We introduced the concept of the cheese in the boxes to her for 10 minutes prior to filming this, and that was the only experience she had with it. We'd let her see us putting the cheese in the box, let her play with it, and then encourage her to work to open the boxes, sometimes taking the cheese out, showing it and putting it back in, but leaving it 1/2 open. We then put her out of the room while we worked with the other dogs, all the while she was crying to come back in. I loaded up the boxes and just let her in at them. I was trying to tell my wife, Selma, not to encourage or praise her, but just to let her work out what to do for her own reward. Cersei went for the hardest of the three puzzles first and the one she had the least experience with in the short practice. The middle slider was the first one we introduced and the easiest for them to pick up, but the flip top was easy for those big noses as well.
Cersei's prior training only consists of sit/down/stand/come or speak for treats once in a while, nothing really structured or competitive. She was the best and quickest of the four afghans we have.
You can find the Games4Brain toys here: http://www.caniscallidus.com/shop/cat.
Comments