How to Train a Cat: The Ultimate Cat Training Guide

When people hear the term “cat training,” they frequently assume that they will never be able to train their cat. It’s true that cats can be trained, and it’s really simple to begin. It’s even easier than training dogs, according to some!

Cat training is an enjoyable pastime that you can both enjoy together, and it may be used to address problem behaviour, teach obedience skills, or teach your cat new tricks.

Reasons Why Cat Training Is Important

Unlike common opinion, cats do need both physical and psychological enrichment. Cats who lack appropriate stimulation may grow bored and therefore exhibit destructive behaviour, weight gain, depression, or other health problems. Training is a great kind of mental and physical workout since it forces your cat to solve problems and boost their mobility.

Training your cat will also help to deepen the relationship you two have. It fosters trust and provides a nice hobby for the two of you. Working with your cat will help you grasp their personality, body language, and mental processes. This knowledge will strengthen your bond with your cat and benefit other spheres of its life as well.

Last but not least, teaching your cat can help eradicate bad or problematic habits. As said, bored cats can become destructive; hence, if your cat suffers from this, training can be beneficial. Clicker training can also help address problem behaviors, including counter surfing, biting, and unwelcome scratching.

Before You Start Training Your Cat

Although clicker training with your cat is simple to start, first you have some preparation to complete!

Get the necessary cat-training tools.

Just a few things will help you start your path of cat training. The main training resources consist in:

A clicker and target stick

Our Cat School Clicker Training Kit brings together these two crucial instruments.

Treats

Your feline friend must be motivated to get its reward. Each feline’s experience will be unique. Wet food, freeze-dried treats, squeezable treats, or dry kibble can be your cat’s favorites. To discover the perfect reward for your feline friend, you may need to experiment with various alternatives.

Cat School membership

If you want the best information on how to clicker-train cats without leaving your house, look no further than the Cat School curriculum. We provide all the information you need to teach your cat tricks, practical skills, or how to use a clicker to correct problematic behaviors. The instructor, an applied animal behaviorist, will be available to answer your questions, recognize your progress with badges, and provide constructive criticism. Every student who buys our Cat School Clicker Training Kit also receives a free month!

Here are a few more things I think you should have if you want to be very thorough and acquire all you’ll need:

Small stacking cups

a wide range of skills may be taught with this, such as how to ring a bell, give a high five, and many more.

Yoga blocks

is utilized for a range of skill-building exercises

Treat pouch

so you can keep your snacks close at hand and easily reach them during training

Mat

utilize for a range of skill training exercises, including “stay” and “place.” Julie is a teacher at a cat school and she uses a laptop sleeve.

Decide what you’d like to train your cat to do.

Your cat’s potential for training is limitless. Since there is an infinite amount of content, it could be daunting at first, but you won’t ever be bored. With a seemingly endless list of potential behaviours to address, how does one even begin?

Having a plan for the habits you and your cat want to establish from the get-go can help you stay on the same page. From whence do you hope to achieve your objectives? Would you like to improve your practical skills, learn some entertaining techniques, or correct an undesirable behaviour? Ultimately, this decision won’t prevent you from branching out into other fields. You won’t have to try to move in too many directions at once because it just provides you a good place to start.

9 Cat Training Tips

So, you’ve decided on a training route and acquired the necessary resources. The beginning is here!

1: Start with something easy

Starting with the foundations is crucial, as with anything new. Though it may be tempting to start teaching your cat to leap through a hoop, chances are that would frustrate both of you. Beginning with some basic abilities, show your cat that training is fun and easy.

The initial phase of clicker training is teaching your cat that the “click” denotes they get a treat. You could attempt to teach your cat to sit after it knows the click. Another good, basic ability is target training. Starting with these basic abilities will help you be ready to proceed onto more complex behaviors.

2: Keep the training sessions short.

Maintaining a cat’s attention when they are first learning might be challenging. Shorter sessions will keep your cat attentive and stop them from growing bored or annoyed.

We advise starting your cat’s first sessions once or twice a day for 3 to 5 minutes. Consistent, short training sessions will be far more successful than longer ones. For instance, usually speaking, two to three five-minute training sessions in a day are better than one fifteen-minute session.

Your training sessions can get longer as your cat advances. Try to wrap up your session positively before your cat loses interest, if at all possible.

Eliminate any distractions.

Choose a quiet part of your house for your cat training sessions—someplace free of as many distractions as feasible. Your cat might not be able to concentrate, and family members, other pets, and noises might be really distracting.

Close off other pets you have in another room of the house so you and your cat may concentrate just on each other and the training. Starting with one cat at a time is recommended, even if there are techniques to train several cats at once.

