The Adventures of Paco the Service Cat 2

A service animal must be able to tolerate pretty much anything that comes his/her way. Paco's already getting use to one of the most difficult situations--riding in the car. At first, the vibration and noise made him nervous and fidgety. He would prowl around the car and attempt to look out the window--an activity with at first made him very frazzled and confused. Cat's tend to focus on objects as opposed to the more wholistic way people and dogs see the world. We take in everything at once to get a general idea of our surrounds. A cat wants to get to know his surrounds in as much more intimate detail as possible so they spend a longer time looking at each particular object. For any of those who doubt that animals can reason, Paco is living proof that animals do have the ability to figure things out. After half a week of daily car trips, Paco has already learned that he cannot focus on one thing when he looks out the car window. Going against his basic inclinations, Paco is now able to look out the window of a moving car without becoming frightened or confused. Basically he has taught himself that when he is looking out the window of a moving car, he can no longer focus on one single object in his environment.

As he becomes more and more acclamated to the car, Paco has been able to relax and even snooze in some of his favorite spots: the front seat on his small cat bed, the back seat next to the James' car seat, on James lap when he is traveling with us, and sometimes under the front seat. To help spur along this sense of comfort and ease, I have done my best to make car trips interesting and even fun for Paco. He has a special bed in the car that he loves to massage with his paws. Intermittently, I take him to the drive thru to pick up a tasty snack. Paco now knows when he sees the fast food lady hand me a bag that he is going to get something delicious to eat. I do this for him intermittently because is the proven best way to train an animal. In fact, intermittently reward and consequence even has a profound effect on human learning. It is the most difficult type of training to extinguish. When a reward or consequence is provided intermittently, or once in a while, then the mind is reeling with thoughts of whether or not the action will provide the desire or not desired effect. If I clean my room, will I get to go to McDonald's? Maybe dad will take me, maybe he won't. But if I do not clean my room, there is no way I will EVER go to McDonald's. If I don't clean my room, will I get in trouble? Last time my dad took away my baseball glove. Will he do that again, or take away something else? It's that fear in all of us that we might be missing out on something. Playing on this baser instinct in both animals and people can be a powerful tool, one that should not be taken lightly. Many unethical studies have been done in the past using these techniques. I urge the layman to study closely how to apply them properly and without detriment to the animal.

As for Paco, he now knows that when I put on his little harness he is going for a ride. The thought of a ride conjures the possibility of an Egg McMuffin or Double Double. Paco does not know for sure if he will get one of these delights, but he sure does not want to miss out on the opportunity to do so.