quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

cats can be trained. It's just not as easy as dogs or other pets. My neighbor has a cat that he has trained to follow him outside without a leash and even where to walk on the road so the cars don't hit him. He never chases anything, never goes up to other people, never runs off. The cat stays right beside my neighbor as he walks his dog.

Master has trained his cats in certain things as well. Like I said, it just takes more work but it can be done.

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ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt

Absolutely cats can be trained. I have mine trained to wake me up at 6 am for snack time.

quote:

ORIGINAL: tj444

quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

cats can be trained. It's just not as easy as dogs or other pets. My neighbor has a cat that he has trained to follow him outside without a leash and even where to walk on the road so the cars don't hit him. He never chases anything, never goes up to other people, never runs off. The cat stays right beside my neighbor as he walks his dog.

Master has trained his cats in certain things as well. Like I said, it just takes more work but it can be done.

the cats arent trained, they are merely humoring you humans..

If a cat doesnt want to do something, they wont.. ask anyone who has tried to get a cat to stop clawing the furniture.. My cat would deliberately do it right in front of me. Even when sternly told not to, he would look me in the eye and continue scratching.. it was a game to him..

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse
I actually think that it's simply that cats are not as evolved to 'need' humans. Dogs have been human companions for a lot longer than cats have. I could make a snarky remark and say that dogs are more intelligent but truth be told, I think it's not a matter of more or less. Just different.

Cats haven't been bred and evolved into being as dependent of, or desiring of, human companionship. Overall, they haven't the movitation to please us that dogs do.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

I think you misunderstand me.

I wasn't comparing cats to vanilla humans and dogs to submissive humans.

I don't think cats are particularly motivated to obey or not. They simply don't NEED humans therefor lack the innate motivation to obey. Regardless of dominant or submissive, humans have evolved to need humans, whether directly or not.

And yes, as much as cats domesticate themselves, it could be said that mice do. They are both opportunistic. If being around humans makes their lives easier, they will be around. If humans ceased serving their purpose, they would just as easily un-domesticate themselves.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

You are putting the cats you have into the equasion. I am speaking about the species in general. Two different things.

The cat that lives at my farm does need me. Not because it's a cat thing but because it's a need that was created from the time he wobbled his furry little butt up to the house from the shed he was born in. Now he needs me. His mother, father, siblings never did. In fact they've always avoided being even close to me.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse
I actually think that it's simply that cats are not as evolved to 'need' humans. Dogs have been human companions for a lot longer than cats have. I could make a snarky remark and say that dogs are more intelligent but truth be told, I think it's not a matter of more or less. Just different.

Cats haven't been bred and evolved into being as dependent of, or desiring of, human companionship. Overall, they haven't the movitation to please us that dogs do.

quote:

ORIGINAL: tj444

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

I think you misunderstand me.

I wasn't comparing cats to vanilla humans and dogs to submissive humans.

I don't think cats are particularly motivated to obey or not. They simply don't NEED humans therefor lack the innate motivation to obey. Regardless of dominant or submissive, humans have evolved to need humans, whether directly or not.

And yes, as much as cats domesticate themselves, it could be said that mice do. They are both opportunistic. If being around humans makes their lives easier, they will be around. If humans ceased serving their purpose, they would just as easily un-domesticate themselves.

No, I didnt misunderstand.. I know you werent comparing pets to humans.. just you described traits like subs have and vanillas tend not to have.. The OP is the one comparing dogs to subs..

I dont agree that cats dont need human companionship, they just dont go about it the same way dogs do, cats have standards..

i had 2 cats and even tho they had each other when we werent there, they both did need us.. Every night I was a human pretzel, one cat slept on the pillow above my head, with the other cat sleeping in the middle and me curled up in the fetal position around him.. They would not have slept with me if they didnt want my companionship.. of course that still didnt mean that I could train them!

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

I think you misunderstand me.

I wasn't comparing cats to vanilla humans and dogs to submissive humans.

I don't think cats are particularly motivated to obey or not. They simply don't NEED humans therefor lack the innate motivation to obey. Regardless of dominant or submissive, humans have evolved to need humans, whether directly or not.

And yes, as much as cats domesticate themselves, it could be said that mice do. They are both opportunistic. If being around humans makes their lives easier, they will be around. If humans ceased serving their purpose, they would just as easily un-domesticate themselves.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

I think you misunderstand me.

I wasn't comparing cats to vanilla humans and dogs to submissive humans.

I don't think cats are particularly motivated to obey or not. They simply don't NEED humans therefor lack the innate motivation to obey. Regardless of dominant or submissive, humans have evolved to need humans, whether directly or not.

And yes, as much as cats domesticate themselves, it could be said that mice do. They are both opportunistic. If being around humans makes their lives easier, they will be around. If humans ceased serving their purpose, they would just as easily un-domesticate themselves.

The fact that cats can be house trained speaks a bit against that, cats can be trained but not like dogs, you have to make the cat WANT to do something because then something pleasant happens, i.e. they like a human and the human will pet them if they do a certain action, they do something and they get a treat... The difference is you have to catch a cat in the right mood when you start the training, of else it will just walk off.
Though I did train all my cats to not go on tables - there is something to be said for water pistols....

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse



Certainly some dogs are going to be smarter than others (after all, nearly every single person I've known that has dog/s think that THEIR dog is smarter than the average canine.) but the reality is that it's not necessarily about smart or not when comparing humans and dogs.

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I've got cats , dogs, and birds and of them all, the dog model is more like my human interactions. Well - maybe with my african grey there is an element of sadism/masochism which had more to do with her teaching me what she wanted from me and how i was to give it to her (scabs for a year on my hands).