For example, I like to train mine to accept me providing scritches (petting) with my feet and for them to be equally comfortable with using foot as hand
I leash/harness train mine. It’s nice to be able to mostly walk them around outside like dogs. Also I train them to ride on my shoulders for transportation. That way when they get too lazy to walk back to the house or I need to carry them around for any other reason I can just plop them on my shoulders and they will ride there, keeping my hands free. My neighbors probably think I’m crazy.
u/VegaLyrae’s suggestions are all excellent.
Fetch: grab the toy if they play with it and it ends up close by, use verbal reinforcement
Names: the cats recognize everyone’s name in the hous thanks to reinforcement learning
Locations: the cats know where I’m going and can beat me there because I tell them where I’m going, sounds like reinforcement learning again?
Activities: set phrases like “let’s go”, “come on”, “let’s get some food”, “jump up”, etc, all by reinforcement training.
Paw-touching: slowly touch more and more often, for longer, until nail clipping is a breeze. Hmm… Might be reinforcement training again.
To end bad behaviors, hiss, it’s a built-in “no” for cats.
Mine knows: touch, spin, high 5, up (stands on his back legs), lie down
Hand signals over verbal signals. They listen better and it freaks your friends out when you rub your finger together and all your cats show up.
As a kid, my mother taught ours to sit, shake, lie down, roll over, and to dance/stand (stand on 2 feet). It took a lot of training to get him to do it but it was sorta worth it. 🤷
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I. Want. Your. Cat. To teach mine how to be movie-level adorable.
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Wow, thank you for this awesome write-up! You didn’t need to go so out of your way to teach a stranger, but I appreciate the heck out of it.
I never would have thought this could work with cats, or any kind of behavioral conditioning for that matter. It’s the exact thing I would expect from a dog-training regimen. Regardless, I’ll give it a shot. I think I’ll see great results from the one who used to be right behind my heels wherever I would go at home. She still adores all attention, but she’s a little more independent now 😊
Thanks again for the tips! You’ll have a share of the credit for any future snoot boops.
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The cat I had when I was a kid would occasionally use the toilet. Just for peeing.
When he was done he’d paw the handle. He wasn’t strong enough to actually flush it, but he tried.
Ignore me.
Wake me up.Knock my shit over.
Fit in the box.My cat has mastered all these tricks.
I feel like people are crazy pussy-cat-whipped. I would never allow my cats to do the typical cat complaints, and I’m super good to them.
