https://i.imgur.com/Xs9xaKQ.gifv
It's a mix of both when training. Dogs will do a trick because you want them to do a trick, cats will do a trick because they want to do a trick. Treats/food, especially right before feeding time, is a good way to ensure that cats will want to do tricks. But the actual training itself is fairly similar.
For my cat, I simply started off by saying the command I wanted her to learn (In my case, I use her name when I want her to come) and immediately feeding her a treat. After she started to catch on, I moved a little distance away from her and repeated the command, and gave her a treat if she came over. I wouldn't just give her a treat when she walked over (otherwise she would just follow me around), but only when I had given the command. You can then use the same process to increase the distance, until they'll come running from the other side of the house.
It may take several sessions for them to catch on, so be patient. If your cat seems itritated, it's best to stop for the moment and try again later. You want training to be a positive experience. Also be consistent. Training daily is much better for picking up new tricks than once a week or on some random schedule.
Once they've gotten the trick down, make sure to practice so they don't forget. I usually call my cat once a week or once every other week to make sure the command stays fresh.
I'm hardly a cat whisperer, but that's the process I used to train my cat to come when called. I'm sure there are plenty of people who know more about this than I do with videos on YouTube or articles out there on the internet.
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I got him when he was only 8 weeks old. After the first couple of nights of him playing all night long and making all kinds of noise running up and down the stairs, the next night I decided to grab him and put him on my belly when I went to bed. I made a purring noise until he calmed down and started purring himself. Eventually we fell asleep like that.
I continued to do the same thing every night whenever I went to bed. Some nights he would try to leave but I’d pull him back and make the purring noise again until he settled down.
After only a few weeks I could turn off the light to go to bed and he would just come to me on his own. He would fall asleep like that on my belly. Eventually he got too big to fit nicely on my belly so he would just curl up next to me. Some nights when I was late coming to bed he would come find me and start meowing. He did that for 17 years. Lights out meant that it was time for kitty to curl up and go to sleep. He was such a good boy.
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This again?
You can train cats! They just have different motivations than dogs, so you have to go about it differently. Dogs, when you get right down to it, want to make you happy. So you just have to make them feel that they did a good job and it's the most awesome thing in the WORLD when they do what you want.
Cats, not so much. You pretty much have to make it worth their while. They have to do stuff because there's something in it for them.
Teaching cats that they're not allowed to scratch furniture is pretty easy. Teaching them to do tricks takes work, but is absolutely doable.
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i always had dogs as a kid. now i live in a 2nd floor condo. my wife said no dogs, because it'd be too much trouble to go downstairs every time to use the bathroom. so we got a kitten. her name is Mango. me not knowing how cats work decided, "well, i'll just train her to do tricks like a puppy." and it worked! (for the most part.)
be persistent
use positive reinforcement
keep training sessions short but frequent
by that, i mean:
each time you interact with your kitten, go over a trick. (eventually a routine of tricks.) when learning a new one, keep eye contact, say the trick clearly, use a hand signal, and physically (be gentle!) guide the kitten to do what you want if necessary. it takes time at first. she'll have no idea what you're expecting her to do and will look at you like "humans. wtf?", but eventually the kitten will catch on. when she does, give a treat and a scratch behind the ear (or whatever). do this trick a maximum of 3 times. (more than that, and she may get annoyed and might not want to do it at all in the future.) then have a play session.
if your kitten doesnt get it at first, no worries, just try again. if she doesnt get it in say half a dozen times of you guiding her (in one session), then just let it go and try again next time. but when she does get it, especially the very first time, you better be excited like a mofo! give that kitty some treats and scratchies and snuggles! (no cat treats on hand? mine likes bits of cheese and bread. try that.) the kitten will then associate performance with praise. not too many treats, but lots and lots of praise! srsly, who doesnt like snuggles?
don't overdo it. keep the session short, about 5 minutes multiple times a day. if the kitty doesnt feel like practicing, then dont force it. you'll just end up with a cat that resents you. just let it go, and try again a few hours later.
my cat can do these tricks:
sit
turn in a circle
lay down
shake hands
high five
meow
all of these are done on command by voice and/or hand signal. though sometimes it takes a little coaxing, and sometimes she'll be a lazy butt and just flat out refuse. but hey, cats. what you gonna do?
