Can You Really TRAIN A Cat?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer? Cats are far more trainable than we’ve ever given them credit for.

Your cat may have already learned some “tricks” without you realizing it. Do they look at you when their name is called? Come running when they hear their food bag or can being opened? Do they know EXACTLY which fragile object in your house to knock over to best get your attention? Your cat has been conditioned to do these things. They’re examples of indirect ways your cat has been trained.

You might be thinking, “But cats specifically do what they want, not what you want. They’re not obedient like dogs.” Although we commonly think of dog training as an exercise in ‘obedience’, this isn’t quite right. (And the previously popular “dominance theory” has been discredited - the key to your relationship with your pet is NOT becoming the “alpha”.) Cat training and dog training, at its core, is conditioning them to react certain ways to certain commands, sights, smells, sounds, etc. This is essentially true for ANY animal, including humans. It’s rooted in psychological science!

Think back to high school psychology class, with Pavlov’s dogs. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, physiologist Ivan Pavlov realized that dogs in one of his experiments would drool in anticipation of food every time they heard a bell ring, an unintentional but interesting effect of his experiment. This realization laid the foundation for “classical conditioning,” which is just one way that animals learn new behaviors.

In a nutshell, training is not about dominating an animal and making them do as you say. Dogs may have been selectively bred to be eager to please over many thousands of years, but cats tend to respond really well to basic training, and in fact look to you for validation for their behavior every day! Every time you pet them when they pat your arm, every time you feed them when they meow, even every time you scold them when they scratch the couch, you are reinforcing their behavior with a reaction. For better or worse, you’re training your cat to do specific behaviors. You may as well train them to do behaviors you WANT them to do, like sitting on command, fetching toys, or ringing a bell to go outside.

So, how do you do that? There are many, many resources for basic cat training, especially clicker training, online - but you can also email me to ask about booking a training consult, and I’ll personally give you the tools and advice you need to get your cat on track for tricks.