It’s important for your cat to be rewarded as soon as she performs the desired action, but it can be difficult for many people to time their rewards precisely with their cat’s behavior. Try using a clicker to reinforce timing and – eventually - cut down on treats. You will, however, want to repeat the routine again the next day and continue it on a regular basis so that your cat doesn’t forget what he’s learned.Ĥ.

recommends teaching only one command or trick at a time and limiting sessions to 10 to 15 minutes of practicing. You don’t want to wear your cat out or bore him, but you do want to drive home the relationship between a particular reward and behavior - as well as the command associated with that behavior. Repeat this training process several times in a row so that your cat learns why he’s getting rewarded. Practice, practice, practice… but not too much. Start with a simple trick to show your cat that good things happen during your training sessions.ģ. Get your cat used to receiving rewards in response to specific behaviors. Diced chicken or turkey, low-sodium tuna, meat-flavored baby food and commercial cat treats might be effective, depending on your cat’s individual preferences.Ģ. This means you should toss the kibble back in the cat food bin and look through your cabinets for the good stuff your cat loves. Many cats need something special to motivate them. They want the soft, gooey, stinky treats.” And Jane’s fosters aren’t alone. ”My foster cats love to train with me,” says Jane Harrell, Petfinder’s senior producer and long-time cat foster mom. The best reinforcements you can use are treats - but not just any treats. So with that in mind, here are some steps to get you started:ġ. “Punishment creates stress, and stress is one of the most common causes for problem behaviors in cats, including eliminating outside of the litter box and compulsive grooming,” says the ASPCA website. Punishment and dominance are not healthy methods, nor are they effective. Remember: Cats respond to positive reinforcement, not negative punishmentĬats should only be taught new behaviors with positive, reward-based training. With the right methods - and a little creativity on your part - your cat will soon amaze you with the things he can learn. But that doesn’t mean they’re not superstars in waiting. Cats are also less instinctively driven to work in partnership with their human companions. Cats aren’t as likely to be motivated by praise as dogs. There are some differences between the way cats and dogs are trained, of course. You can even train them to compete in agility tournaments. You can teach them useful behaviors as well as novelty tricks. 1.Search Articles: Submit Search Close Search FavoritesĬontrary to popular belief, cats are trainable. You might be wondering why card tricks are a valuable life skill for you to learn at this point in the game, so gather round, fellow people of the internet, and I'll tell you: You can learn magic to make friends at parties, to get out of speeding tickets, or if you're feeling particularly ambitious, keep mastering the craft until you become the next David Blaine, make bank, and meet a ton of celebrities. I tell you this because now that you know how completely inept I am at magic, you will know that when I tell you that this list of card tricks I compiled is super easy, I mean that anybody could do it. I still feel residual shame from the one time in fifth grade when our teacher made us each learn a card trick that we would perform in front of the class for a grade, and when I screwed mine up in front of the whole class, I sat in a corner and very quietly and melodramatically cried.

I mean, I can learn things but I am no Neil Patrick Harris.

I'll admit it: I'm not good at any magic tricks. Learning new card tricks, especially ones that are easy but still cool, isn't something that comes naturally to everyone.

Easy cat tricks