It was a good idea at the time!

How is it, that cats can make you feel about 2 inches tall? His Royal
Feline Lordship Tiger is exceptionally good at it!

I was given a new cat book last week (to add to my collection of over
200...) about "clicker training" a cat. Presumably, this is how all
the animal trainers do it, I thought....

Well. It stared "very" well. HRFL has a real love of the Nutro cat
treats (the expensive ones that I now have to get flown over from the
USA because he doesn't like the UK ones....) and he worked out that
the little "clicker" sound meant treats. In the exact same way he
worked out that opening the cupboard door meant treats, and the sound
of the can-opener meant tuna, and the sound of mom getting out of bed
meant breakfast, and the fact that if he so much as meows mom comes
running..... (I'm not ordered about, oh no!)

Anyway, after we had established the relationship between clicker and
treats, we then moved on to me trying to teach him to do "things".
Now, this is a cat who when he went to the cattery, let himself out of
his pen 14 times in one hour, thwarting all attempts and different
ideas to keep him shut in - and it wasn't until his door was
eventually padlocked with a chain that he stopped doing it.

He opens cupboards, he turns door handles and opens doors. He pulls
laces out of shoes. He's worked out how to open the fridge. I've
caught him answering the phone. He's not thick! So teaching him to beg
should be easy, thought I. snort

I sat on the sofa. He sat on the floor looking at me waiting for the
next treat. I held it up. The idea was that he sat up to take it out
of my hand, lifting his paws off the ground. Robbie mastered this
trick over Xmas in about 30 seconds flat. Was Tiger going to demean
himself by begging? Was he buggery. He sat there, and I clicked. And
clicked. And clicked. The little git then got up, turned his back to
me, distainfully flicked his tail in the air, and stalked off - after
telling me to "go f**k myself".

Gotta love my cat. He makes sure I know my place!

Helen M

LOL - great story!
Christine
"HRFLTiger" wrote in message
om...
How is it, that cats can make you feel about 2 inches tall? His Royal
Feline Lordship Tiger is exceptionally good at it!

I was given a new cat book last week (to add to my collection of over
200...) about "clicker training" a cat. Presumably, this is how all
the animal trainers do it, I thought....

Well. It stared "very" well. HRFL has a real love of the Nutro cat
treats (the expensive ones that I now have to get flown over from the
USA because he doesn't like the UK ones....) and he worked out that
the little "clicker" sound meant treats. In the exact same way he
worked out that opening the cupboard door meant treats, and the sound
of the can-opener meant tuna, and the sound of mom getting out of bed
meant breakfast, and the fact that if he so much as meows mom comes
running..... (I'm not ordered about, oh no!)

Anyway, after we had established the relationship between clicker and
treats, we then moved on to me trying to teach him to do "things".
Now, this is a cat who when he went to the cattery, let himself out of
his pen 14 times in one hour, thwarting all attempts and different
ideas to keep him shut in - and it wasn't until his door was
eventually padlocked with a chain that he stopped doing it.

He opens cupboards, he turns door handles and opens doors. He pulls
laces out of shoes. He's worked out how to open the fridge. I've
caught him answering the phone. He's not thick! So teaching him to beg
should be easy, thought I. snort

I sat on the sofa. He sat on the floor looking at me waiting for the
next treat. I held it up. The idea was that he sat up to take it out
of my hand, lifting his paws off the ground. Robbie mastered this
trick over Xmas in about 30 seconds flat. Was Tiger going to demean
himself by begging? Was he buggery. He sat there, and I clicked. And
clicked. And clicked. The little git then got up, turned his back to
me, distainfully flicked his tail in the air, and stalked off - after
telling me to "go f**k myself".

Gotta love my cat. He makes sure I know my place!

Helen M

Gotta love my cat. He makes sure I know my place!

Helen M

I see he's clicker-trained you exceedingly well ;-)

Cheers, helen s


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HRFLTiger wrote:
Gotta love my cat. He makes sure I know my place!

He is a real character, that's for sure!

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"HRFLTiger" wrote in message
om...
...
I was given a new cat book last week (to add to my collection of over
200...) about "clicker training" a cat. Presumably, this is how all
the animal trainers do it, I thought....
..... He sat there, and I clicked. And
clicked. And clicked. The little git then got up, turned his back to
me, distainfully flicked his tail in the air, and stalked off - after
telling me to "go f**k myself".
Gotta love my cat. He makes sure I know my place!
Helen M
Helen,
I do not have personal experience with clicker training, but I've been
lurking on a cat clicker training Yahoo group, which is very interesting.
I'd like to try it, but the main problem I've come across is that I haven't
found a handy treat that either Cinder or Rosie will take.
One thing I got from reading the messages is that you click and treat at the
exact same time and only for behaviors that you want at the exact moment the
cat does it. You "shape" larger behaviors a little bit at a time. The cat
will begin to offer behaviors to see which ones will get the click/treat.
Some of these people actually have their cats running agility courses.
You might take another look at the book's chapters on theory and technique.
I think Tiger, as smart and creative as he is, would be great.
Good luck,
Annie

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 05:25:54 -0800, HRFLTiger wrote:

Gotta love my cat. He makes sure I know my place!

In Soviet Russia, you train your cat! =^_^=

No, wait, that's not quite right....

--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

"Annie Wxill" wrote in message

One thing I got from reading the messages is that you click and treat at the
exact same time and only for behaviors that you want at the exact moment the
cat does it.

We got to that part - I clicked as I gave HRFL a treat. Or rather he
took the treat as I clicked....

stuff snipped

You might take another look at the book's chapters on theory and technique.
I think Tiger, as smart and creative as he is, would be great.

I think Tiger has already trained me! ;0)

Helen M

Good luck,
Annie




--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Annie Wxill wrote:

One thing I got from reading the messages is that you click and treat
at the exact same time and only for behaviors that you want at the
exact moment the cat does it. You "shape" larger behaviors a little
bit at a time. The cat will begin to offer behaviors to see which ones
will get the click/treat.

One thing I don't understand is, why do you even need the clicker? Why not
just offer the treat for the behavior?

Joyce

Dennis Carr wrote:

In Soviet Russia, you train your cat! =^_^=
No, wait, that's not quite right....

??? Sorry, I'm dense - please explain?

Joyce

Dennis Carr wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 05:25:54 -0800, HRFLTiger wrote:

Gotta love my cat. He makes sure I know my place!

In Soviet Russia, you train your cat! =^_^=

No, wait, that's not quite right....

LOL!!