> Well, on a lighter side...  I was thinking of adding another trick to Coco's
> repertoire( one). Maybe rolling over. I saw this once on TV. There was a
> ferret show and one of them was trained to roll over on command.
 
This is an excellent trick.  Both of our little furries do it.
 
It's pretty easy to teach them, too.  We let them know we were
holding their favorite treat (in their case, raisins); they'd get
all excited, but we wouldn't let them have any.  We'd then say
"Roll-over, Mojo", or "Roll-over, Jordan", and let them see
that we were moving the raisin over their heads.  They would
follow the path of the raisin with their snouts, and this "forces"
them to roll over.  When they did, it was "Good Boy!", and they
would get a raisin.
 
They eventually figured it out, and now we only have to move the
raisin over their heads when there's other stuff going on (like
at a show, or when there are new humans around).  A great trick,
it is sure to get some "Ohhhhh, they're soooooo cute!" responses ;-).
 
Another cute side-effect:  when they want something, like to follow
me outside, or they want picked up, or they can't quite reach
something, they'll roll over, thinking this will help ;-).
 
Happy holidays to all!
 
--
Jeff Jones                      [log in to unmask]             Go Mojos!
eon corporation, formerly TV Answer, Inc.               (703) 715-8958
1941 Roland Clarke Place, Reston, VA 22091
 
[Posted in FML issue 0675]