i'm sure that if i had the time when she was a kitten that i would have been able to get her to do more elaborate tricks like roll over, jump, etc. i really wanted to teach her to use the toilet, but that didnt happen. these are good enough, i guess. they're certainly good enough to impress your friends with.
pro tip: while your kitten is still young, do everything in your power to get her used to taking baths and clipping nails. when ours was little, we would bathe and clip her once a week. ours is an indoor-only cat so she doesnt need to be bathed all the time now, but if she needs it, she wont fight us about it. and we keep her nails trimmed so she doesnt snag on the carpet/furniture/us. jebus help you if you decide when shes a year old that you'd finally like to give her a bath and a pedicure. also, if shes a longhair, then trim the hair around the ass. seriously, its not fun to clean cat shit from her overgrown ass fur.
edit: to get a cat or dog to sit, don't push down on his backside. instead, sweep your hand along the tail and under the butt, into the back of the knees. this is a for more natural motion for the animal to understand, as opposed to being forcefully made to sit by pushing on the haunches.
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To modify any behaviour of our furry companions we must begin by changing our own behaviour. That means we need to be aware of what we are accidentally or intentionally reinforcing to encourage the undesirable behaviours from our cats as a result of our own actions.
With this said, understanding the basic principles of reinforcing what you desire vs what the cat does to get your attention is key. Counter surfing kitties repeat the behaviour because it’s reinforced either by food accidentally left for them to consume or they get our attention to pick them up and put them back on the floor.
Animals function by seeking rewards (e.g. food, any sort of attention is better than none, etc) which gets reinforced and in turn the behaviour is repeated. The pet owner needs to learn how to replace one behaviour to discourage the undesired behaviour such as counter surfing. This might be accomplished by rewarding kitty with treats every time they’re caught sitting on a designated spot at counter height. Eventually they’ll learn that only that spot earns them a yummy treat and nothing good happens on the counter. Eventually, they’ll quit counter surfing.
Cats are not able to grasp the concept of “no” without proper conditioning so reward based training is more effective at facilitating behaviour change in quickly. Everyone thus wins with this method. Kitty behaves and human is happy and able to live in harmony with kitty.
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One of you stand on one side of the room and say her name when she comes, give her a treat. Then the other one says her name and she comes give her a treat. Show her the treat each time in your hand so she knows. Eventually you won’t need the treat and she may also come when you call her name.
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Hi, we just got two kittens as well. They are now 5 months old. We started training with the clicker too. I noticed that in the beginning they didn't understand it very well. Also making a connection between things was hard for them. Like the cat puzzles.
For the training: I started with luring them with cat candy and then a click when they came. First close to them and then further and further away over time. Just for 10 mins. And during I called their names. This way, they learned their names and to come on command super fast. Sometimes it's a bit hard as one is faster and you need to click and give a candy. You can try to seperate them. Mine want to be together (always!).
Now we try several things. They also sit for a candy. That one is also easier. Next up is giving a paw and you can have them move around in a circle or follow the candy.
What we're also doing, is tapping their bowls together when they're getting wet food in the evening. They now associate it with super nice food. It's a nice trick for if we really want them to come and they're further away. Or for when they'll ever be outside (so far not without supervision).
It's a lot of fun and they like it as well. Just don't overtrain them on a day :)
Have fun with your new fur family <3 Having two is the best! We also have a boy and girl (same nest). One tortie and one ginger.
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Just want to share my success here. I'm so proud of my two kitties. Whinny is a loud mouth and went through a period of constant, non stop meowing and I couldn't do anything to stop it. He would beg for food all day long, despite all the tricks I tried that I read online. A spray bottle was the best solution I had for a while, but what's ultimately stopped his incessant cries is sitting! I tried so many ways to stop it, but it took him associating an action with food for it to stop. It's been super easy too. His "sister" Eevee is a very smart cat and she always sits for food to begin with, so I didn't really need to train her. Just instill the word with the action in her. Whinny would watch Eevee sit, and in his desperation watching Eevee eat, eventually he understood he won't eat until he sits. Right now I'm trying to compile no begging and no crying into "sit" as well. It's still very early in their training, but I feel like all cat owners get super excited when a basic command is learned. I hope I'll be able to teach this to him outside of mealtime, but I don't want to "ruin" him associating the action to eating.
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