How to train a cat and a cat?

Cats are very smart, many owners notice that the animal listens and obeys. Thoughts about training creep in on their own, but some people mistakenly believe that cats do not succumb to it. You can start classes with your pet already from 7-8 months of life. At this age, the kitten will already be able to adequately respond to the owner's speech. The main thing is to take into account the peculiarities of the cat's perception.

Pets are distinguished by a delicate psyche and extreme emotionality. It is this feature that allows cats to become attached to family members. It is important to note that such an animal does not perceive a person as an unconditional leader. It is necessary to focus during training not on suppressing the cat, but on giving him positive emotions.

Feline memory stores only the most important information. The animal will soon forget the guest who visited your home only once. Memories of the pain caused by the person will be preserved for a long time. Feline memory is good, but extremely selective. The animal is able to remember forever where the tray is, with what sound the refrigerator with food opens, how the packaging of delicious food rustles. Such things are of great importance to a cat, which means they simply cannot be forgotten.

During training, you need to reinforce the memories of the teams with something important. To do this, you can use praise, affection, snacks, and other positive things. Scientific experiments have proven that Short-term memory in cats contains information for the last 12-16 hours. For comparison, dogs retain only the last 5 minutes, or even less. Long-term memory in cats is even more developed, so they can be trained as well as other animals.

The cat is most susceptible at the age of 2-7 weeks. It is during this period that the kitten is taught to people, the toilet, bowls of food and similar things. In the future, contact with something new can be painful for the animal. Of course, an adult cat can also get used to people and the toilet, but this will take more time. Therefore, it is better to start training at an early age.

Felinologists have proved that memory, sensitivity and decision-making skills develop and form in cats up to two to three years. The young animal learns with curiosity and assimilates information during observation. By this principle, you can teach a cat to go to the toilet on the toilet. It is enough to demonstrate this procedure several times.

Adult cats can solve logic puzzles. This fact is supported by the jumping animals, which are always verified, and allow you to clearly overcome the required distance. It is only at first glance easy, in fact, for the action you need to analyze the distance, choose the desired trajectory and calculate the force. Kittens learn such jumps in childhood, this skill is not innate.

Throughout life, cats, like humans, have memory impairments. After 7-8 years, the animal not only remembers something new worse, but also with great difficulty copes with the information that is already in the memory.

Many people find that cats are excellent at understanding speech and memorizing words. Pets memorize important phrases of the owner, followed by something pleasant or meaningful. And also animals understand when they are scolded. Two weeks is enough for the cat to begin to understand speech even in another language. The words of all family members, both children and adults, are equally perceived. This feature is due to the fact that the pet reacts not to the words themselves, but to the emotional message, the energy of the phrase. In other words, the cat's brain analyzes the size and length of the sound wave.

This is how cats remember commands, and they do it faster than dogs. The latter requires about 7 repetitions, and cats only 3. If certain rules are followed, it will be easier to train a cat than the smartest and most quick-witted dog.

The mother teaches the kitten from the first day of life. At the same time, even then it can be noticed that some animals quickly grasp a new experience, others modernize it, and still others hesitate for a long time before making a decision. It will be easy to train a cat if he is active, curious and sociable by himself. But there are breeds that are easiest to train.

• Abyssinian cat has a playful disposition. She quickly delves into the rules of the owner's house. Animals love to interact with people. It will be easy to train in a playful way.
• Cornish Rex - a small, curly and curious animal. Exercise, education and physical activity will be beneficial. The animal loves to follow the owner, trail after trail, the poem perceives any communication positively.
• Burmese needs constant attention and affection. A cat of this breed is active, very trainable. Animals enjoy showing their skills to humans.
• Scottish lop-eared already from birth can stand on its hind legs. The breed is distinguished by intelligence, activity and ingenuity. Mostly cats love to learn tricks, not just commands.
• British Shorthair similar in character to the previous breed. An agile, talkative and very sociable cat loves praise and increased attention to her person.
• Thai the breed loves attention and physical affection. She always singles out the most beloved owner from the family and is ready to obey him in everything.Cats remain active and curious even as adults. A great example of the fact that you can train not only kittens.
• Bengal cat literally needs education. Otherwise, activity and playfulness turns into mischief. They are able to imitate their masters. By your own example, you can teach a cat to turn off the light, open a door or a tap with water.
• Singapore breed is distinguished by curiosity. Cats are always on the move, love to jump, run and overcome obstacles. The pet is always open to new things, so he willingly learns tricks and commands.
• Turkish van - a rare and ancient breed. These cats love to swim and play with toys. They are distinguished by great affection for the owner and are always ready to show their love. Likes to jump on people, sit on his hands. They convey their mood with voice and movements. High sociability makes the breed most suitable for training.

If your pet is a representative of a more phlegmatic breed, do not rush to get upset. Many Persian cats enjoy learning commands and performing various tricks.

