My cats have us well trained; they don't make a fuss when the food dish (dry Science Diet, their favorite) is empty. They sit quietly beside it and stare at us until we notice them. The older cat trained the new cat to do this, and sometimes it's dress right dress at the food dish.

One day I was showing the kids a trick for making friends with a dog (yeah, they know all of the cautions about strange dogs, but there are times when good dogs are a bit shy of new people). You rub the end of your finger in your ear to get a concentrated dose of your scent, and the dog will invariably take an interested sniff of your hand and decide if they know enough about you to be friends. One of the kids tried it on one of the cats--who promptly licked off the end of the finger. He thinks it's a real treat, that little hit of earwax.

SRS