Cat Training

It is well known that cats are smart, even cunning creatures, but how smart are they?

According to scientists, cats are much smarter than you might imagine, and much more stubborn.

When should you start training?

Many people think that training cats are a completely impossible thing because these animals simply do not lend themselves to any admonition. However, this is not the case, and training cats at home is quite possible if you approach it correctly.

You can start training an animal at the age of 7-8 months. At this time, the cat or cat is already old enough to correctly understand your requirements and try to fulfill them.

The training of kittens should not start all of a sudden: first, the animal must be properly observed in order to understand what tendencies it has, what games it likes, and, therefore, what tricks will be easiest to learn. For example, if a kitten likes to carry its toys in its teeth, then it can be taught to bring the objects thrown by you in the same way. And if the kitten loves to jump on different objects, you can easily teach him to jump on your shoulder or jump over barriers. Having identified the tendencies of the animal, you can begin training with the help of constant rewards, strengthening and developing each quality.

How to train a cat?

Remember right away that training cats at home are incompatible with coercion. You can never force a cat to do what she does not want or does not like, so immediately give up those tricks to which your pet does not have a soul. Also, training cats will be impossible if the animal does not trust you or does not like you – it simply does not want to obey you, and it will also be impossible to “bribe” the cat with treats.

As for the training themselves, they should take place in stages, and the most important quality of the trainer should be patience: sometimes for training, it is enough just to wait for the cat to perform the desired action and at that very moment say the appropriate command. The cat must remember the sound of the action and its course, after which it must be encouraged.

Also, training cats involves constant and obligatory praise – these animals love to be praised, and this can often awaken their desire to follow commands over and over again.

How to teach your cat different tricks?

As a rule, training cats comes down to teaching them fairly simple commands – “to me!”, “Sit!”, “Give me a paw.” The cat is the easiest to teach the first command – she always goes to the call, if she knows that she will be given something pleasant, so start training your pet with calls for feeding. At the same time, you need to speak cheerfully and easily, be sure to call the cat by name. As soon as the pet appears, put food in her bowl. After the cat gets used to this, the command “to me” can be practiced in other situations – in this case, the weasel will act as a reward.

The sit command must be taught to the cat patiently. Place the animal on the floor and wait until it wants to sit on its own, then immediately say the command. When the cat reacts correctly, give her a treat, and if she is stubborn and remains standing, press your hand on the back of her body, as if urging her to sit down and repeating the command.

You can teach a cat to give a paw after she learns to follow the “sit” command. When the animal is sitting, take one of the front legs and say the command: “Give me a paw!” – then immediately reward the cat. The exercise should be repeated until the cat itself begins to place its paw in your palm.

Also, the cat can be trained to “Stop!” (block the path of the animal with your hand and say the command) and “Bring it!” (start with the items cats are most likely to chase) and jumping over the hoop. In addition, you can train the cat with other commands and tricks, but do not overwork the animal. Sometimes it is better to postpone training for a while so that the cat does not develop an aversion to exercise.