You can train your cats to do a lot of things, including tricks. However, training cats to do something new isn’t always easy because they are very independent animals. Nevertheless, you can still succeed if you put in the effort and exercise patience. So, if you want to, here’s how to train a cat to do tricks.
Table of Contents
1. Select Tricks To Teach A Cat
There are lots of tricks you can teach your cat. You can teach your cat how to walk on two legs, how to hi-five, jump through hoops, etc. For this reason, you should first select the tricks you want the cat to learn.
In the beginning, you should start with tricks that are very simple to learn. If your pet learns them perfectly, you can then move on to advanced ones if need be.
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When you select the tricks, get all the necessary items for the training. For example, if you’re training your pet to jump through hoops, you’ll need to purchase the hoops. Watch the video on 10 funny tricks to teach your cat.
2. Give Tasty Treats As Rewards During Training Sessions
To keep your pet interested in the training, you have to reward him constantly. The best way of rewarding your pet is by giving her treats.
There should be plenty of treats available and various types.
While feeding your cat treats, always remember to watch the quantity provided to avoid overfeeding. It’s ideal to use very small-sized treats.
You can also reward your pet by showing her affection; you can hug her or stroke her fur. The goal is to make her understand that you’re happy and satisfied with what she’s doing and want her to keep it up.
3. Draw Your Cat Attention
Cats, as independent animals, are not dependent on their owners. Most of the time, your cat would prefer staying on her own, so if you want her to train, you’re going to need to draw her attention.
You can draw your cat’s attention by calling out commands to her or by using objects. A moving toy is ideal. While training, you’ll also need to keep your pet focused.
Treats, as previously mentioned, are good, but a pet clicker is recommended. This clicker is a device that makes a clicking sound when pressed. The sound will draw your pets’ attention. See our blog post on clicker training your cat to see what you need to do to get your cat to obey and respond quickly to the sound of the clicker.
4. Avoid Punishing The Cat
Cats never learn from punishment. They are intolerant to human forms of punishment and according to Hillspet, physically punishing can break the bond you both share. Punishing can be detrimental if you are looking for ways to make your cat love you or bond with you more.
Hence, if you’re keen on how to train a cat to do tricks, you need to do it the right way to see results. Punishing should be out of your options.
If your cat constantly shows a lack of interest in training, the best you can do is give her treats to motivate her and keep her happy.
If you must discipline her bad behavior during training, limit it to using your voice, a spray bottle, deterrents, and other proven ways.
5. Train Frequently
Your cat must frequently train if she’s going to learn any trick. Cats do have long-term memories, but it’s mostly applicable to people and their companions. They learn activities best through repetition.
What you should do is to include multiple trick training sessions in your cats’ daily schedule. While it’s important to train frequently, the training sessions should be short.
Practice a particular trick up to 5 or 10 times, depending on the difficulty. Don’t mix tricks within training sessions, or your pet would get confused. Training sessions should be between 10 – 20 minutes.
6. Seek Help
Seeking additional help from someone else is an option if you don’t have the time to train your cat yourself. There are professional cat trainers you can hire to train your cat to do tricks.
You can also purchase cat training courses, which will show you tested methods and techniques that work to follow step by step to train your cat.
Another option will be to enroll your cat in a cat trick training school and other cat training programs.
Furthermore, a cat behaviorist can also be of assistance. These are experts that specialize in managing cat behavior. They’ll be of assistance if your pet is exhibiting any behavior that’s affecting its training.
If your cat finds it difficult to learn tricks, you might want to check with your vet for any learning difficulties that could be making it harder for him to learn.
Still, need more tricks to teach your cat? See this video with 30 tricks to teach your cat.
Conclusion
We have discussed how to train a cat to do tricks. As mentioned earlier, you’ll need patience if you’re going to succeed with training your cat.
The first step of pet training is to understand your pet. By understanding your cat, you’ll know the ideal tricks to teach. It’s ideal to start with very simple tricks before proceeding to complex ones.
Furthermore, before you teach your pet how to do tricks, it should already be trained to respond to basic commands. As you train, you’ll be issuing commands almost every time, so it would be best if your cat understands and is receptive to your commands.
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