How To Train Your Cat
If you are trying to make your cat wear a leash and be taken out for a walk in the park, then you have the wrong pet. Better go get a dog. Cats can be trained of course but lower your limits. Cat lovers are content to train their pets to use the litter box and use a scratching post. Before you can do any kind of cat training at all you must look at how cats learn.Cat's are creatures of experience. They don't understand commands or any other verbal forms of communication. There are only good experiences and bad experiences. The good ones are repeated because they enjoyed it and the bad ones are avoided in the future. Cats enjoy sharpening their claws on the couch so they continute to do it. But when they encounter something that is just plain unpleasant, they tend to avoid repeating the same in the future.
To be exact, whatever you want your cat to be trained to do must be exceedingly rewarding and pleasurable. Whatever you don't want your cat to do must be very unpleasant.
A very common mistake that most owners fall in to is to punish their pet only after he or she has done a bad thing such as urinating on the carpet. They take the cat, rub their nose in the mistake and then throw them in the litterbox. This will never work with cats or even dogs for that matter. They will shy from you when you reach for them after that and then think the litterbox is a place of punishment. This defeats any training purposes you had for using the litter box.
First of all, stop all punishents, no matter what they have done. Make your relationship with your cat fun and rewarding with plenty of play time. Sometimes this alone will do the trick as many pets just feel lonely. Don't let your cat feel neglected.
Put your cat on a regular feeding schedule so that he will have a regular time to go to the litterbox. About 15 minutes before you think it will be time to go, bring him to the litter box room making that his only choice when he needs to go. When he uses it, praise him and maybe deliver a treat. Don't let your cat rome the house until they use the box. This proceedure sets your pet up for praise.
Have things in your home to distract your cat from bad behavoir. Set up a scratching post and set it where your kitty plays. When he or she uses it, praise him and give him lots of attention. When you see him try to scratch on another surface, simply take him to the scratching post to show him he can continue is scratching there. This gives him the attention he craves also. Always, move or take them to the place where they get praise. Then they will always return their on their own.
posted by Posh Pampered Pets @ 12:42 PM
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