Charlotte is a smart kitty

I keep seeing many signs of how smart Charlotte is.  I know everyone knows their cat, dog, bird, kid, etc. is the smartest one.  But, having had a few cats before, I'm seeing something different with her.

When I had Sarah (my first cat) and second cat (Booboo), laser pointers were not in every check-out line.  Lasers were still the size of a shoe box.  I think either of them would have been unable to resist.  Charlie, the last cat we had, would look straight at the source - right at the pointer - and that was that.  He would not follow the dot.  No way, no how.

Charlotte is a different story.  She loves to chase the dot.  She knows the red dot on the floor comes from the pointer.  How do I know she knows?  When I get the pointer out (any of the 3 we have) she looks right at the pointer, then looks to the floor for the red dot.  Then she chases it.  If she hears me pick it up or turn it on (there is a faint click) she looks for the dot.

She learned to sit on command very quickly.  It only took a couple of days.  She has a "thing" about going out into the garage.  It started with escapes at every opportunity.  Now it's part of the morning routine.  I started enticing her into the house by asking her if she wanted some "crunchies".  Then I started asking her to sit to receive them.  As long as I give her some head scratches first, she's happy to sit for her crunchies.  She will even (sometimes) sit for the crunchies without me saying a word.  And with little coaxing, she'll remain sitting to eat the crunchies.  After I find a way to edit out the TV in the background I'll post a video of "sit".  (Update - I didn't figure out how to filter out the TV, but posted the video anyway).

Next step, building on her existing actions, is telling her to "stretch" at the garage door before we open it for her.  Now, on to more challenging training.  Last night I started with a training clicker and chicken liver.  I'm trying to get her to "shake".  It's going to take a while since it's not something she's already doing.  I'll keep you posted.