Nisba Clicker Training Session #2: Targeting and Touching

Nisba and I met in my room for our clicker session this time, so that he would be less prone to distraction. Almost immediately, he went for the targeting, following the spoon all around the bed. I though that since he was more than willing to follow the spoon around the bed, that he might be ready to follow it further.

Sure enough, he followed the spoon onto the bed and off of the bed, and then around the bedroom a bit. I didn't necessarily click every time he touched the spoon with his nose, but rather when he was following it around for different lengths of time. I'm not sure if that will reinforce following the object or if it will undermine touching the object, but following is enough for me.

We took a break, me wanting to keep him interested in the game without pushing too far (I'm new at this, so there's only so much I can come up with for him to do with targeting without planning ahead). When I was sitting down on the couch, he jumped into my lap, and I decided that this would be the perfect time to try getting him used to being touched all over, since he gets finicky about his belly and chest.

I had Mark go get the clicker and treats, and started to work with him. He let me touch his chin and his chest, and I broke up the behaviors with normal petting along the head and back to calm him down (he got to trying to search out the treats, so I needed to calm him down so that he would display the behavior I wanted, rather than making the mistake of reinforcing his searching). Whenever he bit, I would put him down and not have anything to do with him. He waited a bit, and then came back to my lap (this happened twice), and we would start over.

So far, he hasn't tried biting Mark or my other room mates since our session's end. I think this is a good step in the right direction. :) I also finished reading the clicker training book, and reread some of the earlier training things to refresh myself so that I can remember it better. I have high hopes for Nisba; he's already responding very well to it, even if it's just for the treats (he's kind of a pig; we keep him on a feeding schedule at a set amount of food per day for a reason) at this point.

I think he understands the game, though. When I was petting his head and back, he watched me as if trying to figure out what random place I was going to touch next. It was kind of cool. I know he's a smart cat ("smart cat" seems redundant in many ways), and I know he's starting to respond mentally to the training already, but it's hard to explain beyond the way he was watching me. It was the same as when someone watches you while trying to figure out something about you personally.

Next session, should I have time, is tomorrow. :) I'm hoping to work on touching and teaching him to come when called, while also maintaining targeting practice.