Summer behavior clinic
Whispen sighed as Summer hissed impatiently at him. He large cheetah hybrid was fully domesticated...supposedly. The serval blood that ran through her veins was strong, and although the oversized house cat was indeed usually a perfectly fine companion, that was not the case today. Whispen shook the container of treats placidly, trying to coax Summer off of the couch, but she clearly didn't intend to move. That's it, thought Whispen. Tomorrow we get started on training this brute. The next morning, Summer did not seem to be quite as in a mood as she had been the day before. It was only with the promise of some fragrant tuna that Whispen had been able to finally get her off of the couch and into the crate for the night. Whispen made sure to crate the cats or have them out in their play yards when he couldn't be there to watch them, but Summer had apparently become crate-sour. Whispen rolled up his sleeves as he brought Summer out, ready to get to training for the day. She wasn't a bad cat, really she wasn't, but she took anything that Whispen said as more of a suggestion than anything else. Whispen spoiled her and she hadn't had any clear boundaries since she was his precious house cat. That all changes today. Whispen brought out another container of treats, this time some fresh cooked chicken. This was a very rare indulgence for the cats, and Summer's ears perked up immediately.
"Yeah, you want this, Summer?" asked Whispen. "You're going to have to work for it today, no more handouts!" Summer trotted over, eagerly trying to beg for the tasty morsels. Whispen gave her a stern look that she promptly ignored. Whispen worked with her much like the dogs he was so familiar with training. It did take a similar approach, though cats were much more likely do do as they please unless given a good enough reward. The basic commands were definitely going to be a must.
"Sit, Summer!" said Whispen a few hours later, fully exasperated. The large cat placed her rear on the ground, complying. "Yes! Good job, Summer!" beamed Whispen. Finally, progress. He gave her another piece of chicken, which she wolfed down greedily. She licked her lips and looked up at him expectantly. "No, you know what Summer? I think you've worked hard enough for today." He walked over to her food bowl and dropped a few pieces of the chicken into it before placing the rest of the container into the fridge to save for tomorrow.
Really, Whispen was just exhausted. He hadn't really been prepared for just how stubborn a cat like this could be. Even Night had been a little more biddable than this. Whispen wondered if the cheetahs really were more domesticated than the average house cat, and he could only assume that their unique ecology just must make them more suited to training. He wondered if it was their social system. As he went off to begin work throughout the rest of the ranch, he hadn't noticed Summer following after him.
"Oh, are you coming with me today?" he asked. "Well, I guess we could always practice leash training while I'm going to be walking around anyway." He grabbed a harness and leash and put them onto Summer. She'd gotten some basic harness training so she knew what to expect, but she was not yet used to walking nicely on leash. She would have no choice today as Whispen would have to drag her along to get his chores done. Must to Whispen's surprise, Summer was actually quite well behaved on her walk with him. She had never been allowed to freely wander the grounds before, and she was taking the opportunity to soak in as much as she could about her surroundings. As Whispen filled feeders and water troughs, Summer watched intently. She greeted the other cats, especially the Garcia's Cheetahs in their runs, and seemed to really take an interest in the way that the other cats interested with her owner. Whispen was very impressed by her as she walked beside him.
"Well Summer, you've been very nice today! I'm very proud of you." He placed a hand on her head and she leaned into his touch, begging for more pets. He obliged. He ran his hands down her thick neck and gave her a few scratched right in her favorite spots. She purred happily. "You know, maybe I should take you on walks like this more often," he mused. The rest of their outing was similarly uneventful, with Whispen taking care of his normal duties and Summer walking alongside. By the time that they returned to the ranch house, Summer seemed very content and tired. It had been a long, exciting, and stimulating day for her. Whispen unhooked her harness and hung it up along the leash by the door. When he turned around, Summer had disappeared. He followed her into the living room where he saw her curled up in her crate.
"Huh, well I guess that's that," he said, surprised. "I guess she's just been bored."
