Kittens can learn to love their carriers, just the way puppies learn to love their crates. go into carrier on cue and for sanctuary if frightened (for example, if a fire alarm goes off, the kitten runs for a carrier that is kept near an exit).soft paws (retract claws when playing with people).Jen suggests training the following essential kitten skills: Jennifer Shryock is an animal behavior consultant and clicker trainer whose favorite training activity is taming feral kittens so that they become social with people and, therefore, adoptable. Soon you will be able to use the target to call the kitten to you, or have her come off the counter, go to her carrier, walk beside you, do other tricks, or run an obstacle course while she follows the target. Add the cue "touch" once the kitten has the idea. Move the target, and click/treat when she starts to follow it. Click/treat when the kitten looks at the target, then when she sniffs or touches it with her nose. A jingle ball or ping-pong ball on the end of a chopstick makes a good target. If your kitten is finicky and has trained you to deliver only the tastiest moist cat food, put some in a syringe (without the needle) and give the kitten a tiny taste after each click. Tossing a toy for the kitten to chase is another reinforcer that you can use after the click. Kittens love to chase and pounce, so tossing a treat or even a piece of dry cat food after the click adds to the fun. If your kitten is motivated by food, you can give a food treat after the click instead of using the toy as a reinforcer. Keep the behavior strong by clicking for especially high or fast waves and producing the toy as a reinforcer.Ĭlicker training is a purrrrfect way to tame a tiny tiger. In a few training sessions, the kitten will learn to wave on the verbal cue without needing to see the toy dangling above her. After a few tries, give the wave cue before she starts to lift a paw. Add the cue "wave" just as the kitten is raising her paw. Again, hold it just out of reach, click when the kitten waves a paw, and let her play once more. Click as the paw comes up and then let the kitten play with the toy briefly. Hold a tantalizing toy above the kitten's head, just out of reach, and she will bat at it with a paw. Kittens are very busy with their paws, and this makes it is easy to teach them to give a high five or to wave. As it grew, this kitten developed a wide range of adorable and entertaining behaviors and was a delight to have around. It didn't matter if it was a new behavior or something the kitten had done before. Karen Pryor tells a story of a kitten who received a click and a treat every time the owner saw it doing something cute. Wouldn't it make more sense to ignore the undesirable behavior and pay attention when the kitten is doing something adorable? (We know that cats will not waste time or energy on anything that does not benefit them!) It is very common for pet owners (and parents too!) to ignore the kitten (child!) when it is not causing trouble, and pay attention to mischief. When the kitten does something good, he gets a click and a treat. So, how do we train a kitten? Clicker training is a purrrrfect way to tame a tiny tiger-or even a full-sized one. Training encourages the cat to change its behavior and become an upstanding feline citizen. Training is essential for feral kittens that have been living wild without human interaction, if they are to be integrated into a human home. Training strengthens the human-animal bond and enriches the lives of both cat and owner. Couch potato cats learn to be more active, shy cats learn to come out from under the bed, cantankerous cats learn to be more loveable. However, the things that a cat likes to do may be at odds with the cat owner's view of suitable behavior. "Cats do what they like, when they like-and why not?" In fact, many people believe that cats can't be trained. At the same time, owners do not appreciate furniture torn to shreds or children in tears as a result of a kitten playing too roughly.īecause cats are so equipped to look after themselves and provide entertainment and companionship, sometimes it does not occur to cat owners to try to train a cat. The self-reliance and independence of cats are traits that many cat owners value in their pets. Left to their own devices, kittens will grow into cats that are capable of survival on their own without human help. Kittens begin testing their teeth and claws on their siblings, but soon learn to temper their assaults or be left out of the game. Despite their fluffy exteriors, house cats come armed with the same weapons as their larger cousins, and with an instinct to hunt and kill.
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