well, i do like a challenge.

it's been a while since i've owned a dog, and when we rescued and owned them, we didn't even know clickers existed. and i am really interested in clicker training in general.

i've been looking at c/t with cats today on youtube. many are kittens, many are adults.
do you think it's too late to start working with Rockefeller? he just turned 2 back in October. he generally responds to his name and will come when you call him. he pays close attention when you're talking at him. i feel like i could maybe get somewhere.

maybe i could even get the kitten involved in this because he literally has been a nightmare.

anyone else tried this on their feline friends?

ETA: i have one hurdle. Rockefeller hates taking food from a hand or utensil. even if it's his favourite food. i'm not sure how to work with this.

It's not at all too late! My cat was about three years old when I got her, and I did manage to teach her a few tricks with clicker training. The limit to what she learned was MY fault, not hers, she actually trained pretty quickly.

She didn't like taking treats from my hand either, so I just put them on the floor. After a while, she got more comfortable taking food from me and eventually was able to take treats from my hand.

One problem that a lot of cat people have is that they say their cats aren't food motivated. But one thing that's also very common among cat people is free-feeding. I've never free-fed my cats - they'd die of overeating, for one thing - so they're food motivated AND a healthy weight. Treats are also difficult to find for picky cats, too, but I was able to usually just use kibble.

My cat at one time would target my hand, sit, down, jump through a hoop, and I THINK I taught her to balance on a basketball.... I remember I had to hold the ball so it didn't roll and I think that's as far as we got with that one.

Have fun!

My ferrets are clicker (well, technically squeaker, cause I HATE THE CLICKER NOISE) trained. Don't have a cat to have ever done it, though

This girl has done awesome things with both her cat and dog through clicker training!

http://youtu.be/7P_XgJpUTis

So you can get some ideas from there

i feel a bit better!
Rock isn't free fed, but he covets the bowl i raw feed him from. that seemed easiest, so i dropped it into a dish and clicked when he opened his mouth to eat. we ran out of food and he was pretty ticked off about that.

i'm going to get my feet wet with him. he has manners at least. the kitten is the one that really needs it. i'll play around with it with him tomorrow.


i feel a bit silly, but i did use a pen. i don't have a clicker, but i watched videos of one girl, and she just only used a pen that clicked quite loudly. i have hundreds, literally hundreds, of clicky top pens, LOL. the cheaper the louder, i think. loud seems best, since Rock is a pro at ignoring sounds around him.


thanks for the link too Mandy! never enough videos.
i'm hoping this can train me too, being new to clickers. as i delve into the world of dog sport choosing, i find myself looking at Rally quite a bit. but even if not competitive, i'd love to do some c/t with whatever dog we get. everyone is in boot camp.