Full transcript
0:15hey come on hurry up in there will you
0:18you know I got to be at work in an
0:20hour what on Earth could you be doing in
0:23there
0:43[Laughter]
0:49hi my name is Kelly Whitlock I'm a
0:51professional animal trainer but today
0:53I'm going to train you I'm going to
0:54train you how to throw your kitty litter
0:56scoop out forever okay we're going to
0:59toilet your cat now the video is
1:02actually in two parts I'm also going to
1:04show you at the end of the toilet
1:05training portion how to train your cat
1:07if you want to train them to roll over
1:09or sit up or wave I'll show you how to
1:11do that at the end of the video it's
1:12easy and you're going to have a
1:14wonderful connection with your cat and
1:15your cat will love the attention you'll
1:17also really really impress your friends
1:20so um what do you need to toilet train
1:23your cat well you need an indoor cat you
1:25need a cat that uh doesn't have access
1:27to the outside you also need a lot of
1:30patience any animal training requires a
1:32lot of patience also confidence believe
1:35that this will work hundreds and
1:37hundreds of cats have been toilet
1:38trained and um this cat all I have to do
1:41for him is lay down food and water and
1:43flush twice a day that's all I have to
1:45do the training should take about uh 3
1:48to four weeks and the first week's quite
1:50easy the last week's quite easy it's the
1:52middle weeks week or weeks that uh get a
1:55little messy so I want you to stick with
1:57it hold on to that desire to never clean
2:00out a kitty litter box again and let's
2:02get
2:07started hi and welcome to step one there
2:10are four steps and the only rule is not
2:12to jump a step you want to make sure
2:14you've completed one step and cat as
2:16comfortable at that level before moving
2:17on okay so let's start step one first
2:20thing you want to do is get your kitty
2:21litter box from wherever it is in the
2:23house and put it right beside the
2:26toilet now just to let your cat know
2:28you've moved the Box just pick them up
2:29and drop them in the kitty litter just
2:31move the kitty litter around a little
2:32bit so he knows that his kitty litter is
2:34now located here usually that's enough
2:36to move them and they'll start to use
2:38the kitty litter box in the bathroom
2:40keep that for two days on the end at the
2:42end of the second day what I want you to
2:44do is get an environmental kitty litter
2:46or flushable kitty litter and I want you
2:48to sprinkle that on top of the kitty
2:50litter you're using already if I can
2:51make a suggestion one kitty litter I
2:53really like is cat's Pride it's
2:56flushable kitty litter it's also
2:57clumping and really good odor protection
2:59cuz because some flushable kitty litters
3:01aren't that good for odor protection so
3:03get yourself some cat Pride cat's pride
3:05and sprinkle it on top the next day put
3:08even more on and on the fourth day what
3:10I want you to do is completely replace
3:12the kitty litter you're using
3:13now Pride now the reason we don't do
3:16this all at once is we're going to be
3:18doing lots of changes on the cat but
3:20we're going to be making them one at a
3:22time in very small amounts so hopefully
3:24the cat won't notice that much so lots
3:26of changes but short ones small ones
3:29over a long period of
3:30time so over this first four days you're
3:33also going to be laying the training
3:34Foundation down for the cat and
3:36basically what that is is we're going to
3:38make the cat think that this place here
3:40is a wonderful magical place that gives
3:42him lots of treats and he's going to
3:43love to be here so uh you have to find
3:46the treat the cat likes I'm using little
3:48pieces of steak today uh small pieces of
3:51chicken or tuna work as really well um
3:53also pounce treats are good because they
3:56can be cut up into small little bits you
3:58want to cut them up into the smallest
4:00piece that you can give your cat because
4:03that means that's the more rewards you
4:04can give your cat they don't really know
4:06that there're just small treats they
4:07just think they're getting lots and lots
4:09of treats now before you give your treat
4:12you're going to say a word and you're
4:13going to say the same word each time and
4:16in the exact same way you might have
4:18heard a clicker training and I'll talk
4:19about that later in the video but right
4:21now all you have to do is pick a word
4:23and I'll use the word g o o d and I'm
4:25going to say that nice and strong and
4:27that's the word I'm going to use just
4:29before I give give him a treat so it's
4:30going to look something like this Kitty
4:34good and I'm going to give him a
4:38treat
4:40good okay now we're going to add one
4:42more thing to that we want him to be on
4:44the toilet when he gets treated so I'm
4:46going to uh bait him over to the toilet
4:49and try to get him to jump up now some
4:51cats are completely comfortable up here
4:52they drink out of the toilet and they're
4:54fine but some aren't that uh comfortable
4:56up there or have never been up there so
4:58this is where a bit of the training
4:59comes in and remember to say the word
5:01good very nice and strongly the exact
5:03same way just before you give the treat
