I'm sure I read somewhere once that water spray punishments didn't work on cats, as they had trouble connecting the punishment with the fact they'd just done something wrong- and rather train them with rewards for doing things right. But now I just read that you should use water spray to devert a cat from scratching things.
So, do water sprays work or not? What are the alternatives as 'punishments'? I'm talking in general here, I already use Soft Paws for my cat in terms of scratching :)
It really depends on the cat! Some cats think "ooh, water! Fun! Let's play!" (hello, Pippin), whereas others think it's just "awful awful, how undignified, I'm - gasp - WET!" I do think the spray bottle can work as a detterent ONLY if used when the cat is caught in the act. Sprayng kitty two minutes later won't let the kitty know what specifically was wrong.
Karen is right! It really depends on the cat! My Maya is scaredfor water, so even showing her the spraybottle helps!!:D
Our little bandit Inka is NOT impressed at all by it! She even enjoys it :rolleyes: :rolleyes: .
CATS, they rule the world!!
That's how I trained all of my cats. You can also try putting a couple of pennies in a soda can. Everytime the cat goes to scratch something he shouldn't, shake the can. They HATE loud noises. The key is you need to squirt or shake the MINUTE the cat does something bad. Not an hour or even minutes later because they won't remember why they're being punished.
I train kittens by yelling "NO!" very loudly, then take them over to the scratching post or scratching box, take their from paws and do a scratching motion with them to show them HOW.
Actually,I have found that a firm clear NO,usually does the trick,unlwess,it is something,that the Found Cats,want to do.
I have 9 babies, and none have had a drop of water sprayed at them. Scratching is natural, just give them something they like to scratch, mine LOVE the turboscratcher, with a little catnip sprinkled on it. When they use it, I praise praise praise, when they scratch something else, a sharp NO to stop them, then take them to the Turbo and praise praise praise..This has worked as well with getting up in counter tops, and dining room tables. I just set them down on the floor and let them know that "Good Kitties" stay down. Cats LOVE to please their humans, and nothing works better than gentle love and understanding, and POSTIVE reinforcment...
I think that anything negative just makes a bad behavior worse....:)
I personally don't like the spray bottle method of training cats. I have found that postive reinforcement worked best for me. When I see them use their post instead of the couch, I give them a glowing "good boy".
Like Catmandu said, a stern "No" works well too - when they are trying to eat soemthing they sholdn;t, when they are jumping somewhere they shouldn't etc, a No in a deep voice and said sharply works... saying no in a whiny or indecisive way doesn't work. It has to be authorative. I also like "ut-uh". Most of the time, I give them the "Ut" part of "ut-uh" and they look at me and walk away from whatever bad thing they were planning on doing.
Another thing you might want to try is putting a scratching post in the area where the cat scratches.
I am a very firm believe in the water bottle. I tried the positive reinforcement with Cubby. When I would praise him for doing something good, he would turn to something else to do that was bad. If I said no he didn't care, he still doesn't for he most part. He knows that if he even hears me say do you want the water bottle, then it is time to stop trying to be cute and innocent while your trying to steal my steak off my plate. He knows that when I reach for the water bottle it means he's doing something wrong. He always looks to see where it is before he does something he isn't suppose to. If it isn't in his sight he will do what he wants. I also am using the uh oh methood with him. He understand the ut oh part but doesn't listen. He has very bad selective hearing at times. :rolleyes: