Animal Training

How to train your cat to misbehave

Animal Training

We should always consider ourselves animal trainers. Every interaction we have with animals is a training scenario. We can easily train an animal to do “bad behaviour,” but in reality they are simply reacting to us and our history with them. We are all animal trainers. This is something that I have come to realize. Even our simplest acts will impact our relationships with our pets, our livestock and the wild animals around us. We can either influence our relationships positively or we can cause problems by training animals to do things we don’t want. Out of ignorance problematic behavior can occur because we simply can’t see the consequences of our actions.

One of the questions I get asked most often is, “How long does it take to train oxen?” My flippant answer is, “Forever!” I understand that what they are really asking is, “How long does it take to train oxen to a safe level of competency?” But I do bristle at the semantic distinction that at sometime the training could end. I am constantly training my oxen. I also have several teams of different ages that need different levels of training. Certainly my younger teams are at a more intense level of learning and training, but that doesn’t mean my older teams are off the hook. Their training is just as intense but more subtle. Learning never stops. You can never know too much or reach the capacity of knowledge. There is always more to know.

I use humor when somebody asks me about training oxen in order to shock them out of linear thinking. We often think of things in a goal oriented progressive way. I start at the beginning, I go through the middle, and I reach the end. But in reality that is never the way it goes. Progress will jump around with regressions and leaps forward that circle around and around. Once something is learned it only means that it goes back to the queue of things that need to get looked at again.

After we have this mindset then the real training can begin, and if we don’t we will inadvertently train all kinds of animals to do the strangest things. Our ignorance doesn’t mean that the training isn’t happening. I see plenty of pet owners who train their animals to do various odd things. We have somehow taught our cat to only drink from someone's water glass sitting on the table. Even though there is plenty of fresh water next to the cat food on the ground he insists on drinking from an abandoned glass sitting on the table. It was easy really. When he was a small kitten it was cute but now that he's bigger and can’t fit his head all the way in the glass he just knocks the water over. It's a simple example of unintended consequences.

I always remind people that it might seem cute to let a calf suck your fingers or “nuzzle” your side but that same action will not be cute when they are a two thousand pound ox. These are important boundaries and distinctions to remember. It’s not that I don’t give affection to my animals but I think it is important to remember how they give each other affection. It comes down to a misunderstanding of language.

Sucking and nuzzling is an activity that is only between moms and calves. It is an important type of bonding reserved for that relationship. Once the calf gets big enough, and if that calf is being too rough, the mom will not hesitate to swiftly kick the calf away. This boundary setting is important when we are working around large animals. It is the energy of a mom setting physical boundaries that I like to take into my interactions with the oxen in the barn or a dairy cow on a halter. The action is swift and decisive and there is no emotional baggage with it. If a calf bites down on the udder too hard and the mom kicks it away she doesn’t turn around and say, “I’m so sorry, are you okay.” No, the action is automatic and it uses just the right amount of force. It certainly doesn’t mean the mom doesn’t love that calf. I try to embody that “mom energy” when I am working with my cattle. Using the minimum effective dose of force needed and also not becoming emotionally caught up in the action.

Our emotional attachment to our actions often holds us back from doing what we know needs to be done. It doesn’t matter how you feel about it but I have very strong personal space boundaries when working around my oxen. In fact I have only two hard and fast rules; “My space and my pace.” Everything else can be negotiated except those two things. The other thing I have to remind people is that cattle are covered in leather. You would have to try real hard to physically hurt an ox, but you can more easily damage them psychologically, especially if you're emotionally caught up in your actions.

These basic principles of animal training may have to be modified when working with other animals but I think it is always appropriate to keep our emotional response in check. It is hard. It can feel like an animal is doing something “to us.” Humans are the only animals I know that hold a grudge or try to get revenge. Most of the time animals are simply reacting to us or doing something out of habit. It’s not personal even if it feels like it sometimes.

My oxen show me parts of myself that I wouldn’t look at otherwise. In order to work with them I have to deal with my emotional baggage. Ultimately they make me a better person. I can’t say that any tractor I’ve ever owned has made me want to be a better person. That is why I call them my “One Ton Gurus.”