Cat training

Shivi111

I'm looking for suggestion on a particular command!
The cats has mastered several tricks, sit, paw, give me five, turn, beg, up (onto chair etc) and down (off kitchen counter.)
I'm trying to get them to master 'stay' (so I can actually put food in their bowls without two heads in the way!)
I've tried the command whilst holding up a hand to block them from a treat, but this just results in lots of 'give me five' as the hand gesture is too similar!
Has anyone successfully trained their cat to stay? And if so how did you get there?
They are eager to please but I can't seem to get the stay message across! Any ideas?

(We have tried clicker training in the past but one of the cats hates the 'click' noise so that's out!)

tk123

Shivi111 wrote: »

(We have tried clicker training in the past but one of the cats hates the 'click' noise so that's out!)

You can use a verbal queue in place of the click like yes, good etc If your post was asking about dogs I'd be suggesting teaching wait instead of stay. Stay for us is stay where you are until I come back to you but wait is wait there until you're released (I use 'ok' to release).

DBB

I've never trained a cat, but I'd imagine something similar to how I'd teach a dog to wait until I've put the food bowl down would work, as their getting to their bowl is contingent on them not diving at it!
So, with cats in the sit position, I'd lower the food bowl. If they break out of the sit, I'd say "uh-uh" and return to the upright position, withdrawing the bowl in the process.
Gradually get the bowl lower and lower, being careful to mark any mistakes with an "uh-uh" (or similar) and always withdrawing the bowl.
Only by remaining in the sit does the bowl reach the floor.
As they get better at it, you can stick a verbal cue "wait", or "stay" at the start of the process.
It *may* be too difficult to insist on a sit at the start with a cat (it's usually ok with dogs, but cats may be a little more impulsive than dogs), in which case simply looking for them not diving at the bowl may be the place to start if you find asking them to sit and not dive is too difficult.
Let us know how it goes!

Shivi111

Thanks everyone for the ideas!
DBB, perfect idea, we have made huge progress!
I dish out food on the kitchen counter and, cats being cats, they climb up in excitement and try to eat the food as it is put into the bowl!

I think my major difficulty was that I usually do training sessions one-on-one but as this was happening at treat or feeding time I was dealing with two at once, I don't know why this didn't occur to me!

So, much to her dismay, I put the younger cat in the hall while I was dishing up and dealt with the older cat on his own, I used his 'down' command to keep him away whilst dishing up and then your method below to get him to wait for his food as it was put on the floor, he's much clamer and tends to pick things up quickly, yesterday he seemed to be starting to get the idea. Its difficult as they get frustrated very quickly so training sessions have to be kept short!

I've found that the smaller girl often picks up things by imitating him, so once I have him confident in what is expected of him I will reintroduce her to the mix and see how she gets on!

MrWalsh

How did you teach them all those tricks!?

Ken.

MrWalsh wrote: »

How did you teach them all those tricks!?

Its not as hard as you'd think. I've trained our cat to play fetch with a small plastic ring. I threw the ring and she ran and played with it. I retrieved it and threw it again. On the 4th go I didn't retrieve it. She quickly figured out that it was more fun if she brought it back to throw it again.

The only thing is cats forget learned tricks a lot lot quicker than dogs. If you don't keep up the play they'll have to be thought again.

Shivi111

MrWalsh wrote: »

How did you teach them all those tricks!?

When I got the first cat no one had told me that cats were difficult to train! When I got him I started training like I had done with a dog I had when I was a kid and he picked it up no problem. If you google training a cat there are loads of tips, but I find they are clever and pick things up very easily.
The big difference, I think, then with a dog is that they will only perform when they want to, if they are not in the mood they will ignore me!

aonb

Um Shivi, where do you live?!? Can I send you my kitten who laughs in my face and sticks her tongue out at me, on a regular basis! :cool:
That list of tricks is v.impressive!
I didnt realize you could train cats like that/so easily

I taught my cat a few verbal commands, but she only follows them when she can be bothered! Well done OP!!

Shivi111

aonb wrote: »

Um Shivi, where do you live?!? Can I send you my kitten who laughs in my face and sticks her tongue out at me, on a regular basis! :cool:
That list of tricks is v.impressive!
I didnt realize you could train cats like that/so easily

I can't post links at the moment, but once I can I will put some up of them showing off their skills! Its great fun teahing them, and I think they really enjoy learning new things!