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Author: hafizsteen Article source: http://www.articlealley.com/. Used with author's permission.
Training is shaping the activity of an animal so that it behaves in the way that is required by the trainer. It can take many forms and be carried out for many different purposes. Sometimes it means teaching ?tricks', such as the simple body postures assumed at the command ?sit', ?stay' or ?beg', or the more complex performances of a circus animal. At other times, such as in litter training, it means teaching an animal an association, whereby the animal learns to perform part of its normal repertoire in a certain place or at a certain time.
Training a cat to walk on a lead is another example. Once accomplished, it allows people who live in urban environments to take their cat out and let it explore without risk of running under a car or being attacked by a local ?wildlife'. Lead training does not only gently familiarise the cat with the sensation of wearing a harness and become used to being attached to its owner with a lead, it also means introducing the cat to the type of environment where it might later be taken for a stroll. Of course, starting when the cat is a your kitten makes the process a lot easier and the cat will come to see it as a normal to go out and walk with its owner.
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Some cats, especially if they are fearful, may never take to the harness or to the sensation of being on a lead, whereas confident relaxed cats are less likely to panic and get themselves into tangles and situations which only instill fear of the harness or the lead. Try to make the whole process calm and enjoyable. Stage one involves accustoming the cat to the harness (a very soft adjustable one is best and much safer than a collar). Stop and take the harness off if the cat gets agitated and put it on again for short periods, perhaps when you feed him so that the harness has good associations. Let the cat wear it around the house and get well used to it before attaching the lead. Never drag the cat around on the lead but allow him to become familiar with the sensation of being attached to you (a lead about 2 meters long is best for training; any longer and things can get well out of control). Reward him for taking a few steps with you - you can use food as a bribe to follow. Slowly get him used to walking with you around the house; then, when the partnership is proficient, proceed to the garden.
A cat which has become relaxed about wearing a harness in a quiet room may panic at being taken outside and having to face many new experiences, such as cars, children on skateboards or bicycles, unpredictable dogs or simply loud noises for the first time. Its training should include getting it gently and slowly accustomed to as many as possible of the things it might encounter while out walking. A cat's natural instinct is to flee from danger so you must provide security and safety if you are going to intervene in its ability to escape if it feels the need.
We can all teach a dog to sit or lie down - although, the way many are taught, this is more a credit to the dog than the teacher. But what about cats? Can they be made to do as they are told? Cats are not renowned for their obedience in response to commands and for this reason are popularly supposed to be stupid or defiant. However, they are in fact, very fast learners under circumstances where their natural response tendencies are exploited. Because with dogs we can get away with breaking all the rules of training and they still stay with us and, to an extent, obey our commands, we probably try to employ the same tactics with cats...and fail dismally. But cats most assuredly are not dogs and they view life differently.
The first, basic principles of training are the same with all animals, but successful training first involves understanding the animal's natural behavior, for example, how it is likely to react if frightened or what it seems to ?enjoy' and what motivates it to do certain things.
The second principle is that of reward and kindness - punishment and fear actually slows the learning process. You know yourself that if you're nervous you can't think straight, let alone carry out a new task under pressure. The trainers of dolphins, for example, must always be encouraging and ensure that their animals want to join in the ?game' of training. If they want the dolphins to leap in the air and over a rope, they don't just put a rope up ten feet above the water and expect the dolphin to know what to do. They begin by laying the rope on the water and rewarding the dolphins for simply swimming over it. They then raise it slightly and repeat the procedure. This is where one of the most important features of training arises: if the dolphins go under the rope, i.e. they have not understood what is required of them, the rope is immediately lowered and the process is begun again. There is never any punishment - in fact, the animal is never allowed to get wrong. If the procedure doesn't work, it is because the trainer has gone too far, too fast. So, reward is the only outcome for the dolphin - training is a positive activity.
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The same principles can be applied when a cat learns to use a cat-flap. First you leave the flap wide open and coax the cat through with vocal encouragement and tidbits so it can get used to the concept of being able to gain entry at that point. Then you gradually lower the flap using a prop to keep it up so that the cat has only to push a little and squeeze through the opening. Closing the flap a little more allows the cat to get used to pushing it and eventually he learns to push it open from the shut position. Some modern day cat flaps fit very snuggly when shut and need quite a shove to break the draught-proof rubber seal. In this case, the cat will need a bit more encouragement.
If a resident cat already has the ability to use the flap, newcomers often learn much more quickly by watching him in action than from all your coaxing and bribing endeavours. Remembering what has been said about learning by associating actions with results, we realize that a cat loath to use the flap may not being slow to learn. He may have got the knack in a very short time, poked his head out and immediately been attacked by a local rival or neighbourhood dog, a result which taught him very quickly ever to put himself in that vulnerable position again and made him decide to train you to open the door for him instead! This way he ensures that you are his protection and any rival or other threat in the garden will run away and he can safely go out. So don't blame the cat for his apparent stupidity - his survival may depend on his balanced calculations of risk, not to mention his ability to use you as protector if he feels the need.
There is a method of training called clicker training which has become well known in dog-training and which also works for cats. The idea is to indicate to the dog or cat the exact action that has earned the reward. This is done with a clicker - a small plastic box which contains a flexible steel plate which makes a double-click sound when pressed. It is very distinctive sound and the sound can be made very quickly so that the cat's behavior you are pinpointing can be marked very accurately. It is much better than a voice and, once the cat has made the association between the click and the reward, even the reward itself becomes less important as the animal understands the click marks the correct behavior and the reward will follow. As discussed above, the reward itself may suit the cat and be wanted by the cat - something expensive like chicken or prawn usually suffices!
Having established the marker signal and the reward, you can start to train. Think through what you want to do very clearly and break down the task into small stages. Choose your reward food and break it down into tiny pieces so you can use several bits in one training session. Use the clicker and reward when the cat does the right thing. Never use punishment when training. Even a mild reprimand can be off-putting - reward good behavior and ignore the behavior you do not want.
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