{"id":1328,"date":"2016-06-15T04:46:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T12:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1328"},"modified":"2016-06-16T03:54:26","modified_gmt":"2016-06-16T11:54:26","slug":"wild-and-sometimes-crazy-wednesday-training-your-cat-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1328","title":{"rendered":"Wild and Sometimes Crazy Wednesday\u2014Training Your Cat (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pennyholdpaw\"<\/strong>We introduced Bobbi Florio Graham Monday in Part 1 of this series. To 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.<\/p>\n

Over the last two days, she shared some basics about training and introduced us to her original cat, Simon Teakettle and the two cats who followed him. Today, she\u2019ll focus on her current cat, who is in training as we speak.<\/p>\n

Training Q.T. Penny was a bit more difficult because she was a year old when I adopted her. But I continued to use the same commands that brought results with my previous cats. These include \u201cCome here,\u201d \u201cSit,\u201d \u201cStay,\u201d and \u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n

When I pick up a kitten to do something pleasant, to pet, brush, or even to move gently off my lap so I can get up, I use my left hand under her belly, with my right hand petting her.<\/p>\n

Penny didn\u2019t like to be picked up, and it took a full year of my gentle persuasion to get her to understand that nothing bad was going to happen. Now, she permits me to do everything, including to brush her teeth!<\/p>\n

She considers her toothbrush a toy. She also likes to have me trim her claws. That came about because she seemed interested when I used my nail clippers. I began to use them to clip her claws when she was on my lap, and I gradually introduced the cat clippers. At the beginning, I could only clip one or two claws at a time, but now we do both front paws in one sitting.<\/p>\n

Penny has a large and growing vocabulary. Teaching words is a matter of consistency. Use the same words, in short phrases, repeat frequently, and use hand or body signals to reinforce the message.<\/p>\n

In addition to the basic commands, I\u2019ve taught Penny words she associates with pleasant activities. She understands \u201cLap,\u201d and comes immediately when I say \u201cBrush\u201d or \u201cTreat.\u201d<\/p>\n

She understands \u201cball\u201d and \u201ctoy\u201d although I\u2019m not sure she knows which is which! But she definitely knows \u201cMouse.\u201d If I ask her where her mouse is, she goes to find it. And I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s her instinct or my command that has her respond to \u201cCatch\u201d when I toss her a toy. But I praise that anyway.<\/p>\n

One of the newer phrases Penny has leaned is \u201cExcuse me.\u201d When I say this, she jumps off my lap, knowing I want to get up.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always shocked to hear from friends whose cats wake them up at ungodly hours, wanting to be fed. Why would you allow that?<\/p>\n

My solution is to feed Penny only twice a day, late in the morning, and just before I have my evening meal. If I\u2019m going out for dinner, I either feed her before I leave, or make sure her dishes of dry food are full.<\/p>\n

The key to sleeping as late as you want is to ensure the cat has dry food to eat whenever she wishes. I feed two high-quality dry foods, one with large pieces to help with dental care, and the other a grain-free weight-management formula.<\/p>\n

Since I used the latter as substitute treats when I first began to train her, this food is associated with pleasure as well as sustenance.<\/p>\n

Every cat I\u2019ve had understood and adapted to my daily habits. Usually, when I wake up, Penny is beside me, and begins to beg me to pet her when she senses I\u2019m awake.<\/p>\n

Similarly, cats know the signals that indicate bedtime preparation. Include the cat in these as much as possible, using the word \u201cBed\u201d if you allow the cat to sleep with you.<\/p>\n

Penny has just started to do what Terzo used to do: jump on the bed and wait for me when she realizes I\u2019m heading in that direction.<\/p>\n

If the cat is supposed to sleep in another location, put her there, pet and praise her, using the word \u201cBed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t underestimate your cat\u2019s vocabulary. It takes patience to teach them, but it\u2019s not only rewarding, it\u2019s fun to see how much they can learn.<\/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).<\/p>\n

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

We introduced Bobbi Florio Graham Monday in Part 1 of this series. To 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. Over … 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\/1328"}],"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=1328"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1333,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions\/1333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}