5:05I don't want to hear any good or good
5:08none of that it's good or pick whatever
5:10word you want to use so let's see if we
5:12can get kitty up onto the
5:14toilet this come
5:18on
5:21see no I knew he was going to go up
5:23there but if you had a good if you had a
5:26cat who'd never been up there i' maybe
5:27reward him for just putting a couple
5:28paws on there one paw and then two paw
5:31and then of course maybe give two or
5:32three rewards for jumping up completely
5:34so keep rewarding him good and then a
5:37treat and just leave him up there some
5:39cats uh don't even like to take treats
5:41so you might have to do something
5:42different you might have to just pet him
5:44when he's up there who's a good boy
5:46who's a good boy and lots of praise and
5:48attention very few cats don't like to be
5:50petted and stroked and and touched a lot
5:53there you go St
5:54there
5:56good and treats lots of treats oh nice
5:59and comfortable wonderful place to be
6:01okay now you can see I'm feeding Kitty
6:04from my hand uh he will take treats
6:06directly out of my fingers not all cats
6:08will do this so um you can train your
6:11cat to do this it's very easy just put
6:13something absolutely wonderful in your
6:14hand and just don't let it go until they
6:16take it out of your fingers if not you
6:18can also put something just on the flat
6:20of your hand and they'll eat it up from
6:24there if you absolutely have to you can
6:26put something on the toilet seat to have
6:29them take it out of your hand but it's
6:31better to train them uh sorry take it
6:33off the seat but it's better to train
6:34them to take it out of your
6:39hand
6:41good
6:43good here you go give me the another one
6:45stay up
6:46there okay these sessions um typically
6:50you want them short and many so short
6:53and often they shouldn't last any more
6:55than good 4 minutes so you don't want to
6:57get the cat boarded um but like to do at
7:00least four or five a day over these next
7:02four days so as many as possible to get
7:05the cat really really comfortable up
7:07here now one thing is going to start
7:08happening every time you walk into the
7:09bathroom the cat's going to follow you
7:11and jump up on the toilet seat that's
7:12good we want them to think this is a
7:14wonderful incredibly wonderful place to
7:16be so the more you treat him and the
7:18more you praise him for jumping up in
7:19the toilet the more success you're going
7:20to have later
7:22on cats can be trained if they're 6
7:25months old to about 12 13 years old the
7:28only problem is when they get older they
7:30might have trouble jumping up on the
7:31toilet seat but then you can just give
7:33them something like a bucket so that
7:35they can step up onto it before they get
7:37on the toilet seat that'll help them
7:38balance a little better the reason you
7:39don't want start to start until 6 months
7:42is because until they're six seven
7:44months old they don't really have the
7:45balance to be up on the toilet seat they
7:47might fall in so you kind of have to
7:49wait till 6 months but even if you have
7:50an older cat it doesn't matter you might
7:52have to leave this bucket by the toilet
7:53seat big deal you got a toilet train cat
8:03now before you start step two I want to
8:05make sure that step one has been
8:07completed you want to make sure that the
8:08cat is comfortable using the kitty
8:10litter box in the bathroom and also that
8:13uh you've had the cat or cats jump up on
8:15the toilet seat and they're comfortable
8:17up there if it takes you an extra few
8:19days longer than usually it takes cats
8:20four days that's why I say four days but
8:22if it takes your cat a little bit longer
8:24or you haven't had time so you haven't
8:25been able to do the training take those
8:27extra few days and just make sure he's
8:29100% % used to coming into the bathroom
8:31to use the kitty litter box and
8:33comfortable up on the toilet
8:35seat so step two it's a big change this
8:38is what we're going to do you're going
8:39to buy a roasting pan these are the oval
8:42aluminum roasting pans you can get them
8:45um Supermarket the dollar store uh very
8:48cheap but extremely useful what you
8:50going to
8:53do inside the toilet this is how it fits
8:56in most Stander toilets some toilets I
8:58found have been a little smaller so you
8:59just have to squish it in no problem it
9:01still works now with the litter pan this
9:04is their new litter pan in the toilet
9:06you're going to fill it up the cat's
9:10Pride let say
9:13about 2 Ines just make yourself a little
9:15litter box
9:18there and there you go this is what the
9:20cat's going to use from now on now the
9:22cat probably has already been jumping up
9:24here just to see what you're doing
9:25because he's been getting so many
9:26wonderful treats on the toilet so if he
9:28jumps up here Ward him of course and
9:31also you know just take his paw and and
9:33bat around the kitty litter or bat it
9:35around yourself just to get him used to
9:37the thought that this is his new kitty
9:39litter of course you want to as well
9:41take out his old kitty litter box get
9:43rid of it but just before you do what I
9:46want you to
9:47do is steal just a little bit of kitty
9:51litter of uh used kitty litter from your
