#monday ask queue

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I have a rat terrier and i made a little den in my closet for her so she has better refuge from my big dog - he tends to want to play with her all the time and she isn't always in the mood. I've noticed that she seems to prefer my dark little closet burrow over, say, a couch or my bed when shes sleeping? i have no issue with this, im just curious if there's a reason for that? she sleeps with me again now that its getting colder, but if its warm she doesn't bother with my bed

I can’t say for sure, but I’d hazard a guess that it’s because it’s her own private space. Pretty much all canids will exhibit denning behavior, and our dogs aren’t all that different. It might be that it’s a space she can get away from the other dog, or that she prefers tight spaces, but either way - it’s her spot. It probably smells like only her and gets nice and comfy in there.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

why does my cat always seem to sit on me when I most need to get up?

Option a) because cats, man. 

Option b) because when you need to get up, you’re going to pay them more attention - telling them they’re a stinker for being in the way, guilt petting before you kick them off your lap, even just physically trying to move them - and that actually reinforces the behavior of getting in the way right when you start showing precursor behaviors to getting up. 

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Why do cats get overstimulated? They seem to get overstimulated easier than most other domestic animals (dogs, rabbits, etc). Is it their brain chemistry or instincts or something else entirely?

I honestly don't know! I'm not sure if they simply reach to overstimulation more noticeably than other animals, or if they really are more susceptible to tactile overstimulation.

If I had to hazard a guess, it might be that cats are really dependent on tactile feedback? Think about how much information they get just from their whiskers: they help them gauge if they’ll fit through a space, sense changes in airflow, and even help them determine where prey is right before they bite down. It could be that cats are easily overstimulated because they’re so fine-tuned into the physical feedback they get from whiskers and other parts of their bodies - but that’s totally a guess on my part. 

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I recently took in a pair of kittens who had, up to this point, lived outside. They were well taken care of by the friend who gave them to me, but they don't enjoy being pet or picked up. What can I do to help them better enjoy socializing and make them more comfortable at home?

Give them time, and approach petting and being picked up like behaviors you’d actually train an animal to do. Work in small approximations, only at their comfort level, and reward them heavily for tolerating any part of the process. Don’t expect it to go fast. 

I’d also ask you, though, to sort of self-examine how you’re approaching the situation. Why do the cats need to enjoy being petted or picked up? It’s important for them to tolerate such things, sure, so you can make sure they’re not injured and move them if there’s a safety issue, but past that? It feels like kind of a human priority thing: it’s important to us that our cats like these things we want to do to them, but we’re not taking into account that it might be okay for these animals to just have a preference for those things not being done. Will asking the cats to tolerate handling and contact they don’t like make them more comfortable at home, or will it just make you happier? Will they enjoy socializing more when being asked to allow petting, or will you just be more comfortable engaging with them socially through that method rather than figuring out how they prefer to be social with humans instead? I’m not saying you’re wrong to want to condition your cats to be more accepting of tactile interactions, but I do think it’s important to know what are human priorities being projected onto the cats that you’re telling yourself are “for their benefit”, versus what pieces of interactions it is actually necessary for them to be willing to tolerate to successfully coexist in a human home. 

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

tips for teaching puppy that hands are not for chewing? so far I mostly just stick something else (a toy) into her mouth or if it’s really bad, get up and walk away.

Don’t ever let an animal practice a behavior that you don’t want to continue. Generally, that’s a rule people talk about with regards to babies and adults - e.g. don’t let your giant breed puppy jump on you if it’s something you don’t want them to think is okay as an adult - but I think it’s a great rule for all aspects of behavior management. 

Make sure everyone who interacts with this puppy knows that hands are not for chewing, not at all, not even for a couple seconds, not even once if it’s really cute. Then, agree on what you’ll do if the puppy does try to chew on hands, so it’s consistent. If the puppy is teething, giving them another thing to chew on is great. If the puppy just wants to play, pull another toy out or find some way to engage play that’s incompatible with hand chewing. If the puppy is looking for attention or has learned it can get attention by chewing on hands, people should just be immediately disengaging for at least 10 seconds. Depending on the puppy, this latter might be just removing hands - but for very determined puppies who will keep attempting to chew on hands even if they’re behind your back, you might have to actually get up and move away. (Remember that indicating you’re upset about hand chewing, although cathartic, is still attention and will still accidentally reinforce the behavior). The more consistent everyone is with their responses to hand chewing, the less it should occur. 

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Do cats learn their names the same way dogs do? I have three cats and I swear one of them knows what her name is, bc when I say it she will stop whatever she's doing and look at me. And it's not about intonation (I've tried saying other words in the same tone and she doesn't care) or about associating it with treats (I throw up if I smell wet cat food so my mother is the Sole Treat Giver in the house). Is my baby just extra smart? Is it a weird coincidence?

Cats can absolutely learn their names. Now, it may not be that the cat associates [name] with whatever internal awareness they have of existing, and that it identifies them, but that doesn’t mean that a cat might not learn their name as a cue for “pay attention to the human time.” Just because you haven’t reinforced paying attention to their name with treats doesn’t mean you haven’t reinforced it in other ways - like with affection - and it’s pretty likely to also have been used in high association with other positive things, like talking to your cat before feeding them. 

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I have a question about cats. I am an autistic person, and because of this i frequently engage in stimming behavior such as jumping, spinning, and laughing and shouting when i am happy, and my cat watches me do this. I was wondering if my cat likely is able to figure out that this means i am happy, or at least that it is not hostile or upset behaviors? Sorry if this is an odd question, or one that you can’t really answer, i thought it was worth a shot for my curiosity though!!

I can’t really tell you if your cat understands your internal state, but if your cat isn’t reacting to your stimming in any way that normally correlates with an upset or stressed internal state on it’s part, we can at least say that it’s probably not interpreting your behavior as anything negative. Cats have the capability to learn what’s within the normal range of behaviors for other individuals, just like humans can - so I’d guess your cat has figured out that the expressive physical behaviors that comprise your stims are just normal behaviors for you and that they shouldn’t be overly concerned by them. 

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Why do dogs (and sometimes cats) walk funny when you put shoes on their feet?

Because it feels weird, I think, is the most effective answer. 

Think about how feet work, no matter what the species - they’re designed to be able to expand and compress under an individual’s weight, to squish and change shape as weight is put on them throughout the length of the stride, and then to pull back together as the foot is lifted. Adding a shoe to that totally changes how walking feels (because the foot isn’t in contact with the ground directly) and potentially how it can occur (if the shoe is solid in a way that restricts expansion of the toes). Soft rubber / plastic shoes like the ones that you can get to protect pet toes from extreme weather may not extremely restrict how their feet can move, but they’d definitely feel weird! And if there’s something weird or wrong relating to feet, what does anyone reflexively do? Walk gingerly until you figure it out / get used to it / the thing that feels weird falls off.