Hello all,
I'm wondering if anyone has experience with clicker training using play as the reward. I have an extremely play motivated cat (more so than food I would say) and am trying to clicker train her to accept having her claws trimmed. I have a "jackpot" toy that I try to use with her — she is absolutely obsessed with it, meows for it all day and best of all is not aggressive with it so she's not usually too amped up to touch when playing. I've seen multiple articles on clicker training mention that you can use play as the reward instead of food, but there are surprisingly little resources that explain this further!
I try to load the clicker with 10-15 second play sessions, then do 10 seconds as a reward for each successful click. However, regardless of her not scratching me in between play sessions, she is still in "play mode" and bats at me when I try to touch her paws. I also fear she might not understand what I'm trying to teach her when she's in this mindset. Does anyone have tips for how to better load the clicker, differentiate between play and training stints, and make sure she understands what we're doing? Or is it better to just play with her to get her energy out and try to use food once her play needs have been satisfied?
Thanks!
I'm wondering if anyone has experience with clicker training using play as the reward. I have an extremely play motivated cat (more so than food I would say) and am trying to clicker train her to accept having her claws trimmed. I have a "jackpot" toy that I try to use with her — she is absolutely obsessed with it, meows for it all day and best of all is not aggressive with it so she's not usually too amped up to touch when playing. I've seen multiple articles on clicker training mention that you can use play as the reward instead of food, but there are surprisingly little resources that explain this further!
I try to load the clicker with 10-15 second play sessions, then do 10 seconds as a reward for each successful click. However, regardless of her not scratching me in between play sessions, she is still in "play mode" and bats at me when I try to touch her paws. I also fear she might not understand what I'm trying to teach her when she's in this mindset. Does anyone have tips for how to better load the clicker, differentiate between play and training stints, and make sure she understands what we're doing? Or is it better to just play with her to get her energy out and try to use food once her play needs have been satisfied?
Thanks!