Training Zeus to walk with a harness and leash!

[newkitties]

Here is one of my fur babies, Zeus. He's always been a curious baby, very friendly around strangers. I realized he probably would like to spend time outside (I live in an apartment currently, but a house soon!) since he just struts his stuff right into the hallway of my complex tail straight up whenever I answer the door. So I went out and bought an XS dog harness, as I couldn't find a "comfy" looking cat one, and they looked too small for my 15lb baby. I bought a long thin lead to go with it.

When I put the harness on him, he wriggled around for a few minutes, but he is totally fine with it now. Running around and jumping on the furniture as usual.

My first test was yesterday, I put him on the leash, opened the door, and we walked down the stairs to the first floor to check the mail together. I wound up having to carry him back up because I was tired of waiting!

My questions are these:

How can I REALLY test to make sure he will not get out of his harness? It seems to fit well and all, but cats are escape masters in a panic.

How should I introduce him to the outside? Would taking him to the bottom floor, and opening the door be a good option? See if he walks out willingly?

What do I do in a situation of panic? Say something spooks him, would the best course of action be to pick him up and move away?

Any tips?

13227221_1791315514438814_3330010392403639539_n.jp

• newkitties
• May 13, 2016

 

[Anne]

He's so handsome 

 I hope some of our members with experience in walking cats on a harness will chime in soon. Meanwhile, maybe this guide can help -
[article="22430"]Harness And Leash Training For Cats  [/article]

 

[newkitties]

Thank you!

Yesterday was day two of training him, we went into the hallways and spent some time there. I sat on the floor a while and he sat on the window, and went up and down the stairs with me trailing behind him

He said hello to the neighbor kids when they came in! At first he sunk back when he heard the door open but he loves kids and when he realized it was people and not a door-monster (the door is large and loud when opening) he went right up to them, and they sat on the floor and pet him for a minute.

I tried taking him to the bottom laundry floor, which is large and near the second exit, but when we got there, he seemed a bit scared so we went back up into the main hallways and spent some more time there until he led me back up the stairs to go inside.

I'll be taking him out later today.

 

[molly92]

I don't know that any harness is 100% escape proof for a determined cat. Keeping an eye on him and picking him up if he starts freaking out and struggling is probably the safest option. It's also a good idea to have a collar with identification for this reason.

It took a few weeks before my cat wasn't too frightened of the Scary Parking Lot (it's actually a pretty calm parking lot) to get the courage to walk across it on her own. At first I just carried her straight to the grass, and then we graduated to her walking down the steps on her own, but still needing to be carried the rest of the way, and then finally we just spent a long time waiting on the steps one day until her curiosity overcame her and we walked all the way. Sometimes we'll head out and it will be too cold or windy and she'll turn right back around to let me know not today!

When I first started leash training her I thought we'd eventually walk along the sidewalk, but she wants nothing to do with the road (good kitty!) and prefers to just spend some time lying around in the backyard. So originally she'd learned to go out the front door of my apartment, which leads straight outside, and started trying to dart out whenever the door opened. I stopped doing that and now only take her out the back door straight into the yard, so now she knows if she wants to go outside that's the door she should head to, and our escape attempts out the front door have decreased. If she does escape out the back door, she'll end up in the yard, which I feel much better about.

The couple of times that my cat has been really scared were when she heard cars that were a little too close for her comfort. She bounded as fast as she could for the grassy, more covered area. As soon as she felt she was safe, she stopped and hid. I managed to keep a hold of her leash and run with her and she didn't get out of the harness, but if I felt like she was going to slip out I think it would have been wise for me to let go and pick her up when she settled down and was calm, because she wasn't running toward anything dangerous, and it's much easier to grab a cat trailing a leash and wearing a harness than a cat with no harness at all.

 

[clmgordon]

I would say take it slow and follow his lead, don't go past where he seems comfortable. I use a soft cat harness and if I stand in front of him, he can back out of the harness even if it's snug. Most will be like that. It can be helpful if he gets caught on something. To keep him from backing out and scampering off, I pick him up when he gets scared or I see a particularly loud vehicle nearing. I just make sure to hold him very securely so he can't scratch me or wriggle away.

 

[newkitties]

Thanks for the tips!

He's very comfortable with the harness luckily. 

I tested to see if he could back out of the harness and he can't get his front legs out of the back (he's very muscular) part of the harness, though if I pull without attaching it to a collar too he can pull the front part off. But for added security when we start to go outside, I'll be attaching the collar to the leash as well as it has a small link chain that I can attach to it without the risk of choking him because if he pulls, the support falls on the harness and not his neck.

I've found so far that it seems the most escape proof, I put it on him this way and tested to see if there's a way out, and I think the only way out would be if he was in a severe panic for a significant amount of time with something also pulling the leash, so I know I'd have enough time to pick him up.

It also helps that when he is frightened about anything in the house, he immediately comes between my legs to hide, if he does this outside when we graduate out there, it can be a saving grace!

He is chipped and has a collar with ID so I'm sure if somehow he gets loose and doesn't find his way home, he will be identified quickly

He seems to feel a little uncertain about concrete, since he didn't want to spend any time in the laundry room in the basement of my building (no machines were running so it was quiet)

Perhaps this is a good thing so he won't want to run into the street as much!

