{"id":1324,"date":"2016-06-14T04:43:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T12:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2016-06-14T04:43:05","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T12:43:05","slug":"newsday-tuesday-training-your-cat-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1324","title":{"rendered":"Newsday Tuesday\u2014Training Your Cat Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Penny<\/strong>We introduced Bobbi Florio Graham yesterday in Part 1 of this series. She mentioned her current cat, Penny. QT Penny (Quattro Teakettle) is her fourth cat since she adopted Simon Teakettle, the owner of her company, in 1972. As she says, \u201cI added Q.T. for Quattro Teakettle, in honor of Terzo, who was Simon Teakettle III. But I realized it could also mean \u201cCutie\u201d and I often call her Cutie Pie as well as Cutie Penny.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Penny is a cutie\u2014that\u2019s her in the photo.
\nTo remind you, Barbara (Bobbi) Florio Graham won the $1,000 Sticky Paws award for best article on training at the Cat Writers\u2019 Association annual conference in 2002. Here’s Bobbi’s blog post:<\/p>\n

Every cat is different, and training methods have to be adapted to that animal\u2019s individual personality.<\/p>\n

I adopted the first Simon Teakettle when he was 18 months old. It was clear he\u2019d been hit by a rolled-up newspaper, perhaps when he tried to dash through the door, because he was startled any time he heard the rustling of any paper.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have that problem with the second or third Simon Teakettles, whom I raised from kittens, but Simon II (Tiki) was a part-Siamese feral, who presented distinct challenges.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never encountered a cat so smart! I had to buy him new toys and invent new games just to keep him occupied, as he was easily bored.<\/p>\n

Simon III (Terzo) was the opposite. A black and white sweetheart, he was placid and cuddly, eager to please and willing to learn.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the cat featured in the video which has received much praise from animal behaviorists. It\u2019s at: http:\/\/lnkd.in\/fKsbhH<\/a><\/p>\n

I found Q.T. Penny at a local shelter in February of 2015. She was a year old, had been a stray, and was still pretty skittish when I brought her home. But she already knew her name, and began to come when I called her within the first few days.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s confusing to change the name of an older cat. I added Q.T. (for Quattro Teakettle) and she now responds to both \u201cQ.T.\u201d and \u201cPenny.\u201d<\/p>\n

I start with \u201cCome here,\u201d and only call Penny when she will receive a reward for obeying.<\/p>\n

It helps when you call the cat when you have full dish in your hand! I began by calling Penny to her tray when I fed her, and gradually began to insist that she sit by her tray in order for me to put the food dish down.<\/p>\n

Now when she wants her wet food, all I have to do is say \u201cSit by your tray,\u201d and she goes there, sits, and waits for me to bring the dish to her.<\/p>\n

I always begin training using dry cat food, and only move to treats much later, when I start to teach special behaviors. I believe strongly in positive reinforcement, and my experience has been that cats react to praise and petting.<\/p>\n

There are a couple of important things to remember. Always use the cat\u2019s name when you praise him or her, and never when scolding. I always reinforce good behavior with \u201cGood girl.\u201d For any behavior I want to discourage, I employ a very loud and sharp \u201cNo!\u201d accompanied by a loud noise, usually clapping my hands.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important for every pet new to the household to learn \u201cSit\u201d and \u201cStay,\u201d and cats should be leash-trained, even if you never plan to let them go outside. It\u2019s a matter of safety, in case you ever have to leave quickly without time to put the cat into a carrier.<\/p>\n

In Part Three, I\u2019ll discuss other commands, and the importance of consistency.<\/p>\n

Barbara Florio Graham is an author and publishing consultant whose business is named after The Cat Who Owns the Company. Her website: http:\/\/SimonTeakettle.com<\/a> contains Simon Teakettle\u2019s blog, fan club, and a great deal of information about cats (as well as many other subjects). Here\u2019s the link to the training article: http:\/\/SimonTeakettle.com\/training.htm<\/a> To learn the interesting story about how Simon Teakettle got his name, go to http:\/\/SimonTeakettle.com\/simont.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We introduced Bobbi Florio Graham yesterday in Part 1 of this series. She mentioned her current cat, Penny. QT Penny (Quattro Teakettle) is her fourth cat since she adopted Simon Teakettle, the owner of her company, in 1972. As she … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1326,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/1326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}