However, if you have a grabby cat, that means they are highly motivated to work, which is a good thing! You just have to work on getting them to control themselves.

The training agreement you create with your cat goes like this: “Do behavior X, and THEN you get your treat.”

A cat that’s less food-motivated might walk away. “Sorry, the terms of this agreement are not up to my standards.” Ask someone to do a job when they think they deserve more money, and chances are they will quit. (If this is your cat, read this article about how to increase your cat’s food motivation.)

On the flip-side, a food-motivated cat will quickly do what you’ve asked. “Fine, I did that, now GIMME my treat!” They are highly satisfied with their paycheck and eager to show up for work.

So how does a new cat trainer keep their fingers free from scratches and bites?

5 Tips for Working with a Grabby Cat

1. Experiment with lower valued food.

Have you ever had trouble concentrating when your favorite food is on the table? Sometimes good food can be very distracting. When people first start training, they may think they need to use the best treats. Ideally, we want to use the lowest valued foods to teach the basics, and reserve the best treats for the challenging training tasks, like nail trims. Experiment with different foods for different jobs, and find something that brings out your cat’s best behavior.

2. Use props.

Using props is an excellent strategy to take the focus away from your hands. Working with a target stick can help teach your cat how clicker training works while preserving your fingers. Click for touching the target stick and place the treat on the floor or toss it away from you. My fist bump tutorial is an excellent beginner exercise because your cat learns to target a container and not your hand.

3. Teach that treats don’t come from the hand that cues them.

Teach the cat that the treat doesn’t come from the hand that presents the cues. Let’s consider what happens when you teach your cat to target your finger. Initially, you may have a treat in your hand to lure (guide) them. Click, before the cat makes contact with your finger and surprise them with a treat that comes from your OTHER hand. “What – there are treats in both hands now?!”

This exercise will teach your cat that treats come from where they least expect it and encourages them to work even when they don’t see a treat.

4. Do distance work.

The Go To A Bed or Mat tutorial turns the focus away from your fingers to an object. The Teach Your Cat to Perch tutorial uses the same principle. The cat learns that contact with the object (not you) is what will earn them a reward.

5. Click for the absence of grabbing.

A clicker is a precise tool that allows you to reinforce your cat for the absence of bad behavior. In this video, I am doing a simple impulse control exercise. I place a treat on my hand and present my hand up high out of Jones’ reach. As I lower my hand, I click Jones for stillness.

Using the clicker, I communicate to Jones that even when there is a treat on my hand, the Sit behavior is what will earn him the reward. I hope you can see what a powerful device the clicker is in helping your cat learn that patience not pushiness is how they win treats.

As you work through these exercises, avoid getting frustrated with your cat. Remember it’s your job to teach them the rules of this clicker training game. Every cat can learn to be a polite and gentle training partner.

The post How to Stop a Cat Biting and Scratching Your Hand for Treats appeared first on Cat School.

“Hey, I like your account, BUT I’m more interested in training my cat NOT to do certain things. I don’t care about teaching my cat tricks.”

Not everyone is as enthusiastic about teaching cats fun behaviors as I am, and that’s okay. If your only goal is to stop your cat’s unwanted behaviors like biting, scratching the furniture, and waking you up in the middle of the night, this post is for you.

Here is my three-step approach to stopping your cat from doing things you don’t want them to do. There is also a chart where I zoom in on how to solve some of the most common problem behaviors cats exhibit.

Steps to Stopping Unwanted Cat Behavior

Step 1: Identify The WTF!

In cat training, WTF stands for “What’s The Function” — not what you were thinking!

What’s the function of the behavior means we need to understand why the cat is doing what they are doing. A cat that jumps on the counter to steal food will need a different training plan than a cat that jumps on the counter for attention.

The other day someone reached out to ask me how to solve their cat’s incessant meowing around feeding time. To help them, I needed to understand if the cat was pushy/mouthy or not fed sufficiently. The latter was the case, and I suggested changing their feeding schedule.

First, identify why your cat is doing the behavior, and then we can work on how to get them to stop.

Step 2: Manage The Situation

Once you establish why your cat is being naughty, it’s time to stop them from getting reinforced for it.

So that means if your cat is jumping on the counter to get food, we need to make sure there is never any food left up there. Let’s say your cat jumps on the counter while you are making dinner. You could prevent this by occupying your cat with a food puzzle while you cook.

