Training Your Cat to Sit

While there are many reasons to love your cat, obedience is probably not one of them. We all love watching our cats bounce around and play, but have you ever wished that you could get them to sit still? It's easier than you might think; cats can be trained, just like dogs can, but it can take a bit longer and be a little more work. It can certainly be done, however, and you may be surprised by the results.

There are many benefits to training your cat to sit. First, it's just nice to be able to get a little stillness from a cat that's making you tired just from watching him run around. Second, if someone like a vet needs to take a look at him, the vet will appreciate a cat that knows how to sit still. Third, when your cat starts sitting, there's a good chance he'll stay sitting, and there's nothing relaxing as nice as your cat purring in your lap, after all.

As with most cat training, this starts with a bribe. Make sure your cat is aware that you have one of his favorite treats in your hand. When he shows interest, slowly raise the treat over his head and slightly behind it, not high enough that he has to reach up. This should make your cat crane his head up and back.

The moment your cat is in a sitting posture, reward him with the treat and give him lots of praise. This is the first step to getting your cat to make the link between the command and the treat.

The key to this exercise is isolation of the command and repetition. Don't reward the cat whenever he shows up, sits down and looks up at you expectantly; you're training him, not the other way around! Don't try to force your cat into this activity if he's not interested in the treat. This will probably just annoy him and make him hide, and it is important to keep the good association in his head.

Try to get family members and friends into the act. This can especially help in making shyer cats used to other people and encourage them to socialize rather than hide.

After a few sessions, your cat will learn to sit when your hand alone is in the right position above his head. While you don't need to use to the treat to get his attention anymore, do continue to reward him. As you may have noticed, cats tend not to do things for free. Soon enough though, you should be able to eliminate the treat entirely, though it is still very much worth it to reward your cat for good behavior from time to time.

Remember not to use the word "sit" too early, because if the cat has not yet learned to associate the motion with the verbal command, you may confuse him. After all, you don't want your cat to start believing that "sit" means "look at my owner in confusion before walking away.

Cats: Don't Strike Or Harm Them

Cat or dogs? Which one would you choose? Both of them are our cherished pets. But by nature cats are quite different from dogs. Their behavior might at times be strange, mysterious, exasperating and maybe even alarming. Even after that if you want to understand them and be their friends you have to be quiet patient. But if one comes to understand why a cat behaves the way he does, you will find it easier to understand the wonder of their companionship.

But always remember and never forget even for a moment that you should not ever hit an animal for wrongdoing. This is not the way to teach our pets and will alienate their behaviour and their love for you. If you do strike your cat, the whole relationship can break down and that may be for a lifetime.

But before we start training our cats to do something or to stop doing something, we need to look at how cats learn. Since they are ignorant to our mode of conversation they tend to learn by experience and more than above all, our affection. To them it happens that if the experience is good, they will try to repeat it. But if the experience appears to be unpleasant for them, they will try to avoid it in the future. Try to understand and follow this. They enjoy scratching the furniture with their claws and, since they are fond of doing this, they continue to do it. But if they, for example, get burned by a candle flame then they get a shock and they won't do it again. The same response is true if anyone beats them or harms them - they may not be able to repair or trust that friendship.