lap test

This morning in the Pet Partners training class, Theo got to practice his lap sitting.  Cats and small dogs get to hang out in three stranger's laps where they are to settle-in and not fuss.  While the cat is in the stranger's lap, the handler can offer the cat verbal and physical encouragement. After this visiting time, the handler gets to choose one of the people to get an additional 30 seconds of lap time. The cat then gets to hang out in the stranger's lap with only verbal encouragement from the handler (no touch).  The cat is suppose to settle into the stranger's petting.

Theo did great!  He seemed to enjoy the petting and love by the other people in class.  He had no problems at all settling into someone's lap for 30 seconds.  He did check in with me every so often to make sure I was still there and available to him. Some of the people in the class have been asking for weeks for an opportunity to pet Theo, so they enjoyed the opportunity.

I felt like a proud papa, as my cat was given great praise for his gentle nature.  Way to go Theo! Yahoo!

It was very fun role-playing having Theo visit people. Experiencing Theo's gentle way of giving and receiving love and my classmate's and teacher's response to him was very intoxicating.  This experience certainly has further stirred my interest in possibly exploring such an endeavor down the road. Very exciting and a bit of a surprise.  This was not something I was expecting going into this class!