Jennifer say:
From the book: "Cat Speak" by Bash Dibra.
Yipee..at last a good cat book for training cats
1) Teach your cat her name
Always use the cat name when talking to her... ( my cat has learn to respond to her name like eg"Sweetie, come" and she will come running to me) A cat will respond to the sound of the name and the way you say it. Always use the name in a friendly, affectionate way. Do not use the cat name when SCOLDING her or she will associate it with a negative feeling. To begin to teach a cat her name, you need some encouraging mouth noises to get her to come..eg a cat food. When she respond, praise her, pet her and give her a treat. When she respond to her name, pet her and massage her a bit. As soon the cat respond to her name, go to other part of the house to call her. (Again, my cat can do this esp when she see me, even without calling, she will run to me)
2)Sitting on Command (i now try to make sweetie sit down while i feed her, she do respond, but not often)
Place the cat on the table. Gently place one hand over her body and run along her spine from head to tail. Push down on her ramp as you say "Sit". YOu can apply more gently pressure. Once she in sitting position, praise her. Go thought this routine many times till ur cat can respond to the command while you move further from the table. If she is notty, praise her without giving her the treat, only give when she sit without hand pressure.
3) Teach your cat to stay (eee..this require patience --which i dun have, persistence and praise)
A cat that learnt to sit and stay will behave perfectly in any situation. Begin with the sit command. Once she sitting, place your open hand in front of her face with your palm toward her face. Say "Stay" slowly remove your hand and pause for a few moments. IF she stay quietly, praise her and give her treats. If she breaks out of stay, immediately put her back into sitting position and repeat the whole process. Step back further and continue to say "Stay". Have her stay longer and move further from the table(duno if mum will mind me putting sweetie on her table, maybe i try it on my bed).
4) Teach your cat to lie down (i am proud to say my cat can lie down...if i say"want sayang(meaning petpet), she will lie down immediately, she respond faster to my mum and a bit slower for my command, and none to my younger sister..)
Begin with the sit command. PUt your left hand over the cat shoulder and your right hand behind her front legs. Say "Down" and slide the cat frong legs forward while pushing down her shoulders. Keep the pressure light while continue saying "lie down or down". Hold the position and pause, say "Good, sweetie" and give her treat. While your cat is lying down, massage her shoulders.
5) Teach your cat to walk on a harness or collar and leash (poor me, i am a failure in this, i try putting on harness but sweetie bit it off her, on a leash, she sit down and refuse to move her bum)
A harness work better for most cats. But if a cat with short neck (like sweetie) will be better using a collar with a leash.
Put the collar on the cat and let her walk around the house in short session for as long as she want. Then attach a leash to the collar and let the cat drag it around. (my cat wear a collar but with leash, she play with it and refused to move at all, how to train like that..so subborn cat)Increase the time you put the leash daily. Be sure u keep an eye on ur cat to prevent accidents. When she is walk in a normal way, pick the leash adn follow her aroudn teh house, do this a few times for 5 to 10 min. As you walk along, pick up the cat and walk a few step holding her, put her down again. Your cat will feel secure if u do this. You can use food to temp her to walk.
6) Teach your cat to shake hands(mine will scratch me if i attemp to mess with her front paw, i got numerous gifts from sweetie when i attempt to cat fight with her paw)
All cats use the front paw. Begin with the sit position. Extend your right hand as if you goign to shake her hand, then nudge the cat's right leg behind the elbow as you say "Shake". The cat may immediately raise her paw. Hold her paw gently, praise her and quickly give her rewards. Do this over and over until you no longer need to touch her legs for her to shake hands.
7) Teach your cat to sit and beg
It better to start with ur cat on leash so that you can exert a gentle pulling motion to encourage ur cat to sit up. Stand a short distance away and place a treat on a stick. Hold the stick a few inches above the cat head. The cat will focus on the stick and reach up with her front paw (be careful dun put ur face too close lol)As she reach up, say "Sit up or Beg" and pull the stick higher above her head. The cat will then reach up with both her paws.(how nice if sweetie can beg for food, the onli thing she does is to meow for food, that considered beggin too).
Praise her, give her food and have her stay in begging position a bit longer.
Ok..that the end of the training session..i will be browsing the book more thoroughly for more tips..it a good book though it had no pictures of cat.
