Would it be okay if I answer this in my newsletter next week? I'm still getting the hang of short replies on bsky and I feel like this deserves a longer response!

Here's a cool site if you ever need to identify an owl! Kind of reminds me of playing Guess Who, but I guess it would be Guess Hoot? 🦉🤭 #owl #owls #greathornedowl #birdsky

www.owlsnearme.com

Thank you for sharing this! I've been trying to figure out some bird drama in my neighborhood and even though there are no recent reports, I think our resident must be a great horned owl.

Hershel does this! My first cat (Panson) did it only when he was stressed, before I adopted him he would drool instead of purr when I held him. Hershel does a drool/purr combo pretty much every time. 😹

Hershel was the GOAT and I might rather have a veterinarian on my apocalypse team than an MD. 😅 Vets go through the same amount of schooling as MDs, and vet school is harder to get into. They tell us if we have any interest in human med, pursue that instead because it will be easier (& pay more).

I wear the womens hi-lo tee & it's super comfy! Perfect for training sessions. 👌

Also, any notes on her body language when she growls and chases? Are her face/body tense at all, hair standing up, stalking, etc? Or is she a little more loose, bouncy? Does she ever seem tense when the cat is just *present* or is she more triggered by movement?

This is a GREAT question and I appreciate the info you included! You've made progress already so it sounds like you might just need a few adjustments. I saw on your page Mia is an ACD mix? How old is she?

This might sound extra but you could try putting a tall x-pen around the crib as a buffer? This also hopefully wouldn't need to be permanent, but would serve the same purpose as closing the door to block the behavior while he's learning. There might be a DIY way to do this if you get creative, too!

Me! 🙋‍♀️

Re: locking him out of the room, this might be tough but one of the best ways to change a behavior is management – preventing him from acting out the behavior 100% of the time. It won't have to be permanent, but just during the training phase until he understands & breaks the habit!

Try to figure out what he loves about the crib – the height, the walls/feeling contained, etc. Maybe you can mimic that in another area and make that the spot you reinforce him for spending time in?

It sounds like there might be a little behavior chain going with jumping in the crib to ask for treats! This isn't exactly my expertise, but what I would try is teaching an alternate behavior, like going to a cat bed/tree nearby to ask for treats, or even to your bed if he normally sleeps there.

don't judge, but my brain thought this was an adorable picture of a shiba posing with his extremely lifelike plush replica. 🤦‍♀️🤣 (probably because I saw something about stuffed decoy dogs earlier.. but also because your babies are just that cute)

😟 this can also increase reactivity – the dog is already thinking "something bad is going to happen when that other dog comes close" and then they get swatted. which confirms that their fear/anxiety was valid and the cycle continues!

And I think the veterinary field still tends to underestimate pain. 😬 It can be really hard as a trainer not to overstep into the medical side.. which is why I broke down and applied to vet school. 😅