Unintentional Pavlovs

[The Mollusk]

My fiancée has been working from home since the start of the pandemic and our cats have gotten extra cheeky with the "we can convince you it's dinner time two hours before the actual time" bullshit - circling round her ankles like sharks whenever she gets up to do something, sitting on the coffee table and staring intensely at her - as if we don't have any concept of time, there's clocks fucking everywhere you idiots. Live in the real world.

Anyway she works off a laptop and when she finishes up for the day, she closes it. The little "whap" of the laptop closing has ingrained itself into the cats' brains and even if they're down the hall at the other side of the flat they will come bollocking it into the room doing that mental scrunched up accordion thing with their tails vibrating like the long electrified pole on a dodgems car. LAPTOP WHAP MEANS FOOD. Even if she does it quietly they still clock it. If we're using the laptop at a notably earlier/later point in the day and we close it their ears still prick up. Yeah you're fuckin PAVLOV'D guys.

When I used to be a heavy stoner with no money in my late teens I'm fairly certain I had the exact same response at the sound of a rizla being pulled out of the packet.

[Paul Calf]

My dog does a lot of this. Every time I stand up near mealtimes, he runs into the kitchen.

He used to run into the garden for a last bark when I said to my wife "Shall we go to bed then?"

Now, I say it to him.

[TrenterPercenter]

hehe, I've nothing really to add (I'm sure I will have when Ive had a think) but I just love the title and idea for this thread.

[bgmnts]

Yeah my cat does the same. They include; me opening my bedroom door first thing in the morning, my mother opening her bedroom door first thing in the morning, one of us walking to the kitchen to cook food, the fridge opening and the rustling of ANY packaging.

This morning he marched me to the kitchen and I fed him half a golden gourmet and a handful of purina. Literally ten minutes later my mother got up and he started meowing food at her.

I was in the kitchen making a cuppa at the time and he literally walked in and walked out instantly, Abe Simpson style.

I think it's half pavlov and half being a fat greedy chancer.

[buttgammon]

My rabbit knows a few tricks, one of which is to spin round; we say 'spin', do a little hand signal and give him a treat when he does it. He discovered we keep fruit and veg in the fridge, so every time anyone goes in the kitchen, he follows them in, stands next to the fridge and keeps spinning.

[famethrowa]

My dog goes to sleep in the corner of the room (usually upside-down, legs in the air like Sputnik), probably about 3 metres away from me at my computer. Every night, he wakes up when I've closed all the computer windows and gone back to the desktop screen, he just knows. Then runs to the back door cause he knows I'm going to put him outside. I figure he's picking up on the changing light and colours, although he's behind the screen? Little bugger has tried to anticipate me lately too, and run off into another room to hide in a corner.

[The Mollusk]

He used to run into the garden for a last bark when I said to my wife "Shall we go to bed then?"

Now, I say it to him.

Sorry to hear about your divorce.

[turnstyle]

My dog does a lot of this. Every time I stand up near mealtimes, he runs into the kitchen.

He used to run into the garden for a last bark when I said to my wife "Shall we go to bed then?"

Now, I say it to him.

I bet you do you dirty old bollocks

[Bently Sheds]

Pavloved meself when I got a big bar of chocolate. Stuck it in the fridge and would snap off & eat a square whenever I was stood waiting for the kettle to boil for a cuppa. Since then I've developed a craving for chocolate every time I hear the kettle's on.

[tookish]

My cats come pelting into the kitchen as soon as they hear the fridge open. Myrtle even jumps into the fridge to meow from a better vantage point. I brought it on myself as over lockdown our oldest cat had a seizure and I convinced myself her time was coming, so poured her little secret dishes of milk every day. The other cats cottoned on as they do, and now I can't get myself a yoghurt without an entourage of mewling, pawing little criminals.

The dog responds to everything we say and so we have to allude to bedtime in code words lest he start shepherding us upstairs. He's small but persistent.

[Buelligan]

All the wild cats (most of them) come when they hear my footsteps returning to the village at night, they follow me home for food.  Also all the ones that live nearby run towards my door whenever it opens. 

[Bernice]

Time was, the imbibing of a morning cup of Joe would get a man's bowels moving. Nothing wrong with that, mind, pure chemistry; caffeine agitating the digestion and so on.