Reward them immediately and consistently

The clicker lets your cat know which activity got the incentive after capturing a quick picture of the right one. Clicker training requires clicking just at the exact moment your cat exhibits the intended action to be effective. Since the click represents a promise of a reward, you should always treat your cat after you click. Once your cat understands what behaviour is getting treats, they will start to offer that behaviour, making it simple for you to add a signal down the road. Behavior that is rewarded gets repeated.

Find the right reward.

There’s no all-encompassing, miracle training treat. Like people, various cats like different kinds of treats. While some dogs might prefer wet food or squeezable snacks, others might prefer dry treats or kibble. Having several treats your cat will like is a smart idea.

It’s also possible that your cat will engage in simple activities in exchange for a certain kind of treat, but that more challenging behaviors will need a more valuable treat. A high-value treat does not always equate to a more costly one. It’s merely a treat that your cat thinks is unique.

Again, each cat will respond differently to this, but generally speaking, it will be something they don’t get to have very often. For instance, your cat might view dry food as something extra special if they only ever eat wet food for meals.

6: Don’t punish the bad behaviour.

Cats generally react negatively to punishment. Punishing your cat might cause tension and worry, in addition to eroding the trust you’re trying to establish. Given that negative attention is still attention, some cats may even see punishment as a reward!

The foundation of clicker training is positive reinforcement. Rewarding desired behaviours is the general notion here. Instead of punishing your cat when it exhibits bad behaviour, attempt to divert or redirect its attention. Even better, find out why your cat is engaging in that behaviour and work to stop it or teach them a substitute. The idea is to train your cat to scratch a more suitable place, like the couch, if they are currently doing so.

7: Be consistent with your cues.

Always use the same hand signals and voice commands for the behaviour you are working on to prevent confusion. Make sure that anyone else using your cat for training understands the proper cues and signals.

8: Train at the right time.

Your cat needs to be highly focused throughout training, so you should schedule your lessons carefully. Your cat will be rested and ready for an activity if you wake them up early in the morning or right after a nap. It’s also a fantastic idea to feed your cat right before mealtimes, as a slightly hungry cat will be more cooperative in earning their treat incentives. If your cat is an active feline at night, you may try training them right before bed to help exhaust them as well.

9: Involve others

It is advantageous to involve other family members in your cat’s training, if you have any. This is particularly crucial if you’re trying to train out any undesirable habits. Every member of the family should be aware of the training approach and objectives so they can appropriately and consistently deal with inappropriate behaviour when it arises.

Including other people in the training process also contributes to your cat’s improved socialisation.

Obedience Skills

The best place to start is with obedience training. These include directives like “sit,” “drop it,” “stay,” “come when called,” target practice, “make eye contact,” etc. Numerous fundamental obedience abilities serve as the foundation for more advanced abilities.

Target

Target training is teaching your cat to use a particular body part to contact an object in order to receive a reward. For instance, teach your cat to use their nose to touch the end of a target stick.

With the target stick, you are able to:

• Give your cat a clear indication when moving it from one place to another, and lead them voluntarily into a carrier or backpack.
• Instruct enjoyable manoeuvres like vaulting your arms or legs.
• Assist a timid cat in getting over its dread of strangers. By offering a positive means of interaction, you can use the target as an icebreaker when interacting with people. Tie your cat outside before bed. Take hold of the gadget and start your cat pacing the room like they’re on an agility course.
• For additional information, view this article about target training or the video below:

Sit

It’s not hard at all to teach your cat to sit, and it usually takes very little time. All you need to do is click to record your cat’s “sit” and give them a treat anytime they perform it on their own. Your cat will eventually learn to perform it on command if you combine it with a hand signal and a spoken cue.

Here’s a tutorial video to watch:

Coming when called

One practical ability is teaching your cat to come when called, sometimes known as recall. Not only is it pleasant when your cat responds to their name, but should your cat ever escape your house, it could also be rather helpful. All you have to do is use goodies to get your cat to come when you call their name; always praise when it occurs.

See this film for a guide.

Problem Behaviours

Not to worry if your cat struggles with counter-surfing, scratching, or biting. With enough instruction, you can change the way your cat acts.

Biting

Correcting biting behaviour starts with determining why it’s happening, as different settings call for different treatment strategies. Interjecting play sessions before your cat becomes overly stimulated will help to soothe them if they are playing rough and biting. This approach is no different than asking dogs at the dog park to perform some sits and stays so they may pause from play and interrupt wrestling events. The objective is to stop the behaviour from starting rather than penalize it afterwards.

When your cat is bored and not getting enough mental or physical stimulation, biting can also result. Give them items they may chase, bite, and catch so they may act out their predatory impulses. Training sessions teach your cat self-control, thereby helping to reduce the biting behaviour.

