When the kid's were real young, they had this cat that bit me when I was feeding it. It landed in the middle of the garage door and then came back and bit me again. Fortunately it was Easter and when they noticed him missing I told them the Easter Bunny needed a helper. They no longer buy this, but it worked for several years. (Danny 86 days to Easter [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] )
My cat used to claw on one leg of the coffee table. She was yelled at, swatted, sprayed with water, and everything else I could think of. Finally, she would claw at the table leg and stare straight at me. The instant I started to move, she would run away. [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
Therefore, I believe they can't be too stupid. They're smart enough to mess with us. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]
Ever see them in a circus...Ringling Brothers ???Amazing....what they get them to do...the trainers say they use a whole different approach to training a cat.....
<font color="purple"> Yes, cats are untrainable and it's because they are just plain stupid! </font color>
Yes, cats are untrainable, but it is not because they are stupid. They are actually quite clever animals.
How are you defining "stupid"...that you cannot train them to heel, or canter, or walk through a gate? [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
I would suggest the stupid end of the stick is the homo sapiens who tries to "train" a cat. No offense to Mosey, who is still learning [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Hank - I'm not trying to train them to do anything complicated like "heel, or canter, or walk through a gate". I'm just trying to get them to understand that if they poop in location "A", they get punished and if they poop in location "B", they get fed and no harm comes to them.
I decided to try what LazyJ_Arabians suggested. I moved their house to the edge of the woods. I mounted it up on a tree about 3' up and put a ramp for them to easily climb up in it. I faced it so the sun will shine in it during the day. I hauled a bunch of fresh dry sand from the kids sandbox (that needs to be replaced anyway) out to the sandpile and then parked my trailer over it to keep the sand dry. I moved their feed bowls to right under their house. I folded up and put all the lawn chairs in the garage, so there is no comfortable place for them to sleep near the house now. Starting on Saturday, I feed them out under their house now.
I also watered down the mulch real good Saturday, since it finally got up above freezing, and then it froze that night and has stayed cold so it's frozen solid now and they can't dig in it. The dry sand is the only place they can dig (besides the loose leaves in the woods).
So far, this is working. They eat and stay out by the woods for a while after they eat. They do come up by the house after a while. We got about an inch of snow and I don't see any cat tracks in the mulch, so they have been staying out of there. Tiny still remembers her training from a few months ago when I would go out to the sandpile every morning and evening and then give them treats if they pooped in the sand, because now when I go out there to feed them she still heads for the sand first and tries to go before eating. Tiger eats right away though. I think I blew it a few months ago when I thought I had them trained and started feeding them up by the house. I should have kept feeding them back by the woods. I won't make that mistake again.
Sounds like you have developed a good plan of action, Danny. If this approach fails put in a flowerbed near the woods in the area that you want them to do their business and maybe they will use it out of spite! Of course I am suggesting using reverse psychology on animals that do not understand human concepts (or do they???) but, hey, whatcha got to lose?! [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]
Chris - I sure hope it works. I'm running out of patience! Sometimes I can't help but think they do some things just to spite me. This is probably their last chance though. I might try planting some catnip, I heard they're supposed to like the smell.
Al_Wa - Thanks for the encouragement. I was cooped up in the house for too long due to the cold weather anyway, so when it got above freezing, I was ready to get out and do some kind of project anyway. Plus, I'm trying my best to make this work out for the kids sake.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote