Thursday, August 28, 2014

THROWBACK THURSDAY: KITTEN WATCH

Way back in the day, when Gina was a tiny thing, she needed access to litter(now she goes outside) and a place for her food that she could easily get to(now it's on a table). Most people know that dogs love cat food and they even love cat poop...ugh. The most manageable solution in my tiny studio apartment was to set Gina's food and litter up in the bathroom and train the dogs to stay out of the bathroom.


Luckily they took to it easily. I only had to tell them "out" a few times and reward them for getting out or staying out. After a couple days, I could even leave them home alone and they would steer clear of the bathroom and its delicious contents.


Norman developed an adorable habit of watching his new little friend while she hung out in "her" room.


One cool outcome of this training that I did not expect is that to this day, Kaya and Norman avoid all bathrooms. Without me even telling them to, they stay out of all the bathrooms at our new house, my parents' house and any other that we have visited. I would never have known how much I would appreciate it but I realized that it's so nice to not have their paws on the wet floor or their wiggly butts in such cramped quarters.


And it comes in handy when I bring Gina to my parents house where I once again have to set up her litter in the bathroom since she cannot go outside there.


Have you ever experienced any unexpected training benefits? How do you cat/dog people keep your pups from their food and litter?


Related Posts:
Wordless Wednesday: Kitten Crossing
Throwback Thursday: Holding Hands
Throwback Thursday: Kitten Kiss

6 comments:

  1. That's pretty cool that they won't go in any bathrooms now. But how do you bathe them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, good question! That's the one exception. And since they know they're not allowed in the bathroom, they definitely know what it means when I want them to go in it. They hate baths so they always have this dreaded look on their face:(

      Delete
  2. Those pictures are SO cute! We have used, with limited success, baby gates to keep dogs out of catfood. Brook is too determined and one time demolished the gate and gulped four cups of catfood while I was in the shower.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it depends on the dog too. Kaya & Norman have been pretty easy to train. They don't even touch the leftover wet food & raw meat Gina leaves on a plate on the floor! Zoey, on the other hand, does not care how many times I scold her...she always helps herself:/

      Delete
  3. Norman & Kaya are rockstars! Maggie & Duke would never stay out of the bathroom & cat room if we didn't have hooks on the doors. Love the teeny Gina & Norman pics. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have worked a lot on their training but some of it is luck too:) There are other dogs (cough*Zoey*cough) that I can't train to save my life. Oh well...

      Delete