These days, why, I'm lucky if the coffee's even brewed before I have to make to the toilet and drop trou. Just lookin at that aeropress gets my guts a-bubbling, and that ain't chemistry, no sir. That's what we in these parts call a case o' the brown pavlovs.

[imitationleather]

Whenever the cats hear me fill up the kettle they think they're getting Dreamies, even though they know full well they only get them in the evening. They sit on the kitchen counter next to each other and stare at me with "We think you've forgotten something!" expressions on their stupid faces.

I wish it was as easy to train them to do something useful/impressive/convenient.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Someone at work got a spaniel puppy during lockdown and I think they may have been a bit of a pushover (cuddling the thing one minute then being surprised it launches itself into their lap when they're on video calls to their boss etc). After every call he'd take it out to go toilet in the garden and stretch legs. So it learned the hangup noise on teams and started going apeshit he has two calls back to back.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I think I've pavloved myself. Used to be I needed the bog after my first coffee but now even smelling it brew can get things going.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

All the wild cats (most of them) come when they hear my footsteps returning to the village at night

Kelis considers rewrite.

[shiftwork2]

Yeah a cat will happily spend two hours a day trying it on, even if it never works.  I'm not sure whether that marks them out as impressively tenacious or just daft.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yeah a cat will happily spend two hours a day trying it on, even if it never works.  I'm not sure whether that marks them out as impressively tenacious or just daft.

Animals can be weirdly patient at times. My uncle had a wire-haired terrier who would literally spend all day intently staring at a crack under their shed if she thought there was a mouse or shrew under it. It was like she was in a trance and she was otherwise a quite placid and dozy dog.

[SpiderChrist]

My daughter's guinea pigs (RIP Ruby and Hazel) used to go mental with all that squeaking and popcorning mallarkey when they heard the fridge door opening (because that's where the spinach and lettuce etc were) or when they heard the back door opening (cos the garden was where dandelion and runner bean leaves came from). Pavlov's cavies.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Mine did that when he heard my dad's car pulled up on the drive as he was usually the one that fed him. I think he could tell the difference between his and my mum's car by engine noise.

[amateur]

Animals can be weirdly patient at times. My uncle had a wire-haired terrier who would literally spend all day intently staring at a crack under their shed if she thought there was a mouse or shrew under it. It was like she was in a trance and she was otherwise a quite placid and dozy dog.

They've got to fill the day somehow, without opposable thumbs options are limited.

[Gurke and Hare]

hehe, I've nothing really to add (I'm sure I will have when Ive had a think) but I just love the title and idea for this thread.

Whereas I read the title as "Unintentional Pavlova" and was, if anything, disappointed by the contents.

[itsfredtitmus]

OPENING FRIDGE MEANS ATTACK FEET FOR FOOD AND HAM

[Icehaven]

Even though I finished school 25 years ago any mention of Last Of The Summer Wine makes me feel like it's Sunday evening and I haven't done my homework.

[itsfredtitmus]

Even though I finished school 25 years ago any mention of Last Of The Summer Wine makes me feel like it's Sunday evening and I haven't done my homework.

reminds me of me sundays wanks, that does

[buttgammon]

My daughter's guinea pigs (RIP Ruby and Hazel) used to go mental with all that squeaking and popcorning mallarkey when they heard the fridge door opening (because that's where the spinach and lettuce etc were) or when they heard the back door opening (cos the garden was where dandelion and runner bean leaves came from). Pavlov's cavies.

Guinea pigs get the hang of this very quickly - they know fridges in and out. I used to grow mint in the garden and my pig (Bruno) would go nuts whenever he smelled it, even if it was just because you'd left the back door open and it was carried by the wind.

[DoesNotFollow]

Absolutely reek of Pavlovs mate.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Thread's responsible for Anita Ward's - Ring My Bell being stuck in my head now.

[The Mollusk]

My rabbit knows a few tricks, one of which is to spin round; we say 'spin', do a little hand signal and give him a treat when he does it. He discovered we keep fruit and veg in the fridge, so every time anyone goes in the kitchen, he follows them in, stands next to the fridge and keeps spinning.

This is ridiculously cute and made me smile a lot.

[imitationleather]

OPENING FRIDGE MEANS ATTACK FEET FOR FOOD AND HAM

One of my cats can open the fridge and sometimes he's ended up running off with sausages he's found in there, like a little dog in a cartoon.