Last month began Butch's extensive out of the cage and off the leash training. During the month I put in many hard grueling hours each day with the little fellow. During each training session I tried my best to make each lesson as much of a game as I possibly could.
Butch, as you already know is my pet pig tailed monkey. He is a direct descendent from the intelligent side of the rock ape family. You might think I'm a bit biased, but during this past month, Butch has revealed to me a certain degree of higher intelligence that I'm persuaded even some chimpanzees don't possess.
I began his first training day by having Butch walk with me, stay with me, side by side and not running off into the woods every time he felt like it. Butch was always a fast learner. Of course, at night I caged him up. I always have, but in the morning I turn him loose for the day.
For two days, all Butch wanted to do was trail me everywhere I went. In order to make it a fun game, I would reward Butch with a delicious grasshopper. When he stayed with me for a period of time and didn't wonder off,I would pull a grasshopper out of my pocket and give it to him. Goodness, but he loved to crunch down upon their thin shells. Then he would "ooh" loudly at me for another one. The game continued. Obedience was rewarded with yet another juicy grasshopper.
Throughout the day I began to notice that Butch was intensely watching which pocket I pulled the grasshopper from. In a little while, when he thought I wasn't paying close attention, he would tippy toe up to me and very softly try to slip his hand into my pocket. But like the greedy little child that he was, he couldn't grab just one. His tiny fist would be full of those tobacco chewing critters when he pulled his hand out. Then he gleefully munched them one after another until only the stain was left in his hand.
On the third day, I taught Butch to come to me on my signal. Commanding Butch to "Stay," I then walked about 50 feet away. When I called him, He obediently came to me. He was rewarded. Gradually, increasing the distance between us, I trained him to come to me on my command from anywhere in the our "Toad Farm." When Butch heard me calling him, he hastened to obey and was generously rewarded with a tasty morsel.
With half of my vacation over I decided to intensify his training. Still trying to make it as much of a game as I could, I taught Butch an assortment of tricks. In no time at all he was standing on his head. Then he would walk around on his hands for a while. I taught him to belly crawl on the ground for up to 50 feet. Butch learned to roll over and to backward flips and he learned to stand at attention and shake hands when introduced. Of course I rewarded Butch handsomely each time from my bug pocket.
I decided to show Butch off on my last day of vacation. Calling some of my friends over to the house, I had Butch go through his routine. When he finished his last trick, he walked up to each person and standing a attention shook hands with each of them.
They were all properly amazed at his abilities which were far beyond those of a normal monkey. But, there was one small glitch I had forgotten to consider. My good friend Jimmy pointed it out to me. Taking me quietly by the arm to one side, as if he was afraid Butch would over hear him, he said, "Duce, you really are a fantastic animal trainer. And, Butch is a very smart monkey. But did you notice Butch sticking his hand in each of our pockets after he shook hands with us? "Why did he do that Duce? What was he looking for?"
A wide grin which rapidly turned into a hearty laugh suddenly came over me. It was a minute before I could control myself long enough to answer him. "Jimmy," I said, "Butch was simply looking for a juicy grass -- er, uh, his reward."
Duce is the penname of Carman J.W. Vance at the Crest Yard in Fort Worth.
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