Cat Training – Kitten Training

Despite what many people say, cat training is possible. Yes they are often obstinate to the point of frustration and they have a strong independent will. That doesn’t mean you can’t train your cat to follow house rules or even do special tricks.

After all, most people have seen the cats in the movies and commercials doing all kinds of crazy things. I’m going to teach you a few techniques that can help you train your cat or kitten to do lots of things. You might also want to get a cat training device to help you out.

Basic Cat or Kitten Training Tips:

Motivation

Cats will not learn for the sake of it. You have to give your cat a really good reason to learn how to stay, sit or jump. Try to keep in mind that when you are training your cat and he or she doesn’t do what you want, you are not giving it enough reason to do it. Therefore you need to reward the behaviour that you are seeking. Make the reward for the cat or kitten very special. Does your cat love chicken? Then use that as a motivator. Some cats rather want praise over food, but usually food works the best. You have to find out what works for your cat – food, praise, toys, whatever – and use it to your advantage for training.

Short and Simple Training Sessions

Your cat training sessions need to be short and to the point. I usually break the training into short 10 minute sessions throughout the day rather than having one long session. Your cat’s attention span doesn’t run much longer than 10 minutes and after that it gets bored.

Punishment and Discipline

Sometimes when your cat push the limits and you feel like you want to punish it somehow like shaking, hitting or anything physical – DON’T! It doesn’t deter your cat from doing the task. Like when you are doing cat litter box training you should never rub the cat's nose in the urine and yell at it, it won't do any good at all, it just teaches your cat to be afraid of you. Discipline is more important. The best discipline is redirection and praise when your cat behaves well. Your cat wants to please you if you give him or her enough reason to do so.

Where to Train Your Cat

When performing cat training you need to find a place with few distractions. It’s not good if people are coming in and out of the room or you have some loud music playing. With cat leash training outdoors it can be difficult but try to keep distractions to a minimum.

Patience, Patience and Patience

When you are conducting your training you have to be patient. No cat will learn and remember a trick on the first try. Your cat will sometimes test your limits to see if you give up. For instance, cat toilet training can be very frustrating but you have to stand your ground and keep your head cool, your cat will understand that this training will not stop.

Treats and Clickers