9:54old box and just put it inside just to
9:57give that little bit EX ra um smell just
10:01to get to move them over just that
10:03little bit quicker another little tip
10:05you might want to do this on a Friday
10:07afternoon when you know you're going to
10:09be home a little bit more on the weekend
10:11so you can watch and see what exactly
10:14happens now you might be worried about
10:16support is this going to hold my cat
10:18well amazingly it is very very strong
10:21you can try you can push on it or even
10:24look at
10:25this it's very very very strong um um if
10:29you're worried like if your cat is maybe
10:31over 20 lbs uh then I would go to maybe
10:34two roasting pans just to give it that a
10:35little bit of extra strength but you
10:37don't have to tape it down or anything
10:39the rim itself holds the roasting pan in
10:42place if you want to see what it looks
10:43like here it
10:45is this is my cat
10:52kitty as soon as your cat's doing this
10:55then it's just a matter of time before
10:57he is trained to use the toilet instead
10:58of a litter box now always remember keep
11:01treating him though as soon as he's on
11:03the toilet and you see him you can say
11:05good and reward him right
11:19after if you have two bathrooms in your
11:22house great you could maybe use this
11:23toilet for the next 3 weeks just for the
11:25cat but if you did have to share it with
11:26the cat during this time you would have
11:28to lift up the lid take the litter box
11:31out and close the lid use it and
11:34then put it back of course another uh
11:37suggestion for you is to just purchase
11:39one of these little things cuz sometimes
11:41he might kick the litter out of the
11:42toilet usually it just stays in but just
11:44in case he kicks it out just have one of
11:46these around for quick little cleanups
11:48one important thing to remember is
11:49during the training cleanliness is
11:51really important cats usually don't like
11:53to use a litter box that's full so again
11:55you don't have to be here every time he
11:57uses the litter box but at least once or
11:58twice a day you might have to clean it
12:00so you might be cleaning a little bit
12:01more than you used to clean your litter
12:03box but just for a short time so
12:05cleanliness is very important also treat
12:07your cat again every time he uses the
12:09the toilet treat him if he's up here
12:11using it treat him and that's why saying
12:14associating the word good with a treat
12:16was very important in the beginning now
12:17when you see him on the toilet you can
12:19say good good in the same way in the
12:22same tone of voice that you were using
12:23during the training sessions usually
12:25they won't jump off and run for the
12:26treat when they're using the toilet
12:28they'll wait but they know that what
12:30they're doing at that moment is what is
12:31earning them the treat if your cat was
12:34comfortable jumping up in the toilet
12:35usually this transition is an easy one
12:38he will start to use this kitty litter
12:39box instead of the one on the
12:42floor if not you may have problems and
12:45your problems will be one of two types
12:47the first type is the better type and
12:50that is holding it in you'll probably
12:52have gotten used to your cat's habits
12:54right now and you'll realize that maybe
12:55he's not going to the bathroom as often
12:57as he used to be um what I would worry
13:00is if he doesn't go number two for three
13:02days um or pee for two days um usually
13:06it's completely normal that they hold it
13:09in a little bit because things are
13:10changing things are a little unusual so
13:12even in the wild when things change and
13:13things are get unusual they hold it in
13:15because they don't want to be seen by
13:16Predators or they think some predators
13:18are around so um what holding in a
13:21little bit is normal if you want to move
13:23things along a little if you know what I
13:25mean um if you give them a little canned
13:27pumpkin that usually Smooths things out
13:28and makes things appear quite quickly
13:31but um holding it in is your first
13:33problem your second problem is a little
13:36worse accidents I don't want you to get
13:39discouraged but it's very rare you get
13:41through the entire training without at
13:42least one accident okay so what I want
13:45you to do is just get cleaning products
13:46ready um basically all you'll need is a
13:49soap so blot up the stain with as much
13:52as you can with paper towels then use a
13:55very soapy water pour that on soak that
13:58up then just put fresh water on and soak
14:00that up now that'll get rid of the urine
14:02and the smell for us but not for the cat
14:04so you also need to spray it with
14:06vinegar half vinegar and half water
14:08spray the entire area and let it dry
14:10that will take the smell out so even the
14:13cat can't smell it and you want that
14:15because if the cat smells that there's
14:16urine on a rug or a carpet he's going to
14:18use that spot again never use ammonia
14:21products CU those smell like urine to a
14:23cat Okay so get products ready and don't
14:25be discouraged also there's nothing
14:27really you can do about about it uh
14:29punishment wise if it's after the fact
14:31there's nothing you can do 5 seconds
