Training cats to
shake hands in simple steps
Moment!! Training cats to shake hands? Only dogs do this, right?
That's totally wrong! We have successfully taught many cats to shake hands
and now we will show you the way, here's how to train your
cat to shake hands in simple steps.
Start with :
the equivalent of teaching cats to shake hands :
The first step in training cats to shake hands is to bring some cat rewards
and stimuli you can choose anything your cat likes
(for example cutting tuna or candy). Start by saying the word "handshake"
or "hay" or any word you want to associate the handshake behavior with
and touch your cat's foot and give it the equivalent.
You don't have to reward the cat every time you say the word, but do it
so much that the cat starts to associate the word "hai"
or the word you chose with touching the foot and the equivalent.
Next :
sit in front of your cat at the level of her eyes and say in a clear and friendly voice
"Hay,"
then touch the cat's palm with your hand and hold her foot briefly.
Immediately after doing this
give your cat some rewards and some encouraging words and fondness.
Repeat this with your cat or cat for about half an hour, then take a break.
Encourage good behaviour
The next day, repeat the same exercise, but place a piece of candy
tuna or any equivalent between your fingers, then place your hand
(with the reward in it) in front of the cat's face, and say "hai."
When you do this often
you will notice that the cat wants to move her feet when hearing the word
"hai," but she will seem reluctant and unsure of lifting her foot
(as she observed during the training of 3 cats on handshakes).
I could see it on their mind
but they hadn't raised their foot yet. She continued to stimulate with words
and actions and cut candy with a lot of petting
for another hour on that second day.
On the third day the result of
the training began to appear. I grabbed the equivalent in my hand
and came down to the ground to get closer to the level of the cats'
eyes and then I said the word "hai" with them hearing the word they started to
lift their feet to get to my hand alone! I rewarded them immediately
by rewarding them and encouraging them
with the words "good girl" or "good boy" and a lot of foreplay.
Repeat this procedure several times as necessary.
For me :
- a week after training my cats to shake hands
- I came to say the word hai and they start shaking
- their feet without letting them see the equivalent
and now for months it's normal behaviour and practice with my cats
and still "pepper", "katie" and "samba" the three cats I have that
shake my hand whenever I ask them to.
Training cats to :
shake hands in another way :
Reader's Digest provides a summary of how cats are trained to shake hands
which is very similar to what I did with my cats. The main difference is that
this site suggests offering a mix of canned cat food on a baby spoon.
After you say the word "hai," click on the tap on the foot you want your
cat to shake. After the cat moves its foot, say "OK" or zero and give it food.
Many professional :
cat trainers use a tap device to train cats :
a device that makes a tap sound like a bell when pressed to train cats to
shake hands. The trainer clicks on the tap device and offers the equivalent.
Then :
when the cat connects the voice of the tap tool to the bonus
the next step is to tie the tap tool to some behavior, such as raising the foot
shaking hands or sitting.
These methods are very similar to the methods of training dogs to shake hands
one of these is to put your hand near your dog and notice
when he moves his foot the way you want. Then you reward
him and give him a verbal signal.
The second method involves lightly touching behind the dew claw
(the extra nail in the dog's foot) and then rewarding it when it lifts its foot.
You can try similar ways with your cats too.
Always remember that good training needs some time, patience and stimulus to
reach a good result while avoiding punishment style especially
with cats because it is the opposite of dogs that do not respond to
punishment methods. Cats may associate punishment
with the behaviour you are teaching them which results in
them not receiving such behaviour and failure of training.