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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
I am trying to teach Loki to sit.
I realized from reading Cat vs Cat that she is feeling anxious, so I am trying to give her some dedicated time each day. Since she is so smart, I figured I'd try to teach her sit. I think I am going to need gloves like bird handlers wear because she kept trying to rip the treat out of my hand before she sat down.
Has anyone else tried to teach their cat to sit? Did you move on to other tricks?
Has anyone else tried to teach their cat to sit? Did you move on to other tricks?
Re: I am trying to teach Loki to sit.
Are you holding the treat in a closed fist & lifting it up like you would for a dog?
Yes.
She knows the treat is there (we have junky ones because they are the only ones that EVERYONE will eat...we don't give treats very often, but it's just easier to have one kind they will all eat).
The behavior coordinator at the shelter we foster for did a presentation a while ago about mentally stimulating your foster animals, and she talked about teaching cats to sit.
L will eventually sit, but not before trying to rip the treat out of my hand. Turd.
5 cats. 1 baby.
Are you luring her with the treat? Maybe try shaping the behavior, without luring instead? (i.e. wait for her to sit or something similar and "capture" it with a click, instead of dangling the treat above her). Either method is ok, but if the lure is too distracting this might work better.
Have fun!
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
There used to be a poster on here whose cats did all sorts of tricks, but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was...JeffandEm? Maybe?
I want to know how it goes!
Snow!
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home DI have seen the tricks JeffanEm's Summit can do
It's pretty neat. I'd page her and see if she's around. I know she's pretty busy during the week.
I am luring her into the sit. We don't currently have a clicker, but could easily get one. My concern with a clicker is that it would attract the attention of the other cats, and I am trying to give her one on one attention for a few minutes each day, since she seems to be the one acting out. If we were to do the clicker, how could we make it work with multiple (5) cats?
5 cats. 1 baby.
I remember her! I haven't seen her post in forever. Do you know if she's still active on her local board?
5 cats. 1 baby.
I think it depends on how interested they are in the clicker. My two dogs are very different (one very drive-y, one very lazy), so when I'm working with Dixie, Toby might come over to see what I'm doing, but then he quickly gets bored and walks off. If the clicking attracts too much attention, maybe you could go into another room and shut the door? I really like using the clicker for tricks and stuff.
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
I was just thinking about her the other day! Hope she's doing ok!
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
5 cats. 1 baby.
I taught both of our cats (even the stupid one) to sit. They also know come and the non-stupid one also knows jump up, place, lay down, and beg. I swear he speaks english, because he's about as smart as they come.
With sit, I started when I was feeding them. I hold the bowl above their head and say sit. Then, just like with a dog, I waited until they sat. Sometimes I had to help the sit by pushing gently on their butt, but that was only for maybe the first week or so. Then "good boy" and put the bowl down. Basically, I NILIFed our cats.
All of the training I've done has been in relation to dinnertime, though. Its the only time I can get either of them to pay significant attention to me. LOL
5 cats. 1 baby.
I guess it would depend on a few things. Do you feed them individually, in separate bowls, or just put down a large bowl and let them share? Also, are your smartest cats also the "pack" leaders or are they more submissive?
For us, it was easy because my alpha male is also my smarty. So I would hold the bowls up and say sit. Cat would sit right away (he already knew this trick from when it was just he and I) and I would put his bowl down for him as a reward. Hobbes would usually look at me like "huh?" for a minute or two, then I'd repeat sit and push on his butt/low back. When he sat, he'd get his bowl. After a while, he started to get it. Now he'll sit on command, but "lay down" is still another story. LOL
This method probably worked for me because a) Cat already knew sit and was a good 'demo' critter. b) Cat is seriously alpha and can hold off Hobbes with a look, so there was no fighting over food. and c) Because Cat would sit immediately and then get to eating, I could work with Hobbes one-on-one.
I can't say how well it would work with 5 cats with our method.
She's banned from FB and the nest right now so she can get her studying done :P
We just had a playdate this past weekend and she is doing well. Are you on FB?
I am, but I only get to post at night or early a.m. because we can't get on at work. I hadn't seen her on either site, so I was wondering. Glad to hear she's doing well!
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath