Cat Training - The First Trick

The Well-Trained Cat?

‘Your cat does tricks?  No way!’

I’ve probably heard that hundreds of times now, nearly every time I mention that one of ShiShi and Haku’s favorite things to do is to play Tricks-Fur-Treats.  It seems that people are used to dogs doing tricks, but somehow there’s an extra bit of charm when it’s a Cat who’s shaking paws or handing out whisker kisses.

It’s so rare to see cat tricks in action - maybe that's why it always seems so fun?  Even on YouTube, it takes some work to find cats doing much in the way of tricks.  Of course, training kitties does take lots of patience when getting started (and a great sense of humor too!) but it’s totally possible.  ShiShi and Haku know many more tricks than my dogs were ever able to learn, and they’ve learned them with far less effort on my part. 

The other part of that charm (at least for me) is that when one of my cats does a trick, I always know for sure that she or he really wanted to do it.  No way, no how is any self-respecting cat going to be pestered, or even treated, into doing something that they didn’t choose.  My cats certainly wouldn’t!  In fact, they’d be more likely to look at their hopeful trainer (me) with complete disdain, then saunter away with tail waving a taunting flag in the air.

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Cat Tricks Are Awesome!

Back in the day (about 2 ½ years ago), I started training Haku and ShiShi tricks because I thought that it would be cute and fun.  But I’ve kept on training more and more tricks, almost 20 of them now, because it makes them so happy. For real.  It’s the kind of happy that helps them to get over a week-long snit after I’ve been gone for an overnight, irons out tense kitties who are getting on each other’s last nerve, and has been an infinite blessing when ShiShi needs stimulated to eat if she’s having one of those weeks where she’s snubbing all of her food again. 

But, how does one even get started with this Cat Trick training stuff, you ask?  I recommend starting with what I consider the easiest trick in the cat repertoire – Boop! (touching their nose to your finger) – and then eventually adding that together with other tricks to turn it into something really fun like ‘Kiss the mouse’ or my personal favorite ‘Kiss mum’s cheek’. 

The real trick with any cat training (other than patience!) is breaking a desired ‘trick’ into small, acceptable parts.  This way the cat can understand exactly what is wanted, and then get their reward every time.  If the cat can’t earn the reward by doing the trick the right way, it’s time to back up instantly and give them something that they can do to get that treat!  Then figure out a way to break your trick down into even smaller pieces that can be learned in baby steps, one at a time.

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How to Train a Cat - to 'BOOP'

1.   Find some soft treats your cat loves, that are easy to break into teeny tiny pieces.  ShiShi and Haku are more than willing to do tricks for fingernail-sized slivers of freeze dried chicken, rabbit or liver.  Have a bunch of these tiny bits prepped and ready to go – maybe twenty?

2.  Decide which hand will be your Training Hand and which will be your treat-giving hand.  (I use right for treats, left for directions, unless I am using the treat to direct movement.)

*Note – at this point I am assuming that your cat is sitting in front of you, and can’t wait to get at those treats you’ve been messing with!
 
3.  Rub the pointer finger of your Training Hand on the treats, then hold it up for your cat to sniff at.  As soon as they get close to the finger say ‘Boop!’ and give them a treat - and be sure to tell them how absolutely perfect they are for doing such a great job.  Then do it again.  And again.  Pretty soon your cat is going to be liking the idea of those treats (and praise), and actively going for the finger as soon as they see it pointing up in the air to signal their trick. 

4.  After a few successes, close any distance still left between finger and kitty nose - quickly touch their nose while saying ‘Boop’, so they can see that touching nose to finger is what you are really looking for here.

5.  As soon as your cat looks bored, time to quit!  I usually give a few extra treats for free and sneak in a little head scratch if I can.

Fun Variations of 'Boop'!

1.  Encourage your cat to sit first (and give a treat for that too!), so that they need to really stretch their neck forward to Boop your finger.

2.  From there, keep them sitting still, while moving yourself back enough that they will have to take a step or two in order to touch nose to finger.  Eventually, by working up the number of steps in slow increments, they can be trained to come running from another room just to Boop your finger. 😊

3.  Train ‘Kiss’ as opposed to ‘Boop’ – I’ve trained ShiShi and Haku that ‘Kiss’ is is when I show them the fingernail side (or top side) of my finger, and ‘Boop’ is my fingerpad (or bottom side).  That way I can say ‘Kiss’ and lay my finger on something that I want them to touch nose to (like a stuffed mouse, or my cheek!)

Good luck, and feel free to message me with questions!

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