14:33after an animal has done something he
14:35forgets about it if you do walk in and
14:37catch him doing something on the carpet
14:40just pick him up and put him on the
14:41toilet and if he continues on the toilet
14:43praise him praise him and praise him
14:45lots of treats for you for doing it on
14:46the toilet just a little tip to prevent
14:49any accidents happening sometimes cats
14:52when they get their litter box taken
14:53away they choose the bathtub instead so
14:55what I want you to do is plug up your
14:57bathtub and just put about an inch of
14:59water in during the first 3
15:02weeks another thing you can do to avoid
15:05accidents is to remove anything
15:06absorbant in your bathroom on the floor
15:08like rugs so get all the rugs out of the
15:10bathroom just for the training
15:12period sometimes also cats go paw at the
15:16toilet seat so go right ahead and tape
15:19the toilet seat
15:22up so it doesn't fall down on him and
15:25create a bang and he gets kind of scared
15:26this happened when I was training my cat
15:29uh it didn't matter though as long as I
15:30brought him back here with little pieces
15:31of chicken and tuna he soon forgot it
15:34last thing is to remove anything on top
15:36of the toilet just in case they po it
15:38and it falls down and makes a noise we
15:39want to make this a lovely wonderful
15:41environment so what I want you to do
15:43over the seven days that is step two is
15:46remove kitty litter waste from the pan
15:50you can either flush it or just toss it
15:53and don't refill the kitty litter pan so
15:57over the next seven days the kitty
15:58litter is going to be going down and
15:59down and down by small amounts and at
16:01the end of the 7 days you should only
16:03have about half an inch to an inch of Ky
16:05litter left in the pan if during this
16:07time you have to completely take the pan
16:09out uh empty it clean it and put it back
16:11in sometimes that may happen again
16:13cleanliness is important or if you're
16:15you know you could just uh buy a few
16:17pans and every few days throw one out
16:19and use another one and during this time
16:21remember to keep training him on the
16:23toilet obviously you're going to reward
16:25him when he uses the litter in the
16:27toilet but also keep up your tring
16:29sessions at least in the beginning
16:36stages now your cat has been using the
16:39roasting pan as a litter box for about a
16:41week you've been taking kitty litter out
16:43and not replacing it so there's really
16:45only about half an inch to an inch of
16:47kitty litter in the pan now and your
16:48comfort your cat is comfortable with
16:49this now we're going to take it to the
16:51next step we're going to do some cutting
16:54we're going to start to trick them we're
16:55going to start to make small holes in
16:57the pan so the first hole is going to be
16:59about an inch long want you to get like
17:00a box cutter and just cut into it make
17:04like an
17:07X don't have to be precise doesn't have
17:10to be right in the center fold all the
17:12edges in so they're like this so they
17:15can't catch on the cat's feet when he
17:17goes in there it's nice and safe small
17:19little hole so we're going to put
17:22this in the toilet close it down and
17:25replace it with about the same amount of
17:26litter that was in the toilet
17:30before there you go what's the hole for
17:33well we're going to start small and when
17:36the cat now uses the litter box he's
17:38going to hear some of the uh kitty
17:41litter fall into the toilet maybe some
17:42of his own urine might fall in the
17:44toilet and he's going to hear that
17:45splashing we want him to get used to
17:47this still feeling secure so we're going
17:49to have a small hole to start with now
17:51keep this for about 3
17:53days okay so let's make it a little
17:55bigger now
17:59[Music]
18:01again just make an X and bend it
18:08over with the first hole we waited 3
18:11days before we made it any larger but
18:13now you can go a little quicker every
18:14two days take the pan away and make the
18:17pan make the hole just slightly larger
18:19just uh about an inch around maybe a
18:21little less than an inch around larger
18:23each time and wait only two days if you
18:27do get any accidents at this point if
18:29the cat Rebels a little bit it's because
18:31you are moving too fast every two days
18:33is a good number and it works for lots
18:34of cats but you know maybe your cat just
18:36wants to go a little slower so then
18:38either take it back a step um maybe
18:40offer just a little bit more litter um
18:42or get a pan and just make make the hole
18:44a little bit smaller and let them get
18:45used to that for a couple days and then
18:47move
18:48on okay here we have the larger hole and
18:51you can see the kitty lad is still
18:53around so the cat can sort of still feel
18:54that when he's going in the bathroom now
18:56you're going to see hopefully he's going
18:58to start to take out one or two of his
18:59paws either put his two front paws or
19:01maybe one back paw um on the seat
19:04instead of crouching completely inside
19:06the roasting pan this is good this is
19:08what you want as soon as you see him use
19:10the litter box treat him right
19:19after here's another little tip
