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Published on Karen Pryor Clickertraining (http://www.clickertraining.com)

Learning by observation

By Miranda Hersey Helin
Created 2006-05-12 16:28

Sylvia B. wrote in with the following story:

I trained all four of my dogs do a pretty "sit-stay" for me, all lined up in our kitchen, while I cut up some treats instead of having them out of control trying to see what I was doing.
I remember the first time this happened. As I turned around to reward them for such a good stay, there in the middle of all the dogs, sat my little cat, CoCo. I laughed and went on about our business.
Then next time I started to cut up the treats, I was giving the cue [0] for everyone to sit and in ran CoCo, as fast as her little legs would bring her and "Plop!" she sat right along with them!
I gave them all the stay cue and started to cut up the treats. When I turned back around to reward them, CoCo was still there, looking at me with her big green eyes. "Meow," she said!
She did a "sit-stay" along with the dogs and patiently awaited her turn for the treat! This became part of her daily routine from then on.
I have never worked with her with any kind of training and thought to myself--what a waste! She is now 13 years old. My other kitty, now 14, never paid any attention to what we were doing, never showed up for a treat.

Way to go, Coco!

About the author Miranda Hersey Helin is a writer and editor at Pen and Press [1], an editorial services and consulting company. Her writing credits include the Boston Globe, the Boston Globe Magazine, Bay Area Parent, Exceptional Parent, and Carve Magazine.

Source URL:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/512