Cat Clicker Training - Teaching Muesli the Kitten to SIT

[Fatal616]

Nice, i need to get a clicker and try it with my cat.

[TVNDanes]

@Happynr12~ I'm 5ft and my 3 adult danes total 3x's my weight. I can control their behaviors with voice commands and body language. I can also walk all three on-leash at a heel at once. Often times, danes are too lazy to rebel. I have found it much easier to stop a dane from doing something I don't want them to do rather than get them to do something I want them to do. They don't like wasting energy. Persistence is key and starts from day 1. :o) The things Hsin-yi gets Honey to do is amazing.

[TVNDanes]

Yes, absolutely! I clicker train for one command at a time and once they have learned the command word for the action and respond to the actual word itself, I phase out the clicker for that command. Rinse and repeat. I was just curious how she responds when the click is not meant for her. I've yet to test my danes out on it. It would be nice not to have to pin them but I'm afraid they would all be confused with the extra clicks. :o)

[TVNDanes]

Honey is like the female version of my male fawn dane, Sampson and Muesli is like the female version of my ocicat mix, Atreyu... Too cute. :o)

I do have a question though. I've always pinned my other dogs up in another room while clicker training one at a time as I fear the clicker will lose it's importance if the other dogs hear the click and do not get the treat. Does clicker training Muesli confuse Honey at all or is there a command you use to let her know the click is not for her?

[hsinyicohen]

@TVNDanes You're probably doing the right thing - I'm just lazy! :-) Actually, although she does get very excited and comes to investigate she hears the clicker, Honey does seem to understand when the training is not directed at her. Maybe because she has been in training classes where other dogs are being clicker-trained too and so you can hear clicking everywhere!

[hsinyicohen]

@TVNDanes - I think once the clicker has been properly introduced to a dog, it shouldnt get confused. I have never had trouble with the CLICK losing it's importance because Honey hears it for other animals but then I only use it as an initial training tool, to mark a behaviour & communicate what I want - I try to phase it out ASAP so I'm not relying on it to get the dog to do things. I think as long as Honey has regular CT sessions of her own, the marker signal will remain important

[happynr12]

I´m planning on getting a Great Dane. But I´m very small so I am very afraid that the dog will "boss" me around. I´m always nervous but it´s just that if I don´t train it properly I´m afraid it will be a terrifying dog to be around. Just needed to vent.

[LunatheMutt]

aw! meusli is already so big!

[tmickey05]

you are the best trainer, i look up to you =)

[joe42968]

Uh oh . No animal is safe from Hsin yi's clicker.I mean that in a very good way.Your amazing with animals.Always a fun treat to watch your videos.

[RockAndRollRockOn]

When you clicker train Muesli, do you have to give Honey a treat whenever you click so it doesn't desensetize her to the sound? Or do you have it set at a different tone for her?

[hsinyicohen]

@RockAndRollRockOn Actually, we were just giving Honey some coz we felt sorry for her being left out - ha! ha! - and she was being so good, just sitting quietly & watching. No, Honey has been in classes where other dogs are being clicker-trained and she knows the sound isn't always for her. Also sometimes she hears it in the video! She seems to understand when I'm actually 'working' with her and the CLICK is for something she does - and when it is just background noise.

[hsinyicohen]

@hsinyicohen Also, the CLICK part of learning should just be very short in the beginning - I try to fade the clicker as soon as possible - so Honey knows that it is just to communicate to her what to do when she is learning - once she knows what she should do, she can get treats without that sound and she is more focused on the command then. I think the clicker should just be a 'training tool' rather than something you depend on all the time to make your dog do things (not saying you! :-) )

[milinalini]

awww so cute! at 0:58 Muesli was so concentrated on the food she almost fell!

[MrsKel1]

Can you do a video on what you feed both honey and your new kitten!

[hsinyicohen]

@MrsKel1 If you go to Honey's website/blog (the URL is in the video), you will find all the information there.

[vidgirl4444]

AWESOME!!!

[Serinity52]

Love it. ^^

[10vball01]

does honey actually ALWAYS stay out of the other side of the "Tape" that you set up a long time ago because our dog just doesnt want to lol she stays out for most of the time but then if ur in the kitchen she will just come in you tell her out she leaves then 2 min later comes back in:/ shes stil only 10 months so what do you think?

[hsinyicohen]

@10vball01 Yes, she is very good about staying out of the kitchen. We actually removed the tape from the last house - this house has a metal border around the kitchen area. She does sometimes step one paw in if she gets very excited but we just tell her firmly "OUT!" and stand and watch until she backs out again and then praise her. But diff dogs are diff and some are more persistent/stubborn! :-)

[hsinyicohen]

@10vball01 Your dog is still very young and in 'canine adolescence' when they're still testing you so just keep being consistent in enforcing the "OUT" rule. Don't let her ever get away with it (eg. are you sure she stays out when you're out of the house? We used to put up a babygate when we couldn't supervise Honey to make she was never successful.) Also, be careful not to reward her in any way when she comes in the kitchen(excited attention can also be reward) - just calmly tell her "OUT"

[ChA0sK1ttEn]

I actually got both of my cats to sit and sit pretty with out the clicker.

[hsinyicohen]

@ChA0sK1ttEn Yes, of course, there are lots of different ways to train. No one is saying you HAVE to use the clicker. I simply made the video and showed the stages to help those who ARE interested in using it, in case they wanted more info. For more specific/complex behaviours, it may be more helpful to have a marker-type training tool - there's a reason why it's used by all the TV trainers & animals wranglers on film - but it's your own personal choice, no need if you're not interested.

[superxinxinxin]

That's amazing work! I think she really gets it. Can't wait to see more of Muesli's progress!