How to Teach Your Cat Tricks - By: Val Heart

Ever wonder if you can actually teach your cat tricks as easily as you can a dog? Believe it or not, a cat can learn almost any trick that a dog can learn. It just takes a little time, patience, and conditioning.

What are the benefits of training your cat new tricks? It opens channels of communication that are fun for you both, and helps you develop your brains, of course! You’ve heard that a mind is a terrible thing to waste? Well that goes for our animals too. They need opportunities to engage the brain and a wonderful way to do that is by learning how to solve puzzles and through animal talk.

What most people neglect to do when training a cat (or dog) is to visualize exactly what you want your cat to do in your mind. Cats and most other animals communicate through imagery and emotions (animal communication). Below you will see the steps to train your cat to sit and stand, but to maximize the effectiveness of these steps imagine them in your mind while you are saying the commands out loud.

Today, we'll focus on the most basic commands - sitting and standing.

What You'll Need

* Your cat before mealtime

* A quiet area where the cat is comfortable

* A table for the cat

* A specific command (in this case, the words "sit" or "stand"), preceded by your cat's name

* Your positive signal (a clicker, or an upbeat word such as "yes")

* The reward (his favorite food or special treats)

Teaching Your Cat to Sit

1. Gently put the cat on the table at the edge nearest to you, and pet him so he is comfortable.

2. Show your cat the reward, then give the command "Fluffy, sit" and move the reward back and over his head.

3. As he tips his head back to follow the food, he will sit to keep his balance. When he sits, hit the clicker (or use your positive signal) and say "sit, good sit". Immediately give him his treat.

4. Eventually your cat should respond to the command "sit" without you having to dangle food over his head.

5. Once your cat has learned this behavior, you no longer need to place the cat on the table to sit.

In the beginning, if your cat does not sit on his own, you may gently press down on his hindquarters. Then hit the clicker (or use your positive signal) and say "sit, good sit." Be gentle and patient. If he resists, try again another time. It's always better to have him sit on his own.

Teaching Your Cat to Stand

Standing, like the dog trick "beg", is one of the simplest tricks you can teach your cat, as they often assume this position naturally. Your goal is to have your cat sit up on his haunches when you give the command "up" while you hold the reward above him.

Training Steps

1. Put your cat on the table at the edge nearest to you, and pet him so he is comfortable.

2. Show him the reward, then give the command "Fluffy, up" while you hold the food directly above him (but not close enough that he can grab it).

3. When he stands on his hind legs or haunches and reaches for the food, hit the clicker (or use your positive signal) and say "up, good up." Immediately give him his treat.

4. Eventually your cat should respond to the command "up" without you having to hold the food above him.

5. Once your cat has learned this behavior, you no longer need to place the cat on a table to sit up.

If your cat stands on his back legs instead of sitting on his haunches, slowly move the food back over his head. To keep from tipping over, he will sit down on his haunches. It helps if he starts out in a sitting position. Remember to use your positive signal when he is in the desired position.
Congratulations! You just taught your feline friend how to teach you to give them more treats!

About the Author

Val Heart, Expert Animal Communicator, Behaviorist, Author, Master Healer -- The Val Heart Method(TM) of Learning Animal Communication includes the World’s 1st complete Beginning Animal Communication Home Study Course for cat lovers! Speaker, Teacher, Columnist, seen on TV and heard on radio. TeleClasses, Expert Animal Communication eTips & Newsletters. Call (210) 863-7928, email: contactval@valheart.com visit http://www.valheart.com

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Val-Heart/33983

Additional Articles From - Home | Home & family | Pets