Furniture scratching

It’s crucial for your cat to engage in this natural and instinctive behaviour of scratching. The easiest approach to stopping your cat from scratching your couch is to give them lots of other, equally or even more attractive places to scratch and to use positive reinforcement to help them choose the right one.

Arrange the scratchers around your house and next to the furnishings that your cats are drawn to. Try to make them as appealing as you can by adding catnip or rewarding your cat with a clicker.

To avoid being angry with your cat during the training process, cover your furniture. Thankfully, it’s much simpler to buy gorgeous couch covers these days to preserve furniture and add a cat-friendly touch to your house.

Counter surfing

There are a few methods you can try to stop your cat from jumping up on your kitchen counters, if that’s not something you prefer. Listed below are some ideas to get rid of counter surfing:

• Food and other enticing items should not be placed on countertops, as this can encourage your cat to jump.
• Give your cat a different, close-by “parking spot,” such as a cat tree or high shelves, so they can stay close to you in the kitchen.
• Make your cat’s favourite snacks and toys available in this new parking space, so they can enjoy themselves there.
• Reward your cat with treats when they go to the new parking location and use clicker training to encourage them to sit there. For example, you can train your cat to sit on a mat.
• Your cat should begin to prefer the new parking location over the counter if there’s nothing exciting there and it comes with treats and attention.

Tricks

Teach your cat a ton of entertaining tricks. A wonderful way to interact with your cat and build a bond is through trick training. Make sure your cat has mastered basic abilities like target training or sitting before trying out many of the tricks.

Spin

You must guide your cat in a tight circle using a target stick or your finger in order to teach them to “spin.” Combine this behaviour with the command “spin,” click to indicate that the trick was completed, and then reward with a treat!

Take a look at this tutorial video:

Jump

By leading your cat with the target stick, you may train them to leap up onto objects when instructed to do so. Similar to “spin,” you should combine this command with a vocal one, click, and receive a reward when it is correctly performed.

Additionally, you may use the target stick to teach your cat to jump over obstacles like your arms or legs. In due course, you may even attempt to train your feline to jump between your arms, just like in this instructional video:

High five

When a cute cat gives a high five, nobody can refuse! See this tutorial video for instructions on how to train this skill, which involves a few stages with cups and sticky notes:

Conclusion

There is a general belief that training a cat is difficult, but it can be rewarding and effective if appropriate measures are employed. Successful cat training largely depends on an individual’s apprehension of feline behaviour and the use of positive reinforcement techniques in training their cats.

Being consistent, patient, and adapting methods to suit one’s unique cat personality is very important. When you bring treats, praise, and play into your sessions, you will be able to reinforce good behavior as well as improve the bond between you and your cat. Eventually, the success of a well-trained cat depends on creating an environment where learning can take place, since trust is built when training occurs in this manner.

FAQs
01: What if my cat isn’t food-motivated?

It may be that you haven’t yet discovered the ideal treat if your cat won’t work for it! Give your cat an opportunity to get acclimated to the new food and experiment with a few different treat options before deciding which one is worthy; some cats are afraid to try new things.

A significant component of the picture is also your cat’s food regimen. Your cat won’t typically be extremely food-driven if they free-feed, which means they always have access to a dish of food because they can just eat whenever they want. Your cat will be much more motivated to work for goodies if you switch from free-feeding to portioned meals on a scheduled basis!

02: What if I have multiple cats?

You can train more than one cat at once! However, it is a bit more to handle, so it is advised to begin with one cat at a time if at all possible. Prior knowledge of mat and/or chair training, as well as diversions like food puzzles and/or snuffle mats, are necessary for training numerous cats at once.

Our online cat school course includes a section on teaching numerous cats!

03: Which behaviour should I start with?

Start with a simple new behaviour to boost your confidence, such as target training or “sit.” It can be challenging to know when and how to advance your talents, which is why our online Cat School Course offers a detailed training schedule! It will take the guesswork out of where to begin and where to go next by guiding you through the training process in a logical progression.

04: What kind of treats should I use?

As previously said, there’s no all-encompassing, magical training goodie. Every cat is unique, and certain rewards will be more effective in certain circumstances. See this video for a more thorough discussion on training treats:

05: Can older cats be trained?

Indeed! Both adult cats and kittens are able to pick up new skills and behaviours. Many people believe that training can only be done with a kitten; however, that is untrue. Kittens will actually face unique training obstacles. Training truly has no age restrictions!

06: Can cats be harnessed and leash-trained?

Definitely! One great approach to enabling your cat to safely and under control experience the pleasure and richness of the outdoor world is harness and leash training. We suggest our harness kit if you want to teach your cat leash. Plus, included with Cat School membership is a leash walking course!