Clicker training for cats: Has anyone ever tried that? (update #10)

[Kirsten]

I went to our local pet store today, hoping to find a clicker and a book with instructions, but they were sold out. Now I've ordered them on amazon, should be here in a few days... I'll keep you updated. :-)

[Karen]

Hopefully it ill work for you! The best cat training book I read said the reason most people think cats are not trainable is cats are far more patient than people are. A cat will sit and watch a mouse-hole for hours, for example. So the biggest challenge in cat training is to out-stubborn your cat!

[Barbara]

Ha! i am sure you also saw the pet magazine on Vox TV ( not related to Fox) with that lady Birga Dexel who helps owners with cat problems. I see it every saturday and in many of her stories the cat is underplayed. Like that little boy who kept chasing his older sister so much that she had taken to living under the bed. Or those two black guys who really shred the apartment to pieces ( including opening and raiding the fridge) when their purrson was at work.
I was also thinking of starting with clicker training but I may be too lazy However do you remember Faramir, the Swiss Aby kitty who was also a friend of Randy's ( Mango's dad). Faramir did the most amazing tricks like balancing on a ball and giving his little paw. I think he also got clicker training. It might help Orion who right now sits under the sofa because he does not want me to write but to play. I am fairly sure Birga has videos on youtube about clicker and Faramir may as well.

[dehlers43]

The more food motivated the cat, the easier they are to train. My Franklin LOVES treats so it was fairly easy to train him to do a few things on command. He knows "sit", "up" (sits on his haunches and reaches up with one paw), "turn" and "give me five". However, I didn't use a clicker so I'm finding it hard to train him to do more complicated things. I think I'll pick one up and give it a try. Maybe we could compare notes....
One thing I can suggest: break the treats up into smaller pieces. Good luck!

[Kirsten]

Well, the book arrived yesterday, so I had the chance to read a bit and learn some of the lessons before the clicker arrived. Today, I had it in the mail and was really excited but - both of my girls fear the sound!

At first, Lily was interested in the target stick, touched it with her nose which the book suggested to do in the first lesson, but it's really obvious she doesn't like the sound. Later, Luna showed up to see what we were doing, but she even jumped back in fear when she heard the click. She fears the target stick also but that is not surprise because she fears long objects like sticks in general.

Barbara, yes, of course I saw Birga Dexel's shows on Vox and I was really impressed what clicker training did for other cats, and how many problems it solved. And when I talked to my sister, who was also watching the shows on Vox, she suggested to try this with Lily because she thought she might chase Luna because she was bored. Anyway, looks like this is no option for my girls, I'm really disappointed.

However, I can understand they're afraid of the sound. Even for my ears, it's uncomfortable. And I ordered one that was said to be suitable for cats as the click sound wasn't as loud as in most clickers. Weird.

[Karen]

But maybe you can muffle the sound so it isn't as loud, and get them accustomed to it! All part of training - desensitize! As for muffling it, try just wrapping it and old sock or something!

[Kirsten]

Okay, I will try that. And maybe I really need to watch some of those youtube videos first, maybe the ones of Faramir Barbara has suggested.