Clicker training, the science-based system of teaching behavior with positive reinforcers and a marker signal, is becoming immensely popular, world-wide, with some dog owners and trainers, while still being rejected by others. It seems so alien, so different from traditional training, that many are very reluctant to try this new system on their already well-trained dogs. Why not leave your dogs out of the picture for the time being, and explore the clicker experience for yourself, with an animal you don't really need or expect reliable performance from: Your cat.
Making Cats Friendly, Clicker Style
Behavior shaping
Submitted by Chandra on Tue, 2007-11-27 12:52.
CT is great for also helping a cat adjust to things that are normally stressful for it.
Per the recommendation of cat behaviorist Mieshells Nagelschneider, http://www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com/ I am using Clicker Training to help my cat become more accustomed to the dogs and surprises etc. My cat has a neurological disorder (not completley diagnosed yet) that causes her to have both behavioral and physical seizures. Stress can trigger the seizures. She was just put on medication last week, but the CT is also helping her to become accustomed to things that used to startle her so she's not as stressed. We have been having wonderful results in getting her to accept the other animals in the house that she used to have a very antagonized relationship with. I'm very new to CT though I've been interested in it for some time but it has helped my cat so much that I think it's a wonderful resource for everyone who wants to improve their relationship with any creature.
dylan the cat
Submitted by chrissitron on Mon, 2007-03-05 09:11.
i have just trained my cat to lie down, roll over and then sit up and wave on the command bang using clicker training. it only took two weeks and he got the idea very quickly
clicker training cats
Submitted by Erin Dakins on Mon, 2006-11-27 13:37.
Hello. I am an R.V.T. and am thinking that clicker training may somehow be incorporated into training cats for insulin injections or home fluid therapy. Any comments or has anyone tried this? Could be very interesting indeed!
Tnanks for the brainstorm!
Erin
Practical use of clicker with cat - worked with my goat
Submitted by Rosie Schriever on Wed, 2006-12-20 19:32.
Recently I had some goats and I sent this post to a clicker training forum. It was a wildcard of a try, but it worked - you cuold use the cllicker with the cats in the same way to get them to let you stick the needle in them - first just looking at it, then closer and closer, then almost touching - you could try first with a needle full of saline solution and practice with that, until they're cool enough about it to let you stick the real stuff in. The clicker trainer becomes trusted because the trust-communication if never broken during the seesions of training. I found with my goats and withthe dog that if you make one impatient move, you can mess it up. But if you are consistently patient, and go in small increments, the animals really learsn to trust you very fast.
Heres the goat story. "When we brought this goat mother in (we call her Mrs. Goat) and we had to milk her out that very evening, but she was stressed and weirded out by the trip. We hooked up her collar via a very short lead to the fence post near her, and got out our bucket of hot soapy water and milking pan. Lo and behold she swung her rear end around towards me so that her head was now on the other side and her butt was round the other side. I tried to wash her udder again, swung round and landed the other way round again. This was not getting anywhere, but as some of you will know, you have to milk a milking animal, or its udder becomes distended - whether they're stressed or not. So I pulled out my clicker and some barley grains. Reached towards her udder and click, pulled my hand away and some barley. Reached a bit closer, click and a bit of barley. Closer and closer until I could touch it, more clicks, more barley. Slowly I went from not being able to touch it to being able to knead it around! Eventually she figured I wasn't going to maul it with my predatory fangs, and she let me milk her out. I don't know what would have happened without the clicker, but I have a feeling it would have been something like my partner holding her back legs tight while she kicked and bayed, and me trying to milk her out, which I'm not very good at yet. And it's hard to milk a stressed animal, because they tend to hold the milk up, and not let it down. SO: practical application for the clicker, with goat keepers! It would work good too if she was at a show, and was stressed. Or if someone else had to milk her, and they weren't famliiar with the goat."
looking forward to starting
I ordered my cat training kit yesterday and am looking forward to experiencing this with my seven cats. Two are very timid and I'm most hoping this will draw them out.