I watched the most interesting little video this morning on Facebook ! This girl had taken her kitty cat and trained ot to run through the courses like you see the dogs do at the dog shows where they actually perform, and not just theones where they are being judged.
This cat went running along beside her, jusst like the stock dogs do, jumping over the hurdles, and weaving through the little poles, crossing over the see-saw, and the whole routine.
Next, she had the cat stand on her feet while she walked, and then weave in and out between her legs as she walked beside it.
We do not normally think of cats as very trainable animals, but this one sure out performed what most dogs can do !
Maybe we just haven't spent enough time working with cats to see their full potential ?
I was once able to train a cat to retrieve a small ball. It took a lot of patience and time, but it was so cute when he would go running after the ball and bring it back to me. I started by just rolling it a very short distance from me, then helping him pick it up in his mouth. He was the only cat I could teach to do anything other than walk on a leash.
I agree that cats could probably be trained at least somewhat, if we put more effort into trying to train them.
The only one that I ever had that learned to do something was a big white tomcat that we had back when the kids were little. His name was El Cid, and he had an awesome long white coat; so I think he was probably part persian.
He always sat by the dinner table when we ate, and tried to get us to give him a bite of food. When we would hold the food up in front of him, he soon learned to sit up for his treat.
One night my mother & father-in-law came over for dinner.
I told the kids to be sure that Cid was locked in the bedroom because Grandad notoriously didn't like any animals in the house at all, let alone the dinner table.
Well, of course, the door didn't get properly shut, and during dinner, out strolled the cat.
He walked tight over to Grandad, sat down, and then did the prettiest sit-up you have ever seen.
Everyone at the table was holding their breath ! ! My father-in-law just stared at that cat for at least a full minute.
Then, he gently took a bite of roast beef off of his plate, leaned over, and fed it to El Cid......
