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Autistic boy's dog...
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<blockquote data-quote="GoingNorth" data-source="post: 333871" data-attributes="member: 1963"><p>It's a lot easier to train a dog, LoL. Labs and Goldens are really good at this sort of training. German Shepherds are as well, at least the non-aggressive ones, but not popular because they are higher maintenance and people tend to be afraid of them.</p><p></p><p>In general, it's the hunting and herding breeds that excel at this because they are genetically programmed to think independently while giving trained responses.</p><p></p><p>Cats CAN be trained, but can think TOO independently. Merlin taught himself to pick up on impending seizures. Doubtless he could sense some sort of change in chemistry or electrical impulses.</p><p></p><p>From there it wasn't difficult to train him to press a button on a phone with an oversized keypad, or press the button on a Life Alert type device. That was simple behavior shaping. He did not pull a wheelchair or open doors or fetch dropped objects or any of the other usual "dog" stuff.</p><p></p><p>Merlin's mother was very bonded to husband and incredibly sensitive to what was going on with him. I assume in her case she could smell the chemical changes that occurred with dangerously low blood counts. We didn't train her to do anything. She trained US to learn to respond to her behaviors.</p><p></p><p>I know of one other cat of the same breed that did service work. He actually could retrieve small items (pencils, etc).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GoingNorth, post: 333871, member: 1963"] It's a lot easier to train a dog, LoL. Labs and Goldens are really good at this sort of training. German Shepherds are as well, at least the non-aggressive ones, but not popular because they are higher maintenance and people tend to be afraid of them. In general, it's the hunting and herding breeds that excel at this because they are genetically programmed to think independently while giving trained responses. Cats CAN be trained, but can think TOO independently. Merlin taught himself to pick up on impending seizures. Doubtless he could sense some sort of change in chemistry or electrical impulses. From there it wasn't difficult to train him to press a button on a phone with an oversized keypad, or press the button on a Life Alert type device. That was simple behavior shaping. He did not pull a wheelchair or open doors or fetch dropped objects or any of the other usual "dog" stuff. Merlin's mother was very bonded to husband and incredibly sensitive to what was going on with him. I assume in her case she could smell the chemical changes that occurred with dangerously low blood counts. We didn't train her to do anything. She trained US to learn to respond to her behaviors. I know of one other cat of the same breed that did service work. He actually could retrieve small items (pencils, etc). [/QUOTE]
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