 You know how some people say that cats can't be trained? Well, I've gotta tell you, those people have got it all wrong. In fact, cats have got the whole training concept down, they are masters in the art of training. Think about it, they've already got you trained to respond to their every whim, they meow, you give them food. They jump on your lap, they get pets. They know just how to get what they want from you, because they know that you are motivated by their reward, a little bit of their precious attention. You have been trained to respond to your cat's demands. You have been positively reinforced by your cats to do good things for them because they reward you with their affection, so you do those things again, and again, and again. But guess what? They've taught us a valuable lesson. We can turn the tables on them, and you can learn how to use positive reinforcement for good cat behavior. We've caught onto your game, felines, and now it's our turn. Positive reinforcement for good cat behavior. What do I mean when I talk about training a cat? I'm not just talking about tricks, although it certainly applies, I'm talking about encouraging any behavior that you'd like your cat to exhibit. In the case of many of my clients, a preferred behavior could be replacing an undesirable behavior. Many perceived bad behaviors arise out of a biologically evolved need, scratching, urinating and defecating, climbing, etc. And if you don't give your cats an appropriate way to express that need, they'll make do with what's in their environment. It then gets more difficult to switch them from using one, undesirable, thing to another, more desirable, thing. But it can be done. The most important thing is to find out what motivates your cat to exhibit a desired behavior and use that as a reward so that they repeat the behavior, and forget about doing the other undesirable behavior. Luckily, many cats are food motivated, which is a fine reward to use in many cases. But for those cats who don't respond so much to food or who are on a restricted diet, you can always use affection or sweet talk as a reward, or even a short play session with a favorite toy. Or a clicker, which becomes a bridge to a reward, the positive reinforcement, once you've conditioned your cat to recognize the association between click and treat. Basically, you have to show your cat that you've got something she wants, and that there's a way she can get it. Once she figures out what you want her to do, it's game on. What is positive reinforcement? Let's start with the basics. Reinforcement refers to something you do that will cause your cat to repeat a specific behavior. On the other hand, punishment is something you do that will result in a behavior not being repeated. Makes sense, right? Now, you can have both positive and negative reinforcement, and positive and negative punishment. When behaviorists use the terms positive and negative in reference to reinforcement or punishment, we're not saying positive is good and negative is bad. Positive means that something is added or given, like a treat, and negative means that something is taken away, like attention. Using positive punishment with cats just doesn't work. What do you think is the best approach for training your cat, and what do you think is most detrimental? Positive reinforcement is the much preferred way to help cats establish better habits in your home. It is fun to reward your cat for desirable behavior, and it improves the strength of your bond. The more often you can reward behavior with a motivator your cat enjoys, the more often you will see that behavior repeated. On the other hand, positive punishment in any form is ineffective and causes fear, anxiety, and stress. Cats don't learn from punishment unless it is applied all the time, and trust me, you will not be around to catch your cat in the act 100% of the time, your cat will just learn to do the thing when you're not around. Unless punishment is applied consistently and immediately, within a matter of seconds, your cat will not associate her behavior with the punishment. And what do you think will happen to the relationship you have with your cat if you're punishing her all the time? That's right, she'll start to mistrust and fear you, which can even result in aggression. Punishment will only serve to damage the cat-human relationship, and I know that's not what you want. Cats respond so much better to positive reinforcement. Hello! This video is sponsored by Beemix Pets. Are you looking for high quality cat collars at an affordable cost? Check out BeemixPets.com. Use coupon code KittenLife, to get 20% off. Encourage Social Behavior. If you cat is shy and has a tendency to hide, you can encourage your kitty to come out more by using treats to reward her when she emerges from her hiding spot. At first keep her ventures brief and easy, but then try using more positive reinforcement, treats, sweet talk, affection, etc. To encourage her to travel further from her hiding spot for longer periods of time. Teach your cat to accept petting. If your cat doesn't like to be petted, give her a treat for one pet, then pet her twice and give her another treat. Reward longer petting sessions with more treats, and stop the petting sessions before your cat has a negative reaction. Pay attention to her body language and always end on a positive note. Use a scratching post. You can encourage regular use of your cat's scratching post by rewarding her each time she uses it. She'll learn that the scratching post is pretty nice, and she gets treats as a reward for using it. Reward quiet or calm behavior. If you've been having issues with your cat yowling or being aggressive with another cat, you can reward good behavior using treats or play. If excessive vocalization is a problem, give your cat a treat after several seconds of quiet if she has been meowing. If she's aggressive, reward your cat when she is relaxed and peaceful in the presence of the other cat. Drink out of the correct glass. Let's say your cat likes to drink out of your cup of water with her paw and it's getting a bit annoying. All you need to do is provide her with her own cup in an acceptable location for you and the kitty, and when she goes for your glass, simply move her to her cup in a very neutral way, and then give her a treat, pets, affection, or sweet talk when she uses her cup. What if my cat gets bored with her reward? Another thing to keep in mind is this. If you give a particular treat reward all the time, your cat may soon decide that she doesn't need to do what you want her to do because she doesn't necessarily want the treat. What you'll want to do is reward based on a variable schedule, don't reward a desired behavior with a treat every single time it is performed. Maybe reward your cat's behavior only 50% of the time. Once she learns what it is you want her to do, this actually works as a stronger reinforcement long term than rewarding all the time. Your cat will always want to see if she gets a payoff when she performs her behavior. Finally, what do you do if your cat is doing something she shouldn't be doing? The key is to distract, disrupt, and redirect your cat's behavior. First, if you notice that your cat is going to scratch something she shouldn't be scratching, make a noise or toss a toy in her direction, not at her directly, to distract her from what she was going to do. Once your cat has stopped her activity because of the noise, you want to disrupt her current course of action, redirect her to a different, or preferred, activity by using a wand toy to guide her over to the scratching post, a more appropriate choice for scratching, or engage her in a short play session. Once she engages in the appropriate behavior, you can reward her for that. Give her treats three out of every four times she does the behavior, then reduce it to about half the time, then about a third of the time and so on, until you're only rewarding her occasionally with a treat. Reward consistently. This is an important part of training. Use treats only for training. If you give your cat a treat every time she paws you, she'll quickly learn that pawing equals treat, and she'll never leave you alone. Positive reinforcement for good cat behavior is a great way to improve the bond between you and your cat, and let her know which behaviors are favored. And it doesn't only work on cats, as I mentioned at the beginning, positive reinforcement works with people, too. Who will you train first, and what will the task be? If you enjoyed this video, kindly press the like button. Also don't forget to subscribe with notifications on, so that you don't miss out on videos like this. Thank you for watching.