19:22sometimes cats are really fond of kitty
19:24litter and when you give them a hole
19:26they'll scoop and scoop and scoop until
19:28all the k KY litters down the hole and
19:29then they get discouraged cuz there's
19:30none left well trick them a little bit
19:33take some super glue in a new pan spread
19:35the super glue just a little bit in the
19:37pan and then some kitty litter on top
19:39when that dries put the kitty litter
19:41back in about an inch or whatever you're
19:44using back in and then give it to the
19:45cat when the cat Scoops all the kitty
19:47litter away there'll still be some left
19:50and he'll still Fe it on his paws and
19:51that's usually enough to get them to go
19:59now the hole is quite large and you
20:00might be worried oh my gosh is my cat
20:02going to fall in well don't worry even
20:04though there's quite a large hole in the
20:06pan it still can support a cat I've
20:09never had it happen that a cat has
20:10fallen in but I could imagine maybe the
20:12possibility of one leg falling in and
20:14touching the water and scaring the cat
20:16slightly well that's the beauty of you
20:18training him on the toilet he still
20:19thinks of this place as a wonderful
20:20magical world that gives him lots of
20:22tuna and treats whenever he jumps up on
20:24it um getting one leg D versus lots of
20:27tuna and chicken the there's just no
20:29comparison he will come back to the
20:31[Applause]
20:37toilet okay once you don't think you can
20:40cut any more into the pan well then
20:42that's the time
20:44to take it out okay my suggestion is you
20:47do this on a Friday when you know you're
20:50going to be home Saturday and Sunday and
20:52every time the cat goes in or approaches
20:54the toilet don't rush to the bathroom
20:56because that usually puts them off and
20:57they run the other way so some cats are
20:59very private at this moment but just
21:01stay by you know if you have a
21:02television or a den near the bathroom
21:04that you know that if you sit there and
21:05watch TV you could just watch and wait
21:07if if you're starting to get to know
21:08your cat's habits now as you will what
21:10time he uses the toilet you can watch
21:13out and sit and wait and he goes in just
21:15listen for that lovely little tinkling
21:17sound and then when he comes out and you
21:19can say good kitty during the tinkling
21:21sound and as soon as he leaves the
21:22bathroom whoa lots of treats lots of
21:24treats lots of
21:25treats here again is Kitty using the toy
21:28it and you can see the stance he'll take
21:30for urinating and I'll show you the
21:32other stance in a
21:34second now what I've shown so far is how
21:37to toil the train a cat if you have one
21:38cat well two or three or four cats is
21:40basically the same you might want to
21:42take a little longer to do the training
21:44though your training might not last
21:45three or four weeks it might last five
21:47or six weeks just go slow because you're
21:49going to have to go to the speed of your
21:51slowest cat one thing I would suggest
21:53though is in the beginning stages when
21:55you're treating the cat for going up on
21:57the toilet I would do this in visually
21:59so lock your other cats out and train
22:01one cat train each cat
22:08alone now in a second you're going to
22:10see what happens after the Cat uses the
22:12toilet they will scrape the toilet seat
22:14just like they were covering up their
22:15urine just like they would have done
22:17with the kitty litter this is natural
22:19and it's instinctual for them to cover
22:21up their urine or their feces so it
22:23doesn't smell and attract
22:25Predators now here's the other stance I
22:27was talking about you can see he's
22:30sitting a little higher up in the toilet
22:34seat and again afterward he's going to
22:37paw at the toilet seat but the wonderful
22:39thing about this is that because the cat
22:41goes in water there is virtually no
22:51smell okay maintenance making sure this
22:54sticks well uh number one I still treat
22:58my cat for using the toilet I still do
23:00it only costs me a half a pounce treat
23:02or a piece of chicken that I happen to
23:04be eating whatever and it makes the cat
23:06happy and it still Associates a good
23:08wonderful feeling with him using the
23:09toilet you know even two three years
23:11down the road you can still treat your
23:13cat for using the toilet when you catch
23:15him obviously he's going to be using it
23:16sometimes when you don't see
23:19it um also a little maintenance tip is
23:22or a little other little tip is this
23:25transfers oh my gosh you move don't wor
23:29if you move just uh in your new house
23:31again go back to B I call it going back
23:33to kindergarten so go back to
23:34kindergarten bring your cat into the new
23:36bathroom and treat him for coming and
23:38touching the toilet treating him for
23:39jumping up on the toilet making it a
23:41wonderful place oh what a good kitty
23:43what a good kitty and if the first time
23:45you see him use the toilet obviously
23:46treat him treat him treat
23:48him just in case there's any male humans
23:51living in the house with you they have
23:53to remember to keep the seat down Kitty
23:55can't go to the toilet with the seat up
23:57so what I did was I wrote a little
