- "How to Train a Cat to do Simple Tricks"
| The Basic Method of Training a Cat The foundation of cat training as well as any other animal training is the basic concept of rewarding upon objective met. When you order a cat to do something and he does it well, reward him with a snack, a pat, his favorite toy or anything he enjoys. A clicker should also be used together with the reward to ensure optimum results. At the start, a clicker would sound like an ordinary noise to a cat but soon he'll realize that the clicking sounds are actually signals for him to perform something and he'll then pay attention to the clicker. At that stage, you'll notice the importance of a clicker and how it helps in cat training. Much time and patience is needed to train a cat; they tend to be rather inconsistent with their actions and disobedient at times. It is important not to get your cat too full at the time of training, or he'll be lazy. And make sure he's not too hungry too, or he'll just focus on the food rewards and not on the tasks you want him to do. So ensure that his hunger level is just right. |
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Cat Clicker Training Click, reward. Click, reward. The motive is to associate a click with a treat and get your cat to remember this. Remember that you should click and treat only when the cat has performed or is performing a task that you want him to. When you think you have gotten your cat's undivided attention then you can move on to training him simple tricks. Train your Cat to Come when Called This is the first training you should give your cat. Simply say out a command to him so that he'll to come to you. The most common words used are "Come" and the cat's name. Calling out "Come" is better than saying the cat's name (unless you have more than 1 cat) because "Come" is a specific word for the action performed whereas a cat's name is used for general purposes. While calling out "Come", you might want to do a hand gesture, signalling him to come over. He might ignore you the first few times but that's normal. Keep calling him and when he comes to you, remember to click and reward him so that he'll feel happy doing the action. |
| Training a Cat to Sit or Stay Another simple trick is to get your cat to sit. Once you have mastered the "Come" trick, you can proceed to do the "Sit" trick. Tell your cat to sit by commanding "Sit" or "Stay" and applying slight pressure on his rear end. Once he has done so, do the standard procedure of rewarding him with a treat. Soon, he'll be able to sit without you needing to apply pressure on his butt and feeding him. Teach a Cat to Spin This is a fun trick that's easy to master. Call your cat to come to you, and then move your hands in a circular motion above his head. Keep doing this action until he follows the direction of your hand and spins in circles. If you find it hard to get him to spin, try clicking while doing the hand gestures and as per normal, reward him once accomplished. Mixing Different Cat Tricks To avoid your cat easily bored out, mix tricks and tasks for him - get him to come and sit before spinning him, call him and move away, call him and hide and repeat that action, and so on and so forth. |
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