Questions about clicker training

[krashballz]

I've been trying to clicker train my 9 month old Aleister. The reason I want to do clicker training is to hopefully help him trust me more & give him more confidence. We're 3 days in, & his progress is amazing. He seems to really love the training, he purrs the entire time. So far, we've done the thing where he touches a target (a wand that I cut the toy off of), he'll jump up on a platform, he gives "kisses"...I know it's all just silly little things that some people might think defeat the purpose of training, but he's enjoying it, I'm enjoying, & we've definitely built a deeper bond even after only 3 sessions.
My questions:
1) Does anyone have some ideas of useful things I could teach him? I did not expect him to pick up on it SO fast, so I didn't really plan any specific goals. (it'd be rad if could teach him to high five lol But how do I do it?)
2) How would I train 2 cats? I'd like to train my other kitten Grace too, but I tried shutting one out of the room while training and whichever one I shut out stayed outside the door. And now that the clicker means something to Aleister, if I'm working with Grace, will it confuse Alei while he's outside the door?
If anyone has experience with all this, your input would be appreciated.

 

[jcat]

I don't have any experience clicker training two cats, but three things Mogli has learned are "Sit!" , "Down!" and "Here (Come)!". Getting him to sit while I'm getting his food ready has been really useful. Targeting gives him lots of exercise; I use "Up" and/or "Here" for that.

 

[krashballz]

Cool! Thank you, jcat He's aced the up/down thing. Looks like "sit" is next on the list. How long do I give him treats for a certain task I wonder? I know I should keep training for awhile, but he's really picking things up quickly, so I wondered how long does "training" last? I don't want him to lose interest in following commands because I took treats away.

 

[smartyfoj]

Sorry I have no advice to give but I'm glad to hear clicker training is working for at least one of your cats. In my house we have three and this summer we were going to try to train our cats. I'm not sure what to do about training multiple cats either but I plan to teach them to come when called.  In particular because we often have one cat that wants to escape so if he ever did get out, so far only a closed garage, it would be safest if he came when called instead of us having to coax him to us with toys and treats.  I also would like to train them do silly things and if possible to stay off counter tops and opening cupboards. In the end I hope it's rewarding for the cats because it seems a like fun way to get closer to your cats.

 

[irinasak]

I have tried clicker training my three but I got bored because there was nothing I wanted them to do, really.

I did individual sessions while the other two were closed in a different room. They did not get confused. I got so far as in getting them to sit on a designated place at first and then they sat wherever I told them to.

If you like clicker training, you can get your cat to do lots of things- jump up, jump down, get in a carrier (for when you need to take him to the vet, for example), just search youtube for different ideas.

 

[fhicat]

1) Does anyone have some ideas of useful things I could teach him? I did not expect him to pick up on it SO fast, so I didn't really plan any specific goals. (it'd be rad if could teach him to high five lol But how do I do it?)
 

For high-five, try this. Hold a treat just out of "sniff reach", while saying high-five. Generally, cats who can't "reach" the treat with their nose will try to paw at it. Once he lifts his paw off the ground, click and treat. After he's gotten used to immediately lifting his paw off the ground (instead of trying to sniff it), gradually click and treat for farther distance. Pretty soon he'll have to touch your hand to get a click-treat. Then, open your palm and repeat the process until he gets it. The key is gradual shaping - click-treat for merely lifting his paw off the ground, then click-treat for lifting a higher height, then click-treat for actually touching your hand, then click-treat for touching an open palm.

 

[tdonline]

How do I clicker train my cats to wash the dishes?  Or at least, load the dishwasher?

 

[jcat]

Cool! Thank you, jcat He's aced the up/down thing. Looks like "sit" is next on the list. How long do I give him treats for a certain task I wonder? I know I should keep training for awhile, but he's really picking things up quickly, so I wondered how long does "training" last? I don't want him to lose interest in following commands because I took treats away.

We do a short training session every day, with treats, but Mogli now has to perform a couple of feats before he gets his treat, e.g., sit, up, down, sit, or jump between several pieces of furniture. He always hopes he's going to get a treat at other times, so he usually obeys the commands even when we're not training. He looks forward to his sessions so much that I'd hate to stop the training and treats, though I've really reduced the number and size of the latter. He gets (freeze-dried) meat as treats, and I just cut back on his regular meals a bit so he doesn't get too chubby.

 

[krashballz]

Lots of great information! Thanks, everyone!

T tdonline - lolll If you figure that out, PLEASE let us all know!

@Fhi09 -Thank you! That's a great idea. I'm definitely gonna try the high five that way. It's probably silly, but I've always wanted a cat that can high five!

S smartyfoj - good luck training your cats. I'm really loving it and so is Aleister.

jcat - I'm using the same kind of treats for Alei -Freeze dried chicken. Good point on cutting back on the regular food a bit. I'll make sure I do that. Thanks so much for your advice. I've seen your pics of Mogli on other threads. He seems like a cool cat You also harness trained him, didn't you? That's my next goal with Aleister & Grace. One of my favorite things about my old kitty Krash was that I could take him outside and go places with him. It seems to be so much fun for them too.

 

[jcat]

Mogli isn't harness-trained. He has IBD and allergies, so I don't want to get him the vaccinations he'd need to go for walks outside.
Our last cat, Jamie, used to go for a walk every day. He loved it and was pretty easy to train to the harness at 4 months. I never tried clicker training on him, because it wasn't something people were doing with cats back when we got him (1999).

 

[krashballz]

Ok, I knew you had mentioned at one point somewhere that one of your cats was harness trained. Same here as far as clicker training with Krash. We got him in 1999 too, & it wasn't a "thing." I wish it had been, as he would've had so much fun with it. Honestly, it never occurred to me to train Krash for anything. He just knew stuff, Even as a kitten. One day, I threw a harness & leash on him, & away we went! He loved going to Petsmart because no one back then had cats on leashes, so he got TONS of attention. Now I'm about to start training Aleister with it, and I have a feeling he won't be as easy as Krash was lol He's smart, but also a tiny bit skittish, and stubborn as all hell.

 

[catbehaviors]

Hi Krashballz! Sounds like you're well on your way to becoming a successful cat trainer. Wessie (my cat), is trained to high-five, shake (which is really just a variation of high-five), sit, and to walk on a leash.  I've tried clicker training, but I'm not sure if really worked any better than training without a clicker for me.  Really the only "trick" that I've used the clicker for was sit. It sounds like it's working well for you and Aleister, though!

Anyway, I found it extremely easy to train Wessie to high-five. It took about 5 minutes or so.  I simply grabbed his hand (or should I say paw?) and gave him a treat whenever he was touching my hand, then we graduated to him actually placing his hand on mine.  The same goes for shake, except I shook his paw when he offered it to me.