Training Your Cat
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Whether you want to train your cat to come home at night, or whether you want them to perform tricks for you, like shaking hands, it is all really quite simple.
Buy some of her favourite treats. We get those long sticks of fish flavoured treats from Tesco, then chop them up into tiny pieces, and put them in an airtight jar.
Encourage your cat to do whatever it is you want her to do, by repeating the same phrase over and over again, coupled with doing the same action. For example, you might want her to raise her front paw to 'shake hands'. Start by getting down on the floor with her when she is sitting in classic cat pose (like the ilikecats black cat at the top of the page), then pick up her front paw gently and say "shake hands" repeatedly. After you have done this three or four times, give her just one of the tiny tidbits within three seconds of you shaking her hand/paw.
After about an hour of doing this, she will automatically lift her paw to shake hands with you in anticipation of getting a treat.
It works with cats AND dogs and the secret of it is to reward them with something they love WITHIN three seconds.
Also, you have to be consistant. Always shake the same paw, and use precisely the same words every time you train her.
This works especially well with Norwegians and Maine Coons but also with ordinary common or garden mixed moggies.
And it is HUGE fun for the family :)
Ken (not verified)
Sat, 01/08/2011 - 18:54
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Re: Training Your Cat
Hi Sam
This is exactly the right technique to use for both cats an dogs. Instead of telling them off when they make a mistake, REWARD every time they do the thing you want.
BUT
It MUST, absolutely MUST be within 3 seconds of them doing it.
I would compare it to how you get a child to change bad behaviour. Instead of hitting them and screaming at them, you try to ignore the bad behaviour, and when it stops, (like when they stop yelling) you give them something they like as a reward, like a toy, or something new to play with.
I have found cats much more easy to train than dogs (or children for that matter), and we love ours very much.
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