Tricks And Treats

[Bluuuii]

Anyone on here managed to teach your cats tricks? I taught Jussi to sit for treats and dinner but havent managed to teach him to lay down yet. Everytime i try he just gives me this look like he really doesnt understand what the **** i want from him haha.
If you managed to teach them anything, what tricks? And how did you teach them! Gathering some info and ideas over here

 

[GameJeannie]

I'm impressed you managed to get Jussi to sit for dinner! When Echo hears the can opener she can't stay still.

But I HAVE been able to teach her how to play dead (make a 'gun' with my fingers, say 'bang' and she falls over), which might help you with getting Jussi to lie down.

Basically, I got her treats ready, did the 'bang' thing, then pushed (gently, of course) onto her side, then gave her a treat. I repeated this a few times per day and now she's pretty good at it.

I'm currently trying to train her to jump through my arms for a treat, but she's really not taking to that one!

Keep at it and I'm sure Jussi will get it!

 

[Shikaslate]

I've been training Shika to get into her carrier at the command "Go to Bed", to come when called, and now to sit. In the very near future, I'll teach her how to lay down then all of them combined (hopefully). She successfully & consistently does the first two! My tips are:

• Use a soft sound clicker (found in dog section at pet store) or even a bottle cap or lid that makes a popping sound (like Snapple). Just something not too jarring and scary sounding.
• Click when kitty does exactly the behavior you want then give them a treat within a couple seconds. If kitty does not do the behavior right away, you can build up to it by clicking & giving treats when they make slightly correct movements until they "get it"
• Click then command and click then eventually just the command. Spaced out in different training sessions.
• Use "lower value" treats when training--as in, treats kitty likes, but doesn't go bonkers over. Shika is crazy about these minnow treats that she can't control herself for so we use chicken hearts when training.
• Do 10-15 minute training sessions at a time per day. Or go at your cat's pace and try to recognize when they get tired

My boyfriend's sister has these well-trained champion frisbee/agility dogs so I applied her teachings in a more "cat-friendly" manner aka extreme patience LOL

 

[Animal Freak]

Frost does sit, lay down, and spin. Ash does sit, lay down, and high five. Ember does sit, sit pretty, and spin.

The first thing is start with things the cat does naturally. That's why people usually start with sit and lay down for dogs. They already do it on their own, so it's easier to learn on command. And not every cat will do every trick. Same with dogs. My dog won't roll over. Ember wont lay down. Ash wont spin. Oh well. Try something else.

Ember learned sit pretty because she learned to do it when she wanted my food. It was her idea. So it was pretty easy to add a command to it.

Ash learned high five because he started pawing at my hand to get the treat, so all I had to do was time it and give the command.

So don't push the cat to do what he doesn't want to do. Start with things he already does. Later on he might figure out that he has to learn new things.