Kitty training

[cimorene]

Sipuli can now touch a target and also touch it by sort of standing up on her hind legs. That did take extra training and I am giving another verbal cue, but it's really the same trick and I'm not sure what to do next. She sits most of the time by default, which would make that hard. Maybe lie down, or turn in a circle?

I started training Tristana yesterday too (the sessions are about 5 minutes, so it's not really a burden), and she is getting better about touching the target but doesn't fully understand yet.

Comments

[twistedchick]

I've taught both our present cats to sit when I say 'Sit', and I've taught Zoomy to stop doing something for either 'No' or a short hiss. I'm not sure the hiss works for Sweetie, but she is less likely to get into trouble than he is.

[cimorene]

I would need to capture the moment of her sitting on her own and reward it, or potentially find a way to start with her standing so that I could pat her butt down. The way the training sessions currently work make this harder because she's usually sitting already as soon as she knows it's training time!

[spark]

Maybe touch with nose vs touch with paw? Shake hands/fist bump?

[cimorene]

That's a point, right now I'm not distinguishing and Sipuli sometimes bites the target as well 😂

[princessofgeeks]

Amazing. I didn't know cats would deign to be trained to do things like that.

[cimorene]

Cats can be quite trainable, but there's variability between individuals and you kind of have to work with capturing and rewarding things the cat might do naturally, to get it to do them on command.

[oracne]

Exciting progress!

[cesy]

Touch a target with the other paw? Jump over a box/stack of stuff? Jump through a ring? Bat a ball away?

[cimorene]

Oh, that's interesting! Getting on and off of something/just following in general could be useful!