# Clicker



## HeartofClass (Jan 2, 2012)

Clicker for cat training... Yes or no? They aren't really common where I live so I'm looking at a few online. They're all pretty cheap, am I supposed to look at something in particular as far as the differences between them? I'm totally new to this.  

I have a 3 and a half month old Siberian, they can supposedly be trained pretty well. When should I start? Do you think it will even be possible, because I have two other cats? I read that when you have more animals it's harder to train them, because they rather spend more attention on each other than on me.


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## Nancy23 (Feb 7, 2012)

Ive never herd of it used on cats, i dont realy see why you need to train a cat anyway its not like a dog, cats are free animals ie they do as they please, its natural


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## HeartofClass (Jan 2, 2012)

Siberian cats have a more dog-like personality than the typical cat  I would like to train her:

1. Because why not?
2. She _does_ act different than my other two kittens, and even though they get along, the other two still prefer each other - she isn't exactly "part of the crowd"
3. It's not like I want to do agility training with her, more like just some simple party tricks like sit, lay down, play dead...
4. Understand that people are different. While you may think training cats is nonsense, I believe otherwise. That doesn't mean we should mock or look down on each other's preferences


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

HeartofClass said:


> Clicker for cat training... Yes or no? They aren't really common where I live so I'm looking at a few online. They're all pretty cheap, am I supposed to look at something in particular as far as the differences between them? I'm totally new to this.
> 
> I have a 3 and a half month old Siberian, they can supposedly be trained pretty well. When should I start? Do you think it will even be possible, because I have two other cats? I read that when you have more animals it's harder to train them, because they rather spend more attention on each other than on me.


My Ragdoll has some fun with a "clicker" but it is used purely for fun and not training.He has learned a few things like come ,sit,does a "high 5" I just use it to keep his brain busy .Someone on the forum,Kiwi I think,uses a clicker to get her outdoor cat in to the house.
I just got an ordinary small clicker used for dog training.
Just one of the many sites "google" brought up.....

Cat Training Overview | Karen Pryor Clickertraining

Give it a try its a great way of interacting with your kitten/cats


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## HeartofClass (Jan 2, 2012)

Wow, that's so cool! Can I ask you how exactly you managed to teach thoser things to your cat? That's the stuff I'm looking for actually


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

HeartofClass said:


> Wow, that's so cool! Can I ask you how exactly you managed to teach thoser things to your cat? That's the stuff I'm looking for actually


Meeko's a tart for treats.It took no time at all for him to work out if I called him he got a treat,once he mastered that one when he came I just kept repeating "sit" and as soon as his bum hit the floor ,click and treat,then it was come/sit and hold the treat above his head and as soon as he touched it ,click and treat.It really is that easy The thing to remember is click as soon as your cat does the action and reward instantly.


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## HeartofClass (Jan 2, 2012)

Thanks for the advice  I ordered a clicker now but I've already tried to teach my oldest kitten who is a huge sucker for treats too and also seems very intelligent so sit. I think she's actually already recognizing what I want her to do, really cool


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## K337 (May 20, 2011)

I've used clicker training with my boys as well as hand and verbal commands. Both know sit, stand, jump up and jump down and will follow a target stick and touch it with their noses. Bloo knows turn-around and Freckle knows high 5.

I am still in the process of training them to learn a 'mat' and 'carrier' commands - so that they would sit on the mat and in the carrier on command  Figured they would be the most useful in an emergency - like if we break a glass or need to get out of the house in a hurry.

They are really good at learning but I now need to start work with the third cat, our Selkirk Rex and she doesn't seem to be getting it quite as fast as the boys do :blush: Still all three love a treat and really get excited when they see the clicker come out


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## Colette (Jan 2, 2010)

I've used a clicker to teach my boys their names, sit, up, off, and touch-it (targetting). 
Its a great party piece that never fails to impress visitors (for some reason people think you can't train cats)... And the cats LOVE it. It's like a great game AND lots of yummy treats at the same time. 

Would recommend it to anyone. 

I basically trained my cats the same as I would a dog - use tiny treats to lure them into the correct behaviour (eg sit) then click and treat. Repeat until they get the idea, then start adding in the verbal cue. Phase out the lure and result is a cat that responds to verbals or hand signals.


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## oggers86 (Nov 14, 2011)

My 2 are successful in knowing that click means treat so if they hear the click they come running from wherever they are (although it doesnt always work when they are outside and being annoying on purpose )

I have tried in vain to make them sit, jump, on, off, stay but it doesnt work so I gave up. They arent the brightest of cats in the world so maybe thats why.


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## Jansheff (Jan 31, 2011)

My children had good fun a couple of years ago clicker training our two Burmese. They got them jumping through hoops, following a magic wand and doing obstacle courses. The kids enjoyed themselves, the cats loved all the attention, but I've not tried it for serious training like you would with a dog.


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## HeartofClass (Jan 2, 2012)

I ordered a clicker now and it supposedly has two sounds so you can use them for different things. Not sure if that'll work on my kitties though  getting it on tuesday, will report how things go!


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## HeartofClass (Jan 2, 2012)

So I got the clicker today and I tried it with my oldest, Lena for about fifteen minutes. She already learned how to sit (or she just coincidentally sits down everytime I tell her so ). She was upstairs now while I'm downstairs, I clicked once and she came down running to me!


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## Golgotha_tramp (Feb 27, 2011)

After reading this thread I got a clicker for Mitzi. I have been doing a 10 minute session a day (since Friday) and she is pretty much trained to "sit", "come" and is learning "up" (sitting on her back haunches).

She purrs and rolls all over the place during training and when she sees the clicker she comes running so I am really happy.

I will try and get a video set up and see if I can record a session to put up. It is so rewarding and she seems to really enjoy herself - I'm hoping eventually to perfect the "high five".


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

One of our cats used to jump through a hula hoop and do "assault courses" - jumping over and on to things - he loved it. All you had to do was pick the hoop up and he was there. That started with a clicker. The other one won't even lift a paw..


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## My2Kitties (Apr 13, 2015)

buffie said:


> Meeko's a tart for treats.It took no time at all for him to work out if I called him he got a treat,once he mastered that one when he came I just kept repeating "sit" and as soon as his bum hit the floor ,click and treat,then it was come/sit and hold the treat above his head and as soon as he touched it ,click and treat.It really is that easy The thing to remember is click as soon as your cat does the action and reward instantly.


My cat Boston Blackie, named after a 1940s radio show detective, can do several tricks. He learns fast, and even faster now that he knows a few tricks. He loves his tricks, to get petted, praised and TREATS.When he sees me bringing his hoop, he gets all excited to play with it. He begs to work out 3-4 times day!!! But how do I train him to do Bear Pose (meaning go from "Sit" to "sit up" or say maybe just "up"? like a bear begging) He already knows jump up (reaching up through the hoop to get a treat), "jump through" the hoop, "jump-up-on-the chair" and "jump down, and "jump-up on the bed," and "Sit." He just learned Sit yesterday. But I can't figure out the "bear pose" and train him to do that. Can't even find the "how" to do bear pose on YouTube, but there are some 15 second videos showing three different cats doing Bear Pose. Anyone know to train for this?


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