Choose the right moment to start training. The animal should be in a good mood, after eating it is worth waiting at least 2 hours. Home training will be successful if you remember the important nuances.

• Be patient... You should not try to learn several commands at once in a short time. Start training with 5 minutes every 2-3 days. If the cat is sluggish, stop exercising.
• The training should be carried out by the family member whom the cat itself perceives as the owner. Do not offend the animal so as not to lose confidence. Otherwise, the cat will stop obeying at all.
• Encourage small pieces of soft, tasty, aromatic food.
• Choose the right intonation of your voice... Behave as calmly as possible, without a shadow of aggression.
• Don't scold or punish failures. Remember that cats are not used to obeying, they can only be friends.

If the cat or cat shows indifference or fatigue, stop training immediately. Do not show your strength and power, this approach will ensure failure.

Be patient to avoid causing discomfort in your pet with excessive pressure. It's important for your cat to trust you.... Training should be done only by the person from the family whom the pet is ready to obey. If the animal gets offended and stops trusting, then the training will have to be postponed for a long period. Prepare a treat for your animal. Use something small and tasty. You can use pieces of meat, cheese, liver. The cat should only get excited, but not full. Dry food is not suitable, the pet will be able to quickly eat only soft food.

Give the treat from your hand, do not throw it on the floor. So the cat will be able to trace the connection between your actions and calculate the pattern. Give commands in an even voice. The intonation should be the same every time.

You need to work with a kitten for 5-10 minutes a day for a successful result. If you decide to teach an adult cat, then repeat the training in 2-3 days, and carefully monitor her mood. There are several commands for beginners.

• "To me". Call your cat by a nickname by preparing a treat. When the cat is close, say the command. At the end, be sure to pet and treat the animal. Repeat the command 3-5 times in one lesson. 5-6 workouts are enough for the cat to come running on command without any additional stimulus in the form of a treat.
• "Bring"... Use your favorite cat toy while learning.During the game, drop the thing and say the command. Show the treat in your outstretched hand. If the cat comes to you without a toy, hide the treat and repeat the request. Give a treat only when the cat brings the right thing.
• "Ask"... The goal is for the animal to stand on its hind legs and ask for goodies. First, call your cat to a flat, vertical surface to lean on. Raise your hand high with the treat and say the command. Give the treat as soon as the cat stands on its hind legs. Gradually increase your arm height as needed.
• "Nearby". The team is very similar to "To me". Walk with the cat around the room or around the house, periodically tell her to be there. Call and repeat the command, let's get a treat.
• "Sit"... Not all cats can learn the command. Treats alone will not help; you need to press lightly near the tail, as if sitting down the animal. First, go to the cat and go down to its level. Show the treat in your open hand. Invite your cat to sit next to you by patting the floor or furniture. At the same time, say the command. As soon as the animal sits down, pet and give a treat.
• "Lie". A skill that comes in handy especially when visiting a doctor. Walk up to the cat when it is sitting. Show the animal a treat, and lower your open hand to the floor, as if hinting that you need to lower it. Say the command and help the cat to lie down. If the animal itself does not understand what is required of it, then it is necessary to gently bend the front legs. Once the command is done, give the treat.
• "Stop". Start your workout at a time when the cat is walking directly towards you. Stop the animal with your hand, as if put up a barrier. Say the command and wait until it stops completely. Give a bite immediately. If the cat ignores the barrier, keep trying. It is important to make it clear that there will be no goodies without stopping. After a few workouts, say the command, but do not obstruct the movement.

Teaching commands is relatively quick and easy. It is much more interesting to teach the cat interesting tricks. Let's consider the step-by-step training of the "Give a paw" trick.

• First tell the cat to sit down. This command must already be learned for successful learning.
• Say the command "Give your paw", and do the action yourself, instead of the cat. So the animal will understand how to grant the request.
• Give a treat.
• Continue training until the cat knows what action to take.

Teaching your cat to jump over an obstacle is pretty simple. First, pick up a low barrier and place a treat behind it. Guide the cat towards the obstacle and do not feed the treat until it jumps. You can show by your example that the barrier needs to be overcome, for example, step over it.

Hoop jumping can be taught quite simply.

• Call the cat, show the hoop. Place the ring between yourself and your pet.
• Show the treat through the hoop and say the command "Up".
• If the cat is trying to get around the object, then move it in sync. Give a treat when the animal jumps over the ring.

Cats that stand on their hind legs look quite interesting, and this can also be taught. Call your pet and raise your hand with the treat higher. Say the command "Stand", and give the treat as soon as the pet fulfills the request.

The most difficult trick is the "Die" command. Training will take a lot of time, and, perhaps, an active pet simply will not be able to lie still, be prepared for this. Conduct training in stages.

• While playing, gently push the cat and say the command "Die". As a result, the animal must lie down or fall.
• Hold with your hand, as if not letting you get up.
• Release and say the command "Animate".
• Give a treat.

For information on how to teach a cat to give a paw, see the next video.