23:59reminder seep down
24:01please now teaching your cat to flush
24:04well um it is possible and in the end of
24:06the video again I'm going to show you
24:07how to teach your cat to do lots of
24:09Tricks but flushing is something I
24:10wouldn't bother with because if you
24:12teach him to flush he flushes all the
24:14time he just flushes whenever he gets
24:16the feeling to flush he doesn't flush
24:17after it's hard to you know connect
24:19those two uh things together using the
24:22toilet and then flushing for the cat so
24:24don't worry about flushing it's a very
24:25small price to pay a little flush two
24:27three times today and you never have to
24:30clean the kitty litter box
24:32again so that's how to toilet train your
24:35cat it's a big change for the cat but
24:37we're going so slowly and making such
24:39small little changes that hopefully the
24:41cat won't notice and he'll just get used
24:43to each new stage as it comes along so
24:45be confident that this works hundreds
24:47and hundreds of cats have been toilet
24:49trained and I know it gets a little
24:52messy around step two and you might have
24:54an accident um I did as well just get
24:57ready to clean it up and uh just keep on
25:00going because it does work stick with it
25:03and remember you never have to clean a
25:05kitty litter box
25:07again okay let now let's learn how to
25:10train animals I've been really lucky in
25:12my life being a professional animal
25:13trainer I've got to work with cats and
25:15dogs of course but also other wonderful
25:17animals I've trained pigs um I've
25:20trained horses which are really smart
25:22and they love to learn I was lucky
25:24enough to raise a zebra once and they're
25:26even smarter than horses well they are a
25:27horse but very very smart animals I even
25:30trained a llama to jump over a camel
25:32once that was
25:34fun and I also trained Dolphins which as
25:37you can imagine are just wonderful to
25:39train very smart animals but you know
25:41what I've trained a lot of cats who
25:43loved the training just as much as a
25:45dolphin did and were just as intelligent
25:47and quick to pick things up as a dolphin
25:49so keep that in mind and let's start
25:51part
25:56two you may have heard of clicker
25:58training already and uh don't be shocked
26:01but if you were following the toilet
26:02training instructions to the letter
26:04you've already started clicker training
26:06um you didn't use a clicker but you use
26:08the word good because what clicker
26:10training is is pairing a sound with a
26:13food reward so giving a sound at the
26:16same time as you're giving the food
26:17rewards so the cat begins to understand
26:19that the sound means that he's earned a
26:21treat now uh you were using the word
26:23good but if you wanted to you could grab
26:26a clicker from they sell them in l of
26:28different pet stores it's anything that
26:29just makes a metallic sound or a quick
26:31sound like this and the beauty of this
26:34is it has to be short and sweet that's
26:35why I asked you to say good really small
26:38and strong like a short and strong so
26:41you didn't drag it out because the
26:42longer you make that sound the more of
26:44the things the cat will do during that
26:46time and you want to make it really
26:47short and sweet so you so you catch that
26:49exact Behavior now so um you can get a
26:52clicker if you like but uh what you
26:54really do need for this next step is a
26:56target stick uh it could just be a piece
26:58of wood a ruler something like this
27:01because the cat is just going to touch
27:02one end it's going to be a target for
27:04the cat to help in the
27:10training okay here are the basics what
27:12you want to do is get your reward in one
27:14hand again small little pounce treats
27:16I'm just using the cat's normal kibble
27:18right now they'll work for Kibble they
27:19they love the training so much uh your
27:21target stick and your clicker in one
27:23hand or your mouth to say the word good
27:25I'm going to use the clicker so I can
27:26talk at the same time I'm doing the
27:27training
27:28and you're going to take the Target and
27:29you're going to allow the cat to touch
27:31the target with his
27:33nose
27:34oops and when he does you'll give him a
27:37treat okay seems pretty simple we'll
27:39just keep doing
27:41that good so he has to touch the target
27:45with his nose good and you'll see he
27:47starts
27:50to after the first couple sessions he'll
27:53start to reach for
27:56it I'm about to giving treats here he'll
27:59start to reach forward and that's what
28:00you want you want him to know that it's
28:02him touching the Target and hearing the
28:04click that's what's giving him the
28:09reward now sometimes cats will instead
28:12of just touching it they'll reach over
28:14and bite the Target by AC okay we don't
28:17want that at all so if they bite um
28:19don't reward them for that oh see he
28:21watch that but I did click don't worry
28:23it was a mistake but I'm just not going
28:24to reward and I'm going to offer it to
28:26him again Kitty
28:28and make sure he just touches and reward
28:30for that
28:32okay after a few days you're going to be
28:34able to start playing around with the
28:36cat a little uh depends the timing
