My Training Begins

Over the next few weeks, I began to experiment with different ways of feeding Hillary - just to see how intelligent she was and whether or not I could eventually coax her closer to me. One of my early efforts was to put nuts inside an old coffee pot. As you can see, she quickly learned to balance and reach inside for her treats. I was impressed with her ability to learn. I also began to see her trusting me more each day. On walks through the neighborhood, I collected Black Walnuts and also began buying filberts (hazelnuts) at the local grocery.

One afternoon while working diligently at my computer, I heard an unusual noise at the door. Looking up, I quickly realized that it was later than I thought. Hillary was reminding me of my responsibility!


I gathered the nuts and went outside to find Hillary waiting - none too patiently - for her evening meal. By this time, she was not only expecting to be fed, but she had trained me to go to the fence and crack nuts for her.

	As her trust in me grew, she began venturing closer and closer, and soon she was devising clever ways to reinforce my behavior.

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