Introducing a Kitten to your adult Dog

My dad's new kitten.

 When I was visiting my father during my vacation this summer, he got a new kitten. I was really happy that my dad got the new addition to the family when we were there, so that Link and the kitten could get to know each other while the cat was still young.

Picture form the first day, when he just came out from under the sofa when we left the room.

 The first day the kitten was in the house, it was only allowed in the kitchen. It stayed under the sofa all the time we were in the room, but came out to eat, go on the litterbox and play, as soon as we left. We only had a gate between the kitchen and the hallway, about 1 meter high, to make sure we could keep an eye on the kitten and also keep Link from going in there. Link and the kitten (hereafter known as Messi), could see and smell each other through the gate, but not get to each other.

Me and Messi.

 The second day, Messi was still only allowed in the kitchen, but was now playing and eating even when we were in the room. He still would not approach us though. The gate was still separating Link and Messi, but Messi now seemed more interested in Link. Link just tried to avoid the cat.

Messi feeling comfortable and safe on my dad's lap.

 The third day was when Messi finally came out of his shell. He would now approach us when we talked to him and let us pick him up. He also started purring when interacting with us. Since he seemed so relaxed, and Link had shown no signs of seeing Messi as a toy or something to chase, I let Link into the kitchen when I was there. The expression on Links face when Messi stroke himself against Links leg was priceless. He didn't know how to respond to this, clearly friendly, but in dog language so incredibly rude gesture. He just stood there looking at me, with a perplex look on his face, without moving a muscle. They did sniff each other nose to nose too, which Link definitely preferred.

After having been allowed in the same room, under supervision, for a few days, Messi and Link started feeling comfortable in each others presence.

 During the course of the next few days, almost all interactions between the two of them where friendly. There were just a few times, like when Link walked directly towards Messi, that Messi hissed warningly at Link (and Link immediately turned his head to the side or walked away). Or when Messi got to close to Link when he had his beloved ball and Link growled at him, leaving Messi totally passive. They both showed that they respect each others boundaries, without either of them feeling the need to defend themselves physically.
 So all in all, I think the introduction went really well. There was really no real aggression, just two animals learning each other boundaries and to understand each other.

My sister with Messi and Link out on the porch.

 Introducing a new pet to the family can be tricky. Always make sure that the animals get plenty of time to get to know each other and to feel safe, before even thinking about leaving them alone together. A gate, as the one we used, is a really good tool. Through the gate they can get used to seeing each other and smelling each other, without them having to confront each other.

Learning to beg for food from the master himself ;)

Training Seals is a lot like training Dogs

The bearded seal, Bella, waves to the trainer and audience.

Today I had the privilege of going to see the seals at Polaria in Tromsø being fed and trained. A friend (and ex-student of mine) is working at Polaria and brought me along with her. The seal that is most visible in the video is a bearded seal, and this particular one weighs 286 kg. So it is fairly obvious that you cannot force these animals to do what you want it too. Everything is taught using positive reinforcement, target and shaping. Natural behaviors are "captured", not by the click of the clicker but with whistles.

The seals natural tendency to investigate things with their whiskers is one of the behaviors that has been "captured" and is here used in a trick to demonstrate to the audience how well these animals control their whiskers. This is Mai San, she is also the seal that is in the video.

 In the video the seal first fetches two different objects after being told which one to get. This is a fairly complicated form of fetch, one that dogs (to my knowledge) doesn't compete in. Dogs can be sent to retrieve objects to the left or right in some obedience competitions, but not to discriminate between two different objects by name. Anyway, this is just a small part of what you can do if you train your animal, be that dog or seal. The second half of the video, the trainer, Børre, first explains what is means to use "cues" and then the trainer and seal show us how it should be done :)

And come on, if these trainers can get the seals to do this by positive reinforcement training, I bet you can teach your dog to sit, walk nicely on the leash and any other command you might need, by using the same methods.