How to train your cat.

xspinningisfun

xspinningisfun

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Does anyone know how to teach your cats tricks?
I love my cat, but sometimes, she tends to be really boring.
And I really want to teach her some tricks but I dont' know how to :/
 
All I taught my cat is to rough-house with me and grab my foot for food. I'm not a cat trainer at all. You could ask Frisky as she may have a few tricks up her sleeve.
 
Frisky would be a good source.

As is it, cat # 1 - Abby - a sweetheart

Cat # 2 - Millie - a biter, a growler, 26 pounds!

Cat #3 - Cleo - a sweetheart too, but growls only when she's held ...

Trying to train cats #2 and 3 have been a challenge !! :D
 
Cats are impossible to train, it seems to me that it is more of a niche of each and one's own individual's ability to understand things.
"Cats have amazingly keen hearing but go conveniently deaf when you call." - quote from someone!

However a certain thing that they remember by are sounds. So when you are doing something while making a certain sound, or even signing, do it for a long time and eventually they will get used to you doing that sign/sound and will know what you are going to do when they see you do it. It associates the action with a signal.

For my latest cat, one of the tricks I've managed to get her to learn (well, it's easy anyways, I bet anyone can do it) is to extend my hand like doing the sign for 5 and move it back and forth like saying "what" in ASL but with palm under, slowly.

She knows I'm gonna pet her and then she just rolls on the ground, her own behavior though, lol.
 
:wave: again, spinning!

okay, an example:

I am dog trainer and while I don't have cats, the principle is this: organisms do what is reinforced - what they get rewarded for. Take something the cat really likes - a meaty treat, say, a bit of fish, some turkey - or even some kibble if that is what you're feeding, and entice the cat to follow you with the item held in your hand, on a spoon/fork, off a stick, whatever. Don't tell or cue her to do anything at first because she has no idea what the words mean- many people tend to spend a lotta time verbalizing at their dogs or cats and mostly the pet really doesn't know what you're saying, they're responding to non-verbal cues <body language>. So, teach the MECHANICS of what you want the behavior to look like and reward the cat offering the behavior. Then add a visual cue that is attached to the behavior you are either getting or the pet is approximating. Also Attach a clear signal in this sequence to the behavior that you LIKE that says: YES, THAT'S what I want you <cat>to do! So, to teach a "come", as I started originally, take the tasty morsel and entice the cat to follow that, and you move with it. Only a few steps, maybe even one step. The instant the cat makes the tiniest move with you or toward you as move with the food, Mark the behavior with either a verbal signal <Clicker or Yes is what I use if using a verbal> OR a visual Marker <I use "thumb-up" signal for my puppy>. THAT signal, paired long enough with this sequence, eventually will teach the animal, that -what she is doing is "right" and that a treat is coming. The verbal or visual Marker is a promise made to the dog or cat - if you use it, you MUST follow with treat or it will lose its significance.

Same way teach - "sitting up", or "waving" or any other number of behaviors - reward attempts or moves that are what you want. If you can eventually bet ten bucks that the pet will do the behavior consistantly when you cue by your non-verbal action or by a specific visual cue, THEN add the actual verbal word <if you are going to vocalize at all, and you don't have to> last.

Remember there is difference between verbal Marker <that tells animal that you LIKE what she is trying and you will reward her with food> and a verbal CUE <also known as a "command" in some dog training circles> that tells the pet what the behavior is you want her to do. IF you are going to add a verbal cue, don't use it until the last step.

And, food will not be required forever and ever - it is not a bribe. Food is the pay the pet receives for making the attempt. Eventually, the interaction with you and/or the end behavior will be self-rewarding and you will not always need to use food.
 
Cats can be trained - but they don't do well with training with compulsion - the "old-school" method of dog training - "do it or else" style <which is not the way I train>
 
LOL I tried that too but it never worked...

One of my cats though thought it was a dog. Whenever the door bell went off Bibi went along with the dog to bark at the door. Obviously Bibi was meowing his poor lungs out of his body. It was always hilarious. Silly cat :roll:

:D Good luck with the tricks!
 
naisho said:
Cats are impossible to train, it seems to me that it is more of a niche of each and one's own individual's ability to understand things.
"Cats have amazingly keen hearing but go conveniently deaf when you call." - quote from someone!

.
Click to expand...
First of all, i am not a cat trainer. LOL. I am obsessed with kittens and cats. Yes i often bring cats to the vet. This is pretty much it.
Naisho said it ALL. I have seen people who are cat trainers to adopt kittens to train them to see if they would cooperative with trainers by doing the tricks. But overall, cats are impossible to train! i am not saying ALL, some of them. :giggle:

One of my 3 cats love fetch ball ( we used the leftover plastic and tie it) so he can pick it up and walk over to us. I notice He gets older and he got bored with it fast. :( :3 One of them has been practicing with hand shake but he keeps putting his mouth on hand instead of his paw. :roll: one of them who is a wreck nervous understands what i sign " water" using my voice. He does run up to the sink and waiting for me to turn it on.

Sad. Dogs are much easier to train than cats. :o
 
I think it depends on the cat. If the cat tends to just lay around all day, you're most likely not going to be able to train it to do anything, lol. Maybe you can associate it to understand the crack of a can opening means suppertime is here, and she'll come running to the kitchen. But that's it, lol

But if said kitty is always "up in your business," always interested in what's going on, always THINKING, then she could be a good training prospect. I have one of those, Buffy, a high energy little girl who has a HIGH need for mental stimulation. Kind of a nightmare, actually, lol. But anyway, it's easy to train her, but I haven't actually done that. The most I did was to teach her to "beg" for her favorite treats, but I ran out of the bag before getting past the stage where she'd place her front paws on my hand. Then it'd be a long while before I'd get another bag, because this treat that she loves so dearly is crappy stuff, and I don't want to fill her system with junk. So when I get another bag eventually, she's long forgotten anything I've taught her. But I just "teach" her by simply watching her life her life. Buffy's naturally smart; it's fascinating watching her stare at something with her head tilted, then reaching out a paw to fiddle with it (usually to push something off a shelf and observe the reactions of people around her, or prying a door open and slipping out through the crack). Buffy, due to her high stimulation needs, is a fantastic escape artist, a door darter (my girls are all indoor cats), and she knows when my dad gets home. Around that time, about 6:30 or so, she'll start getting more, uh, annoying, vocal and invading your space. She tend starts hanging around the back door, and just lounging out of sight. Dad will come home, open the door, leave it open a bit too long, and Buffy's gone, dashing through the grass.

Actually, I think I can say I taught her to "come." Not like a dog, mind you, but if she got out, I taught her to come when I stood out on the front steps and called her. I initially would go out with a can of food when she'd sneak out, and just crack it open. Buffy would come running, because she knew I'd feed her. Then it was no time at all when I'd just have to call her and she'd come running, and I'd feed her anyways. Gotta reward her every time for responding to me, and give her a reason to want to come inside (even a few times of NOT giving her food will give her pause in the future, to think about the likelihood of whether or not she'd get food if she came back to me)
 
very important when teaching new behavior, or in a very challenging environment at beginning <outdoor as opposed to inside> to reward EVERY time, but then quickly go to - sometimes you get the treat, sometimes not - because it's the principle of the slot machine - dog or cat thinks that SOMETIMES she gets treat, so it pays to try. A kind of "schedule of reinforcement" <name> - very powerful. The reward is more valuable because of its variability.
 
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