Acrocats

This was shared with me from my mother-in-law:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFsNGOVj71I

The Acrocats!

12/4

I left Jenny with Jazz last night while Lucy and I went out.  She is tickled that I'm working on training Jazz, so I gave her the target stick and let her try out some training with Jazz herself.  I will ask her later today about how it went and if she did anything.  We got home after 10:00p, so it was too late to chat.

12/3

"Touch" when holding out a targeting stick.

Walk around to touch the targeting stick.
Lay down to touch the targeting stick.
Jump on the couch to touch the targeting stick.
Walk onto a chair to touch the targeting stick.
Jump from one chair to another to touch the targeting stick.

Fetch? Treat under Cup

I got another book on training cats.  Nothing is new in there, but is much more succinct.  I am especially interested in trying to capture Jazz carrying a toy around, so I can eventually get her to fetch.  I'd love to have that be a possible way to exercise her, especially if I can get her jumping up and down on furniture when running to fetch something.  I don't think that cats are good at seeking something they can't see, so I will need to allow for that when throwing the toy.

Yesterday, I also started putting one of her treats into a paper cup.  She had to reach in and pull the treat out.  But the cup was very light, so much of the time she pushed it over and the treat came out while the cup rolled.  And I made it even more difficult after she started to get that the treat in the cup was hers if she could get it, by turning the cup over and putting the treat under it.  She had a hard time with that and never did knock the cup over. Instead she'd pull the cup toward her, press it against her back leg while sitting, and pop the edge of the cup up over the treat to get to it.  Impressive! 

Slim by Design Work Discussion

I talked to a person from HR yesterday about the Slim By Design book, and what it could mean here at our building to help make people less likely to consume too many calories. 

He was receptive to it, but is still not in a position to make changes himself.  After talking with him, the immediate outcomes was that he would bring it to his manager sometime soon.  Likely very soon, I'd guess, because he is an overweight gentleman and loves the idea of redesigning our workspace to help him keep weight off. 

He also suggested that I meet with our building's safety coordinator.  I guess she is someone who would be good to talk to about changing the layout of the building, but I don't know how much overlap her role has with employee health.  She's also thin, so may not be as amenable to this, and already has a full workload, I'm sure, with the other safety things she has going on.  

Weight, Slim by Design, Power of Habit

First, I put the scale that I use away.  I moved it from the bathroom floor to under the bathroom sink.  I think that's healthier for me, to slow my focus on my weight.

I also brought my balancing apes to work, and put them up on the snack counter.  When I look over there several times a day, I see the balancing apes rather than the bagels behind them.  I can also use them as a distraction when walking past.  I also like that others in the office can change them up, and sometimes I get surprised by new configurations of the apes.

I'm considering advocating for smaller plates at home. We're talking about replacing our current dishes with Correll ware, which is much lighter.  I glanced at one of their most popular styles and found them to be 10.25" for the dinner plates.  We have 11" plates at home, so that's an improvement.  I'd like to find Correll dinner plates which are under 10", if possible.

I had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast yesterday because I woke up at the normal time hungry, and I normally don't eat until lunch time.  I think this caused yesterday to be a much more balanced eating day for me than in the past.  3 smaller meals, spread over the course of the day, rather than 2 big meals and a couple small snacks.

I'm going to return the Power of Habit and the Slim by Design to the library.  They both have simple rules.  With habits, you need to follow a 4-step process to change habits, which I talked about in a previous post.  With Slim by Design, you have to use the "CAN" system.  Make that which you want Convenient, Attractive and Normal.  And the opposite for anything you don't want.  Good things easier, bad things more difficult.  Never say no.  That way leads to workarounds. 

11/15

Yesterday, I came up with two variations that I'm now trying to each.  One is to use one of Jazz's balls as the target, instead of my hand.  She's very interested in touching it with her face, and shows more excitement about following it than before.

I would like to figure out how to get her to play fetch with one of those balls.  Right now, I haven't done any reading to help me do so.

I'm also working to get her to stop sitting without a cue during our training sessions, and to touch her face to my fist without a reward every time.  I think that the latter will just take time.  The former is more difficult, because she often sits just for fun.