Because cats are much more independent than dogs, they may not be as easy to train as dogs. Dogs are very intelligent animals and are very open to taking commands, but cats, although very intelligent animals, do not like to take orders. For this reason, only if your approach to your cats is focused on training and you choose the right procedures can you have a chance to train your cats.
Training your cat will make it more social, more docile, less anxious and a better companion in the home. If you want to embark on this path that requires some effort, patience and time, we have included 7 recommendations for cat training in our content.
Contents
How to train cats?
- Decide what you want to teach your cat.
- Keep training sessions with your cat short.
- Focus on one target you want to teach at a time.
- Remember to reward appropriate behavior.
- Do not punish lousy behavior.
- Include other people your cat knows in your sessions.
- If you can, start training when you are a puppy.
It is useful to set out with a purpose: Decide what you want to teach your cat.
First, decide what kind of training your cat needs or what you want it to learn in order to use correct methods in training. E.g; Determine a goal whether you want him to make the toilet in the sand, not to damage the furniture, or to teach basic commands such as come, sit, lie down. Once you have decided on your goal, you can start your training in sessions.
To maximize his interest: Keep training sessions with your cat short.
Progressing in sessions to train your cat can help you be more planned. Dogs have a much longer time to focus on their owners and their duties due to a higher sense of responsibility, but cats can be short-perioded even in the things they love very much. Because of this, you should advance the course of the lessons completely according to your cat’s mood and interest. The most logical thing is to have the sessions as short but as frequent as possible. If your cat turns out to be more apathetic and stubborn than you think, don’t give up. You have to be absolutely patient with them.
Don’t confuse your cat: Concentrate on a single task you want to teach at a time.
Let’s say you have a lot of things you want to teach your cat. For example, you are thinking of both toilet training and teaching not to waste furniture. As I said before, cats are very intelligent animals, so they can learn many things at the same time, but this can reduce the efficiency of training. For this reason, it may be more effective to focus on a single goal and move on to someone else after you finish that goal.
Motivational progress can be good: Remember to reward good behavior.
All living things love to be loved and motivated, cats included. When your cat does something appropriate or when you start to reap the fruits of training, rewarding him with a favorite food or stroking his belly will greatly increase the efficiency you will get from his training.
There is also a method developed through a tool called a ‘clicker’ to reward them. If you use the device that makes a ‘click’ sound when the button is pressed, when your cat is doing something good, after a while, it will start to correlate with its click sound in the middle of its smooth behavior and will understand that its action is sufficient.
No need for suspense and ending: Don’t punish bad behavior.
While rewarding your cat’s appropriate behavior, do not think the opposite and punish bad behavior. Because cats generally do not like to be stubborn or obedient, and this can lead to tension in them. Instead, when you observe your cat’s bad behavior, warn it quickly, balanced and strong, but without ending. If you use the same word every time for this warning, for example, ‘no’, the clicker may contact your word in the middle of their bad behavior so that they can associate their good behavior with the clicker.
If you have a social cat: Include other people your cat knows in your sessions.
It may be more motivating for your cat to include acquaintances, family members or friends that your cat loves. However, there is something to be considered here: you should also tell your cat about the discipline and stability you have acquired to other acquaintances participating in the training, so that all of you are in a one-to-one situation with your cat and not be confused.
A more open mind to innovations: If you can, start training when you are a puppy.
If you took your domestic friend as a puppy, your job may be easier. Because none of his behavior has become a habit and he has a much more open brain to learn new things. But don’t be upset if you have adopted an older cat as a friend. All cats can be trained, while training older cats requires a little more patience and time.
Well, how can we give more specific training such as toilet training?
1. For toilet training, first buy a litter box and place it in a place you think is appropriate in your home. After each meal, take your cat to the litter box at frequent intervals until he/she urinates. He’ll probably instinctively cover his feces with sand after he goes to the toilet, but if he doesn’t, cover the litter with your cat with his paws as a support.
2. You need to understand why your cat is making these movements so that she doesn’t bite or scratch. If he is doing this because he is angry with something, if the situation is something that can be removed, remove it. If he gets irritable and starts to bite while playing, stop the game at that moment and warn. You should also make sure that your cat meets his daily need for movement. According to their character traits, there may be lazy cats as well as cats that like to move. You have to meet their need for games and activities.
3. You can try to distract him as soon as he starts messing with the furniture so that he doesn’t damage the furniture. This can be a toy that won’t be too loud, or a non-limited ‘no’ that you can confidently say. You should be careful to give the exact reflection in a stable form each time.
4. To teach your cat to sit, ‘sit!’ When you give the command, do the hand gesture that means sitting down with your hand at the same time. When he does this, you should reward him by using a clicker or by giving him a food he likes.