Teaching Your Cat Tricks - With and Without Clicker
Are you really eager to teach your cat cool tricks and do great exercises? Then get informed now about the best way to go about it!
Training Your Cat with Clicker
A so-called marker can simplify communication between animal and human. Many cat trainers use a clicker for this purpose. A clicker is a small device that makes a clicking sound at the push of a button. When set up correctly, it serves as a positive reinforcement for your four-legged friend to do something.
How to Set Up the Clicker - 5 Steps
Of course, your cat won't respond to the clicker immediately. You set it up by clicking every time your cat shows the desired behavior and follow it up with another reward, such as a piece of food. This way, the clicker is positively associated. If you repeat this regularly, it will eventually be enough to just click.
1. Your cat shows the desired behavior
2. Click immediately
3. Follow up with another reward, such as a piece of food
4. Repeat, repeat, repeat
5. Omit the additional reward, just click
After 10 clicker sessions, you should take a short break.
Cat Training Without Clicker
If you don't have a clicker on hand, you can certainly train your furry friend in other ways. Instead of a clicker, you can simply use a so-called marker word. It should be short and concise, like "Yes" or "Top". You set up the marker word just like the clicker: Every time your four-legged friend shows the desired behavior, you say the marker word and immediately follow it with a reward. Keep doing this until you only need to use the marker word.
Alternatively, you can also try to work completely without a marker. Depending on how motivated your cat is and how much fun she has with the training, a verbal reward, a pet, or a piece of food may be enough.
How Do I Teach My Cat Tricks?
Whether with or without a clicker - if you want to teach your furry friend tricks, it’s important that she understands that a reward follows a specific action. This means you need to teach her that she can earn a piece of food by performing a trick, for example.
The Beginning…
It's best to start with the so-called finger touch. In this exercise, your cat learns to touch your finger with her nose. Alternatively, there is also a so-called target stick that she can touch. This is a tool specially developed for cat training, consisting of a retractable stick with a ball at the tip. Building on this basic exercise, you can later teach your four-legged friend more exercises and tricks, such as standing on her hind legs.
1. Place your cat slightly elevated, for example on a chair.
2. Hold your finger or the target stick directly in front of her nose.
3. At the first reaction towards the finger, click immediately or say the marker word and/or reward the cat with a treat. At first, it’s enough if she doesn’t touch the finger but just sniffs it.
4. Repeat, repeat, repeat
Keep the training sessions a bit shorter at the beginning and take a break after a maximum of 10 repetitions.
Building on This…
Now your cat should become active herself. This means that once the finger touch or target stick is established, it will get a bit more challenging.
1. Now hold the finger/target stick a bit further left or right, above or below from your cat.
2. If the cat touches the finger/stick, click immediately and/or reward.
3. Repeat, repeat, repeat
4. The goal is for her to reliably touch the finger/stick in different positions without having to move much.
Important! Do not help your cat! Often, one wants to give their cat a little nudge by showing with the other hand what she should do or by wiggling the finger or target stick a bit. But your cat should come up with the idea herself of which behavior leads to a reward. By helping her, you take this task away from her. If your cat just can’t figure out what to do, take a step back. The task should always be chosen so that she has a realistic chance of being successful.
If that goes well, you are ready for real tricks and exercises.
Help, My Cat Runs Away During Training
Do you feel like your furry friend isn’t really interested in cool tricks because she keeps running away? That doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, the time of day has an impact on your training success. Some four-legged friends prefer to train in the morning, others in the evening. Just try out different times.
Another reason could be that the chosen reward isn’t good enough. Cats are quite picky and won’t perform tricks for just any snack. If the reward isn’t perceived as good enough, cats won’t lift a paw. A little tip: Our delicious →Cream Snacks are particularly popular with cats.
What can also happen is that your training session was simply too long. So if your kitty participated well at first and then just throws in the towel, don’t take it personally. She will surely be back next time.