A management plan is critical to your success because when your cat practices inappropriate behavior, you will be setting your training back.

Consider playing a slot machine as an analogy to your cat’s behavior. When you play slots, you don’t win every time, but you are motivated to keep playing because of the possibility of winning.

If your cat jumps on the counter and finds food only one out of ten times, that unwanted behavior is going to become even stronger because your cat has learned they need to try at least ten times (or more) to win.

The management step is probably the hardest step to implement because it requires being prepared, monitoring your cat, and getting everyone in the family on board.

Step 3: Clicker Train An Alternative Behavior

Once you are managing the behavior, it’s time to train an alternative behavior.

For problem behaviors like door-dashing and counter-surfing, switch the focus away from what you want your cat to STOP doing and focus on what you WANT them to do instead.

If your cat is jumping on the counter because they want food, one solution is to TRAIN your cat to go to an appropriate spot where they can get food.

Imagine there are two spots available for you to park, parking spot A and parking spot B. Every time you park in parking spot A, someone immediately delivers you a candy bar. When you park in parking spot B nothing happens. Where are you going to park?

We want to create a parking spot for your cat that is better than the counter – a place where they find treats and gets rewards whenever they park their little furry butt there. Once your cat knows the best place to park, you won’t need to worry about them parking in the wrong spot.

Teach your cat what to do INSTEAD of what not to do

What Do I Do When I Catch My Cat Misbehaving?

Now, I know what you are thinking. What should you do if your cat does the thing you don’t want them to do? Depending on what it is, you can ignore them or redirect them.

If your cat is scratching the furniture, you should redirect them to a more appropriate object. If your cat jumps on the counter, and there’s no food, you may want to ignore that until they realize it’s boring and jump off. If you shoo them off, you might inadvertently be reinforcing their behavior because they got something they wanted — your attention.

A word of caution: anything you ask your cat to do AFTER they practice the bad behavior can turn into a chain. For example, let’s say that after your cat jumps on the counter, they jump off. And you want to reward them for jumping off, so you give them a treat. Guess what? You may have taught them a chain: Jump on -> Jump off -> Get a treat. Repeat. You could be accidentally reinforcing the jumping on the counter. Yikes!

Prevention is essential when trying to get rid of problem behaviors! Always reflect on what you could have done to prevent the incident.

Why You Shouldn’t Discipline Your Cat

There are several reasons why you should never discipline your cat with spray bottles, scruffing, or even a firm “NO!”

It is likely that your cat will not equate the action with the behavior and won’t understand why you are doing something hurtful to them. Your cat may associate you with these painful and scary actions and become anxious and fearful around you, deteriorating your relationship.

Telling your cat to stop doing something like scratching doesn’t teach them where they can scratch. Imagine someone telling you, “Don’t do this, don’t do that,” and so on. It can be an incredibly frustrating experience when you don’t understand why someone reprimands you. The same is true for cats.

Another reason not to punish your cat is that it may make them more aggressive. In response to being hurt when you scruff them, your cat may instinctively turn around and bite you.

When you have a battle with your cat, you both lose. Punishment-based methods are a one-way street to hurting your cat. When your only tool is punishment, the only option you have is to punish more intensely.

To improve your cat’s behavior and maintain your connection, focus your attention on reward-based methods and teach your cat acceptable behaviors. If you can’t figure out how to do it on your own, consult with a feline behaviorist. Steer clear from any advice that tells you to use forceful methods.

What’s Next?

Start learning how to train your cat. In my online cat training course, I show you two ways to teach your cat to go to a parking spot, which is a critical behavior to resolving counter-surfing, door-dashing, and improving interactions with multiple cats. Once students have the foundation behaviors in place, I’m always happy to help them get to the finish line with their problem behaviors.

But Really, It Is All About The Tricks

Although we all want quick tips to solve unwanted cat behavior and other issues we have, sometimes the solution involves spending a little time enriching your cat’s life with learning. Many cats exhibit problem behaviors because they are bored. Whether it’s a trick or a practical behavior, it’s all the same to your cat: an opportunity to channel their energy in a fun and rewarding activity.

The post How To Stop Unwanted Cat Behavior With Clicker Training appeared first on Cat School.