Why You're Probably Training Your Cat All Wrong

Why You’re Probably Training Your Cat All Wrong

Yes, they’re independent and willful, but felines(ˈfēˌlīn) can be taught certain(ˈsərtn) behaviors—to the benefit of both cat and human.

By Linda Lombardi(lämˈbärdē, ˌləm-)

Training has always been part of the deal when you own a dog, though methods have changed a lot over the generations. Cats are a different story—but they shouldn’t be.

“People don’t traditionally train cats because they think of cats as … independent and full of free will,” says Sarah(ˈse(ə)rə) Ellis, co-author of The Trainable Cat.

“What they don’t realize, though, is that they are subconsciously(səbˈkänSHəslē) training their cats on a daily basis(ˈbāsis).”

The bad news is that you’re often training your cat to do the opposite(ˈäpəzit) of what you want. How many times have you yelled “No!” and run over to scoop(sko͞op) your cat off the kitchen(ˈkiCHən) counter? And yet, it never seems to learn. There’s a reason for that.

You think you’re scolding(ˈskōldiNG), but you’re “inadvertently(ˌinədˈvərtntli) giving the cat attention, which, in the cat’s mind, is better than nothing, and so it’s rewarding,” says Mikel(mikīl) Delgado(delgädō), a postdoctoral(pōstˈdäktərəl) fellow at the School of Veterinary(ˈvet(ə)rəˌnerē) Medicine(ˈmedəsən) at University of California(ˌkaləˈfôrnyə), Davis(ˈdāvis).

It’s a basic(basic) principle of training: If a behavior results in something the animal likes, it’ll do it again.

So, stop letting that principle work against you and get it to work for you instead. “Reward(riˈwôrd) what you like and ignore what you don’t like,” says Delgado.

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https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/animals-cats-training-pets/