28:38depends just on how quickly you're
28:39moving along with the training maybe
28:41you're um only doing one session a day
28:43so it might take you a little longer but
28:44if you're doing a lot of sessions a day
28:46it shouldn't be long before you're able
28:47to do this and just bring the cat
28:51around and he will follow the target to
28:54touch it now you know he really
28:58understands the training especially
29:00because whoops he knows the food is in
29:02my hand and he's going away from the
29:04food Kitt he's going away from the food
29:07to touch the target so he knows that he
29:09has to touch the Target to get the food
29:10Kitty come
29:21here to shape or to capture that is the
29:24trainer's question once your cat
29:26understands the clicker and by that I
29:27mean um he's following the Target around
29:30and you see that when you click he stops
29:31whatever he's doing and he rushes over
29:33to get the treat from you that's when he
29:35completely understands the clicker now
29:37you can start training behaviors and you
29:39can do it in one or two ways you can um
29:41capture Behavior which is the easiest
29:43way and that is just catching something
29:45your cat already naturally does like
29:47kitty kitty pay attention scratch face
29:50scratch face scratch face good now you
29:54see the cat normally scratches his face
29:56of course and when I was in a training
29:58session I found him doing that so I
30:01clicked and rewarded and clicked and
30:03rewarded when he scratched his face all
30:05of a sudden he started scratching his
30:06face more often Kitty scratch
30:09face scratch your face good and I'll
30:12show you how to put it on Q uh after
30:14this so that's the easy way you can just
30:16find a behavior that cat's doing
30:17naturally already like jumping up on a
30:18chair and click and reward for that to
30:21shape a behavior that's the more common
30:23way to train animals and what you want
30:25to do is you want a final Behavior but
30:28you can't just get there by going hey
30:29Shake A Paw Shake A Paw he doesn't
30:31understand English you have to get there
30:32in small increments so you're going to
30:34shape the behavior over different over
30:37time so uh Shake A Paw well what I want
30:40is him to put my his paw in my hand so
30:42I'm not going to start up top I'm going
30:43to start really down low just to sneak
30:45my paw my hand in there and get him
30:48to
30:50good put his paw on my hand try
30:55again so again timing is important I'm
30:58clicking when his paw is solidly placed
31:02in my
31:03hand so sneak it under again and not
31:07when it's being lifted up or when he's
31:10about to put it on it's when it's right
31:12in my
31:13hand and then over a few days you can
31:17move it so your hand is raised up a
31:18little bit oops see I made a mistake no
31:22problem there you go and then up a
31:24little bit until he has to raise his paw
31:28to go to touch my hand and that's how
31:30you teach Shake A Paw here's another fun
31:33thing you can teach have the cat jump
31:34through a hoop for this you can go back
31:36to using the Target and have the Cat
31:39come through the
31:40hoop good
31:42cat when the hoop is low on the ground
31:45and just lead him through the hoop with
31:46the target then you can gradually have
31:49the hoop higher and higher and higher
31:50until he's actually making a jump
31:52through the hoop and then phase out the
31:54Target and probably the cue for this is
31:56just put the target put the hoop in in
31:58front of him and he should jump
32:00through good
32:05kitty how about a roll over it's
32:08actually quite easy for this it's even
32:10easier if your cat will allow him allow
32:12you to touch him and just roll him over
32:14so you're going to have the clicker in
32:15hand and roll him over and
32:18click at the exact moment he's rolling
32:21over and of course reward after let's do
32:23it again did I drop it okay roll over
32:30good roll over
32:32again okay so again the timing is really
32:35important you want to click as he's
32:36rolling over and then after a few days
32:39of this you're find all you have to do
32:41is motion towards him and he'll roll
32:44over I didn't click that time but that's
32:46okay let's try it again
32:49Kitty here you go gets easier and easier
32:52because he knows what you
32:55want here you go
33:03this is a really fun game you can even
33:04play it at parties and you're going to
33:06practice your shaping skills without
33:08using the cat at first you're going to
33:10start with a human so get a human uh
33:12guinea pig and you're going to put them
33:14in a room and say okay now you're an
33:15animal and this is a new uh room you're
33:18in and you're very curious and also
33:21whenever you hear a click it means I'm
33:23going to give you some food so you're
33:24going to walk around and if you do
33:25something I like I'm going to click and
33:27use stop whatever you're doing come back
33:29and get a smarty or something from me
33:31okay so then all you have to do is think
33:33of a behavior you're going to train him
33:34to do remember no English words in this
33:36you can't tell them what to do uh so
33:38think of something you can start easy
33:40like turning going and turning on a
33:42light switch or um picking up a banana
