🏆Cat Person of the Month: Catmantoo’s Robert Dollwet

Our Cat Person of the Month for October is animal behaviorist and trainer extraordinaire, Robert Dollwet. Robert is CatDad to the amazingly talented cats Didga, Boomer and Bindi.

 

Didga holds a GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the number of tricks she can perform. Boomer holds the world record for skateboarding the longest human tunnel traveled through by a cat. Adorable Boomer gets on the skateboard himself and pushes with his back leg, or he just runs and hops on for a ride. Bindi cat has learned even more advanced tricks.

 

Robert first trained animals when he worked with police dogs for the US Military. He then worked in Hollywood, California for 19 years, where he trained animal actors for television and movies, and helped famous pet owners. Today, Robert lives on the Gold Coast of Australia. He is a true friend to cats, sharing messages such as, “Adopt, don’t shop”, “Don’t declaw” and “Protect your cat and the environment by keeping your cats indoors”. Robert also creates video tutorials to help cat owners learn the proper way to teach their cat tricks or fix behavioral issues.

MY: Welcome to the MewlaYoung.com website, Robert Dollwet!  What’s new with the cats these days? Are you still training?

 

RD: When the lockdowns happened and I wasn’t able to take the cats out or present at the cat shows, I decided to stop all the training. It was clear things wouldn’t change for a while, so I decided to semi-retire (myself) and give the cats a retirement. I’m slowly starting to post on social media again, but I think the cats are going to stay retired.

 

The last big trick I finished was with Bindi walking around my body while I do a forward roll, something I never thought I’d be able to do with a cat. I’ve only seen dogs do this.

 

MY: To see Bindi leap up on your chest and, as you somersault, climb over your shoulder and down your back only to pop around and crawl back up your chest is super cool! You truly make working with cats look so easy. Has anything struck you about how training cats is different than training dogs?

 

RD: Having trained many different species of animals for the film industry, the difference was clear. Baby steps turn into micro-micro baby steps, and your expectations adjust. Actually, when teaching is done right, the results come. But you should never expect results to come when you want, you just recognize and “mark” the desired behavior when you see them.  

MY: LOL, we cat servants are a patient and flexible lot, and it’s helpful to know that many tedious steps are needed for the sophisticated tricks that Didga, Boomer and Bindi can do. Many of your videos show you, Didga and Boomer enjoying the sunshine on the gorgeous Gold Coast. Do you have any suggestions for people who would like to help their indoor cats get used to being outside and around people?

 

RD: This would require a long explanation because of all the mercurials of a cat’s behavior and all the variables of how training is conducted. However, in a nutshell, you’ll need to pair EVERYTHING with food. A clicker is how you achieve this, at the same time while using a ‘micro baby step’ systematic desensitization approach. This is why I started a Patreon page, to make posts and video tutorials explaining more complex training technics to people who want to take their knowledge to the next level. 

 

MY: Your tutorials are wonderful, and watching the results you achieved with the cats is so fun. Thousands of people have enjoyed your videos, and even more have fallen in love with your wonderful cats. We’d like to know how Didga, Boomer and Bindi got their names!

 

RD: When I moved to Australia, I thought it would be fun to learn how to play the didgeridoo (an Aboriginal wind instrument). One of the didgeridoo breathing exercises was, didga-da-didga-breath, didga-da-didga breath, I was practicing this on my way to the animal shelter to adopt a cat, and so decided to name Didga for the Didgeridoo. Boomer is short for Boomerang, With his wild nature, I hoped he would grow into his name. And of course, there’s beautiful Bindi. As a kitten, Bindi would playfully attack my feet. Her claws felt similar to stepping on a bindi weed, a thorny prickly weed found in Australia that usually grows camouflaged in grass. It HURT! So, all their names are very Australian. 

MY: Love it! We’ve just learned about the didgeridoo as well as about your great cats. What fun inspirations for their names!

 

One last question: Can you tell us a funny story about training animals in Hollywood?

 

RD: There are many stories that would crack you up, but one that stands out is when our company landed a Folgers coffee commercial. Folgers requested ducks in the background swimming in a river where a lovely couple was camping with a fire burning, drinking Folgers coffee (of course). Our company didn’t have ducks so we hired a company that supplied ducks to the film industry. The production company was paying for myself and the duck trainer, the roundtrip drive eight hrs one way, and the separate hotel rooms to get a good night’s sleep because of the 5:00 am call the next day. 

 

At the location, we couldn’t risk the ducks flying away, so before the director yelled “action,” we had to quickly secure the ducks to a rope line hidden under the water. Before we could get all five ducks attached, these two wild local ducks came out of nowhere, swooping and attacking our ducks. It was mayhem! We wrangled our ducks quickly and placed them all back in their cages. The two wild ducks were still angry and swooping their cages so we had to put them away, out of sight in our vehicle. The producer wasn’t happy, but what could we do? We ended up using our duck food to feed the two wild ducks who ended up being in the Folgers commercial. 

 

MY: OMGosh, I’m sure everyone was quite distressed at the time. But in retrospect, that is a funny story! I can imagine the chaos.

 

Thank you so much for sharing about your cats and your wonderful work, Robert. We know that our readers will want to watch your great vids. Where can readers find out more about the cats and your training services?

RD: You can find out more about us at https://catmantoo.info

MY: And to see Didga’s amazing world record performance, just click here

below.

 

  • Photo courtesy of Robert Dollwet

 

 

 

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5 thoughts on “🏆Cat Person of the Month: Catmantoo’s Robert Dollwet”

  5. Celinne

    What a treat! I have always admired Robert as a trainer and his 3 cats. Didga is a diva, with good reason! Boomer is quite the charmer and Bindi is such a beauty. I was wondering why I don’t see them on YouTube anymore. Those were the golden days of YT, before all the censoring. I sure miss them and I know many other fans feel the same. What an unforgettable team that lit up the screen with so much agility, grace and spectacular moves.
    Thank you for this interview and I am still hopeful the golden days will return again.

    Reply

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