In the beginning of august we are moving into a house in a more suburban area (we live borderline city, borderline suburb now) with both a front and back yard, several trees, and a few gardens. It also has a raised deck I feel like they can sit on. I feel like he will be very happy there! My other cats aren't very interested in the outdoors, my street rescue is terrified, but he does love eating kitty safe plants and sun bathing, so perhaps he will eventually like to sit on the back deck with us in a mesh-cat tent I plan on ordering from amazon so they can spend time outdoors if they want without being on a leash as the I know at least two of my four cats "play dead" when they have a harness on! 

Hopefully Zeus continues doing very well and will be comfortable enough with the outside to spend the remainder of the summer in the garden with me when we move.

I'll post updates here on how he does every so often

 

[mccl7460]

I've been walking our 12 year old male seal point siamese down the block for about 10 years now.  Start slow by putting cats on a short lead with a VERY secure body harness.  Like someone else noted, cats are masters at getting out of harnesses when they want to, especially when scared.  So the important thing to do is to find out what spooks your cats, e.g. blowing leaves, the wind, rain, other cats, cars, etc.  If your cat is upset, their tendency will be to run, so you have to pick them up immediately and hold them to give the cat assurance that they are safe from danger. 

 

[bengalcatman]

Cats usually get out of harnesses by backing out of them. If you don't pull on the leash while the cat is backing up, the cat can't get out.

Cats like to do cat stuff: investigate under a bush, sniff where another cat marked, lay in a sunny spot, walk along close to a fence line (instead of being exposed in the open,) etc. Cats will compromise too, if they get the idea that they get to do lots of cat stuff, they will "put up" with human stuff like: walking on a path, walking in a straight line, not stopping every 10 feet to sniff, etc. But before they compromise, they need to know that the walk will have lots of cat stuff - so let the cat do what it likes and gradually over weeks and months, give positive praise for following you to do human stuff.

Pick a few commands to teach, no more than 2 or 3, and use the same command words consistently. Do not use command words in sentences (too confusing for the cat to pick out one word from a group,) just say the word slowly and carefully once or twice. Reward any little bit of correct behavior. If you want to teach the command "stop," start be praising any little bit of slowing down or hesitation. Gradually expect the cat to be more compliant over weeks of training. Bring along cat treats and give them for good behavior or following commands.

Be patient. Be loving. Think in terms of slow progress over weeks and months. Cats do not have any natural cognitive ability to understand the concept of walking on a leash. What cats do have is tremendous adaptability and intelligence. Humans do not have any natural cognitive ability to understand what cats think or how a cat is driven by instinct. What I am getting at here is that a human walking a cat on a leash is a bit of stretch for both species: the human has to try and meet the cat halfway with understanding, love and patience. You think the cat is a little slow on figuring out how to walk on a leash? Believe me, the cat can't understand how you could have possibly walked right past that scent mark FROM ANOTHER CAT ON OUR TERRITORY or the fresh smell of a nearby mouse (sheesh! those humans are dumb!)

I don't suspect all cats can or want to walk on a leash and of those that do, some will take to it faster than than others.

We have walked or hiked with Makena nearly every day for several years.

DSC_0116-M.jpg

• bengalcatman
• May 15, 2016

CA_04191518484685-M.jpg

• bengalcatman
• May 15, 2016

DSC_0241-M.jpg

• bengalcatman
• May 15, 2016

DSC_0849-M.jpg

• bengalcatman
• May 15, 2016

100_2530-M.jpg

• bengalcatman
• May 15, 2016

The walk or hike (sometimes we are out for hours when time allows) is often the high point of my or my wife's day.

We leave Makena's harness fairly loose so he can back out of it if he gets his line tangled while climbing a tree or sneaking around under a bush. He knows he can back out of the harness if he needs to, but he really has no desire to. Makena knows that the harness is part of the walk and he is supposed to have it on when he is outside took about a year to get to this point.)

Makena knows lots of commands:
Easy - slow down you are about to run out of leash and/or I can't run that fast
No - stop whatever you are doing and look at me
Hold up - wait/slow down (I can't jump that creek/scramble up that ledge, etc. as fast as you)
Come on - time to move on
Pond - lets head toward our pond
Snack - you are getting a cat treat!
Okay - go ahead and walk that way, climb that, sneak under etc (if we put a little tension on the line he knows to stop and back out)
Race! - lets run together!
Other paw - put your other paw through the harness or jacket
"Hey Makena, lets go for a walk!" - his favorite command!

Makena gets the jist of lots of other things, like if asked "Makena are you doing okay? he will usually respond with a short "chip" (I am fine) or a drawn out meow (I am cold/hungry/tired/fur is soaked etc)

Makena and his mom taking a break

DSC_0185-M.jpg

• bengalcatman
• May 15, 2016

 

[NewYork1303]

In general it isn't a good idea to let a cat walk out the door to the outside. You should take the cat in your arms outside instead. When you let them walk out, they can get used to ducking out of the door even when they don't have a harness on. 

Both of my cats go out for walks. One loves the outdoors and enjoys sniffing everything. The other is more nervous outside. We sit out on the porch and she sits on my lap for now.