"The Yin and the Yang," or, "Enter, Tricky-Woo"

Tricky-Woo's 'good morning' face!

Just when one begins to think that all the world's a lemon, there appears a teaspoon of sugar,"Tricky-Woo"  ~ life's Yin and Yang are once again in balance.  It's not that I haven't begun to appreciate the subtle, individual personality of each wildcat I've come to know, it's just that Tricky-Woo's mood swings are far less complicated, and as far as I can tell, they only fluctuate between 'extremely happy' and "do not disturb."

This week, the facility has added their Red Panda to my training list.  The behaviors they would like to see in place are as follows:  1) Stationing,  2) Targeting,  3) Stand on a scale, and 4) Get into a transport container.  I think I will add a fifth, a 'high-five' with both the right and the left front paws.  I feel this might be a nice behavior to train, mainly because it's a good one for veterinary care (looking at the pads of the feet) and also, because she looks like she's just plain ready to "high-five!" something!

We'll start with an introductory period, and then move on to stationing.  I'lI need to find out where her taste preferences lie.  I know they eat tons of eucalyptus leaves, but perhaps for something special, she might be tempted by a juicy grape...we'll see.

As for the cat's upcoming week, we have just 3 more days of observation, and then the fun begins.  Out comes the clicker, followed by fish meatballs.  I'll have to be careful where I place the food reinforcers as the cats always seem to be ready to fight with each other.  The last fist fight, if I recall correctly, started when Nod made eye contact with Winkin' -apparently their patrolling paths lined up for a direct hit and neither cat wanted to step aside. 

Anyway, I'll have to make sure the rules are clear -only quiet cats will get a fishball !!  However, if no posts appear on this blog during the next week or two, you'll know someone broke the rules and I ended up in the middle of it all.

Lessons learned 

Make a plan -be flexible in your presentation,

but have a plan and know where you're going!

Plan #1 -Cats:

begin training 'self control.'  Quiet behavior

receives a 'click', followed by a tiny fishball-on-a-stick

Plan #2 - Red Panda: 

Introduce myself.  Spend time in his enclosure -sit quietly- observe her behavior

...and be ready with a soft 'click' and a grape.