that you can’t wait to get off the wishlist and onto your wonderful shelves.
Feline Friday
All you have to do is post a picture of a cat on your website.
Saturday Review
Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week.
December 23, 2017 at 6:08 pm
• ★ Merry ★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★ Christmas 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚| 田田 |門| ˚And a Happy New Year
* Joy to all! ♫•*¨* Peace on Earth ♪♫•*¨*
December 23, 2017 at 6:12 pm
❤