33:45and then you can get a little more
33:47advanced U picking up a banana peeling
33:49it kneading it or setting the time on
33:51the VCR something like that but start
33:53simple and then move on this is a great
33:55way to practice your shaping skill so
33:58let's see what it looks like
34:34excellent once you're pretty consistent
34:37that you can get the behavior so I know
34:39every time I lift the target stick the
34:41cat will go up then you can start
34:43putting it on Q so um that's going to be
34:46phasing out the target stick and phasing
34:48in an action or a Q and qes can be
34:51either words or actions so um I'm pretty
34:54consistent I can get this sit up pretty
34:57consistent he'll do it almost every time
34:59so now I'm going to put it on Q so
35:01before he does the behavior before I ask
35:03him to do the behavior I'm going to say
35:05something and I'm going to start phasing
35:07out the target so I'll start doing this
35:09Kitty sit
35:10up there you go you saw the end product
35:14there but Kitty sit up sit up you see
35:18how I'm phasing out the target I'm still
35:19using it sort of just to motion to get
35:21them to go up but I'm slowly phasing it
35:23out and I'll slowly uh soon I'll get it
35:25completely out Kitty sit up
35:29good now this might take you a few
35:31sessions um don't be fooled into
35:33thinking it's going to happen in one
35:34session but
35:35Kitty sit up sit up sit
35:41up there you go so after a few sessions
35:44that he knows every time you say sit up
35:47he's about to you're going to ask him to
35:48sit up and he's going to get rewarded
35:50for it sit
35:52up he's going to start to uh to do it
35:55without the target stick at all and then
35:57when you hear sit up he's going to start
35:59to sit up without even uh seeing the
36:01target stick at all you can put either
36:03word cues or hand signals to cue the
36:05Behavior Uh for situp you can use the
36:07word sit up for wave I just wiggle my
36:10finger and what I did was I wiggled my
36:11finger before I asked him for the wave
36:14and soon he just saw the wiggling finger
36:16and he'd wave right away kitty come
36:20here now another thing you can see my
36:22cat doing things while I'm sitting here
36:24babbling on to you um he's offering up
36:27Behavior this is a great way to see that
36:29this training really is um a
36:32communication between you and your cat
36:34and your cat loves the training he's
36:35sitting here offering things up hey do
36:37you want this do you want this do you
36:38want me to scratch my face do you want
36:39me to do this and this is great because
36:40you can now select and shape all those
36:42different behaviors into what you need
36:44so uh never discourage that but once you
36:47have a behavior on Q you don't want to
36:49uh you don't want to reward for it if he
36:52offers it um when you didn't cue you
36:54only want to reward the behavior if he
36:56offers it to you after you've given him
36:58the
36:59queue if you don't want to train your
37:01cat to do tricks that's fine but you
37:03should at least train him one thing and
37:05you probably already have the behavior
37:07and that is to come to his name kitty
37:09kitty come here
37:11kitty good kitty
37:13yes now how did I do that everyone's
37:16very impressed about that but it's very
37:17easy you probably already have the
37:19behavior like I said so if I shook this
37:24what happens Kitty comes running okay
37:26and you give him a treat so uh you
37:28either use the pants uh the shaking
37:30treats or you know you have some treats
37:32that when you shake them your cat will
37:34come running the can opener well what
37:36you're going to do is so you've got the
37:37behavior now you're going to put it on Q
37:39so what you'll do is you'll say kitty
37:41well whichever you know your cat's name
37:43Kitty and then Shake he comes and give
37:45him a treat random throughout the day
37:47five six 10 times a day uh you know
37:50whenever you see it just go kitty and
37:53then shake and he'll come running and
37:54soon of course as you know soon all
37:56you'll have to do is say kitty and the
37:58cat will come running cuz he knows
37:59what's coming after is the shake now one
38:02other uh sort of concept that's kind of
38:05hard to grasp
38:07but uh is when you're training so what
38:10we've been doing so far is we've been
38:11clicking and treating clicking and
38:13treating and when he comes I give him a
38:15treat but you don't have to give him a
38:17treat every single time in fact they
38:20work harder for you if you don't give a
38:22treat every time um and especially you
38:25know you want to be able to call your
38:26cat sometimes and not have to give them
38:27a treat for coming so you're going to
38:29work on random reinforcement so maybe
38:31you'll give them a treat give them a
38:33treat the next time nothing the next
38:34time a treat maybe twice with nothing
38:36and then a treat so we never knows when
38:38the treat is coming this is a really
38:39hard concept to grasp but we actually
38:42work harder when the be when the reward
38:45is random think of casinos with the um
38:49the slot machines you never know when a
38:51rewards coming and small small big
38:54nothing nothing nothing small small it's
38:56exactly