HELP, can't eat in peace

[Mrs.CC]

I didn't say he doesn't drink, just not scotch. I drink scotch. He has other preferences. Usually doesn't require aspirin later.

Not needing aspirin is a good thing!

 

[WitchyWoman]

Feed, you might also want to try scat mats or an air horn or something that makes a loud noise and use it whenever he breaches a boundary.

 

[Niels]

Or you can share your plate with the cat

 

[feedtheflame]

i dont really believe that animals dont understand negatives, atleast not to a certain extent. Even in the animal world, the parents growl or hiss at the young to tell them 'no' as well as scruffing, eye contact etc. so unless you're referring to something different.. Though i do agree that guiding their actions to something else is a lot more effective than trying to acheive complete elimination.

But it worked lastnight. I started blowing at his face and even hissed at him a few times...then he resigned and sat next to me, finally keeping his face off my plate! :D

 

[Kristin]

i dont really believe that animals dont understand negatives, atleast not to a certain extent. Even in the animal world, the parents growl or hiss at the young to tell them 'no' as well as scruffing, eye contact etc. so unless you're referring to something different.. Though i do agree that guiding their actions to something else is a lot more effective than trying to acheive complete elimination.

But it worked lastnight. I started blowing at his face and even hissed at him a few times...then he resigned and sat next to me, finally keeping his face off my plate! :D

They respond to the word no because there is a meaning behind it when you are disciplining. It's not the negative reinforcement that they don't understand, but the physical words. Animals respond definitely to tone of voice, but they also respond to thought. For example, when Zeddie was a kitten I would be keeping close tabs on her when she was integrating into the house and I would think "where is zeddie?" And she would get up and come to me. Sometimes I think of a song, or a person, and my African Grey will say out loud what I am thinking.
When you say "don't chew the couch" what you are picturing in your head is a destroyed couch so what they take from it is destroy the couch. It's really just altering the way you think and vocalizing it in the way that works best

 

[Dantes]

"When you say "don't chew the couch" what you are picturing in your head is a destroyed couch so what they take from it is destroy the couch. It's really just altering the way you think and vocalizing it in the way that works best"

Yep, this is exactly what I meant, mind pictures! ie. if you say "off the counter" they get the picture of the counter, whereas "four feet on the floor" gives a picture of the floor, which is more meaningful to them in the sense of what you want them to actually do. (sorry, getting javascript errors while trying to quote)

 

[Jacq]

HA! I require proof.

What kind of proof? 200? 300?

 

[SV Dad]

What kind of proof? 200? 300?

Thanks Jacq, I didn't catch that!

 

[Treywi]

I know it's bad, but we sit in the living room and eat. We use a water bottle to keep them at bay. The SV took a bit longer then the Bengals, but they now keep a wide berth from the bottle which sits right by our plates. hehe

 

[Jacq]

I eat in the living room too, and yesterday Chuju ran off with a chicken bone which he stole off my plate from right under my nose! I had to chase him down and scruff him to get it back. Cooked chicken bone! AUGGGHHH!