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I know what you’re thinking, training your cats to do tricks like a dog? Yeah right! I know what you're thinking, but cats can definitely be trained to do tricks! It all comes down to patience, repetition, reward, and positive reinforcement. Training a cat is much harder than training a dog, but it is just like any sort of training. It certainly helps to have their favorite purrrson paying them more attention and of course, treats!
Why not train your cat to give a high-five? This is one of the easiest tricks to teach them!
Steps:
1. Take your cat into a quiet room with no distractions. If they are obsessed with food, you can grab some treats to start and some regular kibbles as well since they will enjoy those as treats just as much! Smaller the treats the better for teaching, you don’t want them to take too long chewing.
2. Take a seat in front of them and offer the treat you are holding.
3. Grab a treat and put it in between your forefinger and your thumb, with the rest of your hand open (like a high-five but with those two fingers holding the treat) like shown in the photo below. Lift the treat above their head in front of them and say, “high five”. Don't let them use their mouth to take the treat, instead, return them to a sitting position and ask the question again until they touch your hand with their paw.
4. Give your cat a praise if they touch your hand with their paws, even if it is not perfect, if they are trying give them the treat and say “good boy” or “good girl” or whatever praise you tend to give them for when they are doing well.
5. Repeat but use an empty hand this time. When they "high-five" your hand once more, give them a treat. If they are not catching on with just an empty hand, feel free to go back to step 3, you might have to do this to start and then transition to a regular high five until they have completely learned it.
6. Have patience!! You will need a lot more patience with cats than you do dogs, but the reward will be awesome! Practice daily, several times a day, they will sure understand in no time! Do not train for more than 10-15 mins at a time, and always end on a good note by giving them praises and a treat at the end, or else they might get frustrated and stop listening.
The more that you practice and repeat the learned behavior, the more likely they will continue to do it on command. Eventually, you won’t even have to use the command, they will give you a high five with just your palm up!
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