It appears that my cat has me trained.

This will come as no surprise to anyone who has cats, but it was intended to work the other way. Originally, I actually thought that it had.

While down at Northwest Trek this past January, there was a little (~3") set of chimes that were intended as a tree ornament, marked down to half price. A ha!, thinks I, I can support NW Trek *and* get something that I need, so I bought them. The Yar cat has been stretching up the length of the door when he wants out, and while he hasn't been scratching anything to damage it, I figured if I put the chimes up by the door, he could learn to hit them instead of scratching and all would be good.

Well, this didn't take, not for the longest time. Then, during the period where I was always swamped and staying up late with one assignment or the other, I tended to ignore his door 'stretches' more and more. Occasionally, however, he would accidentally hit the chimes. I'd always stop and get up then, because I really, really wanted him to associate the bells with the door opening.

So, recently, he actually started ringing the bells. He would tap them, and then look at me, and then run to the middle of the room. I'd scratch his back, go over to the door, and let him out. Cat trained, right?

Well, maybe. He's running to the middle of the room after ringing the bells, but I'm finding that he doesn't necessarily follow me to the door afterwards. It appears that he has realized that the chimes will make me get up. If he meets me in the middle of the room, he gets a scratch and some play time... I think I've been trained...