What sort of tasks are the cats learning?
The cats will be learning to: initiate play; recognize and interrupt repetitive or compulsive behavior; provide tactical comfort by staying in the child's lap and sitting still for several minutes at a time; play without use of claws, or teeth; assist the child when they feel overwhelmed in over stimulating situations, social situation tolerance, distract the child when they are becoming frustrated with routine tasks, provided some sense of "sameness" if the child's routine changes suddenly, facilitate child's improved communication. The cats will also be able to carry via her tags information about the child's condition, who the child is, and how to help in the event of a "shut down".
ALL OUR CATS ARE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR TRAINED (meaning they interact well with children, teens, adults, other cats, and dogs as well).
Naif's Training
Naif has proved easier to train than Little Guy. HE has a much more trusting personality. We began by teaching Naif to "sit" to get him accustomed to voice commands. We will begin to work on "Stay Put" next which will be useful when a child needs tactical stimulation for longer than a moment or so.
As of the 25th of February, Naif has been taught to "sit" on command and has been harness trained. We continue to work on leash training which is one of the more difficult tasks. Cats have a great deal of independence so leash training is a challenge. Naif has been wonderful to work with, however. We will continue to update his progress here.
*March 12 UPDATE* Harness trained now.
March 28 Naif is now leash trained.
No claw play (note: this is Faith Elizabeth not Naif although they look alike).
