Catch Morgan's crew in action on Instagram @pawsitivebehavior

Q. Who is/are this/these learners of yours?

Current learners:

Adora, 6 yo Border Collie
Cady, 1 yo, visually impaired black cat
Bernie, 1 yo one-eyed tuxedo cat

Occasionally, 11-year-old Mini American Shepherd Ash will use the buttons, but he prefers body language and vocalizations to communicate most of the time

My blind cat Jasper used the buttons from October 2020 until her passing in May of 2023, and inspired me to bring Cady and Bernie home to continue her legacy

Q. How long did it take for them to press their first button?

Adora pressed independently within a few days-she already had been trained to hit a target and PLAY and OUTSIDE proved to be incredibly motivating buttons for her
Jasper took a little longer without visual input, but I was able to time putting an EAT button in her path as she went to let me know she was hungry by knocking her food bowl off the counter. A couple times capturing a press that way and she began seeking a button out to press instead of clearing the counter. 

Ash was happy to let the others press and reap the rewards from their effort until he realized there was a PUZZLE button on the board-once he pressed that accidentally and received his favorite stuffed Kong out of the freezer, he began to intentionally seek the buttons of interest to him out and will use them when he lacks body language for that concept or if I’ve missed his other cues

Cady had lots of modeling of the buttons the moment she came home at 10 weeks old by both myself and Adora, so when we began paw targeting after a couple weeks she began to press independently within a couple days. 

Bernie took longer to become interested in the buttons after coming home to us at 3 months old this summer, so I continued modeling and he observed Adora and Cady’s daily use. After about 6 weeks I began paw targeting with him, but he wasn’t as interested still. Then, he realized I would let him out if he pressed the OUTSIDE button and began exploring PLAY options too by flopping on the buttons and hitting them with his shoulder. I encouraged this style and added more activity buttons for him and he is now a daily user of the buttons as well!

Q. What have the buttons revealed about your learners that you wouldn’t have known without the buttons?

Adora is very curious about the ‘scent story’ when I return home and especially when I bring items in the house that had been over to friend and neighbor’s homes. She will press HMM and SMELL and look at me expectantly for more details!

Cady prefers 5-6 small meals per day and enjoys pumpkin as a meal topper on at least half of those orders. She loves to request her freeze-dried rabbit soaked in water by pressing WET FOOD + WATER, a phrase she coined herself.

Bernie, despite being my shyer guy, loves exploring new locations and getting specific about his adventure requests each day. CREEK gets a lot of use

Jasper was able to let me know when she wanted relief for her eye discomfort by requesting more eye medication multiple times over the years

Q. What do you do to ensure the buttons remain an engaging and positive experience for your learner over time?

Remember that the buttons are just one option of many to communicate with each other, and try to not to have too many expectations around their board use. It is an opportunity to connect, never a requirement to press a button for what they want. 
Add buttons based on what your learners want to talk about, not necessarily just your own interests. Try to say YES to their presses as much as you realistically can, and presume competence by following through even if you weren’t sure if they were pressing intentionally. Anytime I make board changes, I want my learner to have the option of being present as well so they aren’t overwhelmed or frustrated to find things were not as they left them.

Q. What’s your funniest button moment?

So many over the last 4.5 years! The most recent one was just a couple days ago-I got distracted after Cady requested WET FOOD, and 8 minutes later instead of repeating herself to me she pressed FRIEND to get the attention of our guest and then repeated her WET FOOD request. We both cracked up and Cady got her food.

Q. What challenges have you faced with button teaching?

Having multiple learners of multiple species, all at different stages of learning buttons meant lots of modeling and trying to make sure my new learners weren’t overwhelmed by the existing larger main board options. Even close to a year into working with Cady now there are sensory buttons, specific toys, emotions, and more we haven’t focused on that Adora uses.

While dogs and cats already have low visual acuity compared to us on average and are more geared towards movement and distance, low vision learners have an additional challenge of not being able to visually distinguish buttons as readily. As a result, I use the hextiles and buttons in varying patterns meant to help with creating contrast to reduce frustration finding the desired button. For Jasper and Cady in particular, I also added furniture protectors and other objects as textures on top of the buttons to assist them as a sort of “kitty braille”. While I have observed them feeling between buttons, these textures also serve as ‘scent soakers’ and assist in differentiation via smell. 

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