Basic cat training will help you educate your cat to come to you when summoned, enter into a cat carrier and feel more at ease in it, tolerate basic health checks, and have their claws cut. It’s better to begin cat training at a young age if at all feasible.
Whenever most people think of animal training, they think of teaching them particular commands like stay,’ ‘turn over,’ or ‘give a paw.’ You are, however, training or teaching your cat when they learn to perform more or less of anything depending on your behavior. Cat training has the extra benefit of allowing you to engage with your cat more naturally.
How to Train your Cat?
Cats, similar to dogs, are driven to perform activities that will benefit them in the long run. Trying to find delicious morsels of food or playing a cat game with a favorite toy or other hobbies is a good way to start training them. Normally, the cat makes these requests to the owner. As a result, it facilitates your work.
Ringing the doorbell
Outdoor cats may be aggravating and sometimes destructive in their attempts to return indoors. Suspend a little yet loud bell from a thread at eye level for your cat. Ignore the clawing, meowing, and other attempts to grab your attention. Your cat will eventually contact the bell, causing it to ring, and you will reward her by unlocking the door. Do this multiple times and your cat will eventually learn to ring the bell on command.
Sit and Hi5
Say “Sit” while your cat sits, then praise them with a pat or a treat. To aid your cat’s learning, use a hand signal, such as holding your hand vertically in a stop sign. You may rapidly expand this teaching to get your cat to do a ‘Hi 5’ with you by raising a paw to your palm. Reward the cat every time their paw rises off the ground to stimulate any little movements. Then, while holding the treat in your fist, wait for her to try to take it with her paw, and then reward them with the treat. Gradually raise your hand higher till your cat’s paw contacts your hand and give them the reward they were waiting for!
Find it!
Toss high-value goodies at your cat’s paws and add the word “Find It” after your cat understands the toss. Yes, it’s that straightforward. The shell game may then be played using Tupperware containers or your hands. Use a dab of cat paste to promote licking if she claws or bites your hand. After she softly taps your palm with her paw or licks it, reveal the treat.
Remember this!
Discipline doesn’t work on cats and they do not learn anything from it. Swatting, spraying, or frightening your cat may stop him from doing a specific behavior with you, but they will not stop the habit in general. Your mere presence will create a cautious cat who is suspicious of your proximity. That is why teaching your pet positive reinforcement is so crucial.
Consult the experienced vets at Texas Wellness Spay and Neuter Clinic for guidance on training your cat!
