Cat Training: August 2008 Archives

Aug

Cat training tips, the best techniques...

11:58 PM posted by wendell | Comments (2) | Subscribe to this blog's feed

I'd say cat training tips is one of the biggest requests we get from our readers. Based upon my own experiences and some tips I've researched, here is this best advice I can provide.

One of the issues that most people don't realize is that cats can not be trained like dogs. Cats and dogs have completely different social structures which makes it a challenge to train a cat if your previous experience is with dogs. In my opinion, cats are much smarter than dogs which makes it even more difficult to train them.

Whether your are trying to teach your cat a trick or you're teaching your cat discipline, be consistent with your training. The earlier you train your cat, the more accepting they will be to your message. The kitten stage is a great time to take advantage of this.

I actually taught my cat Maddy how to play fetch with a mouse. We now play the game at least twice a week. Basically I take one of her play mice and pat my thigh three times in a rapid succession, she knows from hearing that sound that I'm ready to play the game with her. Usually she hides behind a chair or wall and she'll appear and pounce on the mouse when I throw the toy mouse. It's pretty kewl actually, my friends and family get a kick out of it. The key for Maddy was to praise her a lot when she was a kitten when we played the game. She now aks to play the game by bringing the mouse to me a few times a week.

Here are some other tips that you should be aware of when training your cat:

always use praise when training a cat, scolding will not work with cats.

keep training sessions fun, pressure tactics will make your cat lose interest quickly.

use your cat's name when praising him.

be cons

practice in a quiet place with Bach or preferably Mozart playing in the background. Ok, the classical music is a bit much but it can't hurt! Keep the distractions to a minimum when you're training your cat.

practice during your cat's "alert time."

end your training sessions with some sort of a treat. Try and always end the session on a positive note. Sounds crazy, but ending your training session any other way may cause your cat to show little interest the next time you initiate the training. If you're a cat lover, I don't have to tell you that cats have very good memory skills. Make them remember something fun.

practice a couple of times a day (depending on your schedule) during your cat's alert times.

be consistent and fair with your training.

You know your cat better than I do. All cats are different so if playing classical music in the background works, do it! If offering cat nip after the training session works, continue with it. Cat lovers understand that all cats are different so you have to use the motivation that works for your cat. Appeal to your cat and don't fight them and you'll have a happy trainable cat.

Other posts I think you might be into:

The amazing story of Christian the lion...

12 cats that will be extinct by 2020

A cat's daily diary vs a dog's daily diary...