From then on, Whispen took her out with him every day to take care of the other animals. They became very close, with Summer beginning to listen much more when they were back at home and not needing to be bribed to go back into her crate at night. After a few weeks, she was behaving much more like a good citizen, no longer fighting and hissing when she didn't get her way. Whispen began to see her potential in becoming more than a cat that had to sit at home, and he was starting to consider upping her training. With a few more weeks of work, he mused, maybe she could even become some sort of ambassador animal and come with him in public to talk about big cats. He decided to make a few more batched of treats to take with him on their walks of the property so they could up their training game.
The next day he decided to take her off the property to a few hiking trails where she could get more exposure to an uncontrolled environment. He had fitted her for a special muzzle and taught her to tolerate it, just in case. He doubted anything would happen but it was always better safe than sorry. Normal people didn't often see cheetahs (or cheetah mixes) out in the wilderness and the public could be very unpredictable. If someone spooked her and she managed to run off, he wanted her to be as safe as possible.
As they exited the car, Summer was clearly nervous. She was born and raised on the ranch, and even the vet came to them. She had never left the property before. Whispen patted her reassuringly, and after a quick check to make sure the muzzle and harness were on properly, they set off down a trail. Whispen guided her gently down the paths, and soon Summer became more confident, looking at Whispen to lead her. After about an hour she was much more relaxed. With Whispen giving her a bit of free rein to explore, she began investigating the wild world around her. She climbed up on rocked, sniffed vegetation, and even got a good look at a few animals off in the distance. Luckily Summer wasn't too interested in chasing anything. Whispen was keeping a close eye out on the trail, ensuring that nobody was able to sneak up on them and startle his cat.
Whispen's stomach started to grumble, and he figured it may be about time for a break. He had packed a lunch for both him and Summer, and so he picked a nice spot slightly off of the trail to sit down and open his bag. He tied Summer's leash down to a tree and gave her a bowl with some water and a little bit of food to tide her over. He then sat down himself with the sandwich he'd brought. As he ate his mind wandered, thinking about his various breeding projects and animal care. He wondered to himself whether his dream of domesticated lions would ever come to be. He was getting pretty close, after all, to his goal of rex-coated lions. What's one more project along the way?
Suddenly the peace was pierced by a booming, cacophonous barking. Whispen startled, dropping his sandwich, and realized that there was a large German shepherd coming around the bend in the path and it had clearly noticed the large cat tethered to a tree. The dog was being barely restrained by a man who had a rough grip on the leash and a panicked look in his eye. Whispen jumped up from where he'd been sitting and dashed for Summer, ready to protect her. The large cat was pulling futilely at her tether trying to escape. Whispen threw himself in front of the cat, blocking the German shepherd's line of sight.
"Get your dog away from my cat!" yelled Whispen desperately as he grabbed a stick to brandish at the barking creature. It was lunging forward, pulling it's owner along to try to get to Summer. The man was clearly out of his depth with the large animal and was giving it all of his strength to keep it under some semblance of control.
"I'm trying!" the man shouted indignantly. "Why do you have a wild animal on a leash?!" he yelled. "I should ask you the same damn question!" Whispen yelled back, growing more enraged by the moment. He waved the stick he was brandishing even more wildly, and the German shepherd seemed to falter and back away a little. Summer was cowering behind Whispen, no longer trying to escape. She looked up at her owner for reassurance. "It's alright Summer, good girl," Whispen tried to croon soothingly.
The man seemed to finally get control of his dog and dragged him away, pulling him up the hill while the dog continued to bark and lunge. Whispen stood still at attention, still holding the stick, just in case the dog came back. The barking finally started to fade into the distance until all was quiet again. Whispen turned to Summer, who was quietly shivering in fear. He wrapped his arms around the trembling cat, speaking quietly to her, until she calmed down and seemed a bit more relaxed again.
"Well," he said, voice full of fatigue. "That wasn't exactly the outing I'd had in mind. He untied Summer and gathered his things. The two of them walked back to the car, taking as direct a route as possible. "If you could survive something like that, though," he said. "I think you could probably make a really good ambassador. Just need a little bit more practice."
The drive home was quiet, and when they got home Summer took herself right to bed for a well-deserved rest.
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