I grew up with cats and have lived with cats for most of my life. I can’t recall that any of my feline friends were fond of water. But then nobody I know has ever taken the time to teach them to surf on the back of a dog, ride the waves with a human or even learn the basic command to “stay.”
These things are exactly what long-time dog trainer Robert Dollwet has done after deciding he wanted to train cats. After moving from California to Australia in 2010, Robert went to a local animal shelter and adopted a lively kitten he named Didga, short for Didgeridoo. As he proceeded through the training, Robert began sharing his methods on a YouTube channel he named “CATMANTOO.” Later, he added another kitten, Boomer, to his family.
The first video on this page shows Didga performing a stunt that Robert calls “Ice surfing.” That’s because the dog (who belongs to a client involved in dog training) is named Ice. Robert says many of the feats shown in his videos take weeks or months for the animals to learn.
“Please don’t try the things you see at home,” he says in a note attached to the video. “I’d feel bad if your cat was hurt or forced into doing something they don’t want to do. Watch my tutorials to learn how to teach your cat.”
The second video, released in April, shows Boomer riding on a surfboard on a river, as Robert gently paddles around.
“We’ve been doing this since he was a kitten,” Robert writes in the notes. “I gave him lots of food while he rides on the surfboard. He’s 11 months now, and he is so comfortable, it’s about that time to take his surfboard riding skills to the next level — by actual surfing on a wave in the ocean (with life vest, of course). Stay tuned.”
The third video is an amusing story called “Didga Dreams BIG,” which actually shows off this cat’s repertoire of tricks and stunts. I like the way Robert demonstrates his cats’ abilities by telling little stories in some of the videos — such as Didga’s skateboard trip around the beach town of Coolangatta, where he lives in Australia. See “World’s Best Skateboarding Cat!”
Other water-related videos:
You can check out the helpful YouTube tutorials on CATMANTOO to learn some basic cat skills that I believe might be helpful in daily life:
- “Teach your can to walk on a leash”
- “STOP scratching/jumping on furniture/counter tops”
- “The best way to teach stay.”
- “How to teach your cat to sit”
By the way, you can follow Robert and his animals on his Facebook page, also called CATMANTOO.
