Practical Reasons To Train Your Cat

Training Your Dog To Live With Cats

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Dogs and cats can make natural bedfellows – really literally. Although various dogs chase cats naturally mainly because of their hunting instinct, it can be simple for them to co-exist. All it takes is a little patience.

Why is cat training significant?

It's especially important to socialise your dog with cats even if you do not have one. That way you can go to other places with cats - pals houses, pubs/bars, hotels, vets (you will want to do that occasionally of only for vaccinations!) – and know that your dog will be well behaved.

I have ex-racing greyhounds as portion of my ‘pack'. In all, I've owned 6 greyhounds of my own in the last 10 years and fostered quite a few by means of rescue. I've had other dogs as well, most through rescue routes. And I've still got my fat cat Hoolie who has lived with dogs all her life.

ALL of these dogs have been trained to live with cats reasonably quickly. In some circumstances it was a matter of minutes, in others a few weeks. I know that I can go anyplace with them and they will enjoy to meet the resident cat – even if the cat doesn't like them!

Initial hints

If you get a rescue dog, constantly see if the rescue centre can give you any indication of results of their own cat testing. Some locations do cat testing and others do not. Yet remember that some dogs are so traumatised by their background that you could possibly not get a fair reading of the situation until they have been in a residence environment and settled down.

If you get a puppy from a breeder who has cats themselves, this is a very good start out but you should continue that cat training as the puppy matures. That will construct on the decent foundations they already have.

If you don't have a cat of your own, come across a friend with a cat who can help out. Or possibly a nearby rescue centre that has ‘centre cats' (eg they lie on the reception desk) may possibly help you. Dog behaviourists or the breeder may possibly also be willing to assist.

The process

I thought I would describe what I do with my dogs, such as puppies. This works with a cat which is reasonably well adjusted and not overly timid or nervous. This is just my technique and is has worked nicely for me in the past.

• I introduce them initial inside the house. Obtaining the dog applied to the cat indoors indicates that you can then do the same training outdoors. This is so the dog learns that cats are not to be chased indoors or out.
  
• I continually introduce the dog to the cat. It is challenging to get a person to bring a cat close to a dog if the cat doesn't want to go. Have you tried giving a cat a tablet, or trying to put it into a cat box to take it to the vets? It is like trying to untangle a quite strong, slippery octopus.
  
• I have the dog and cat in the similar room with the doors closed. There is generally somewhere high for the cat to leap to, out of reach of dog nose, such as the back of a high sofa, window sill, bookshelf or comparable.
  
• I try as far as probable to have a person else with me, armed with a squeezy water bottle or decent water pistol – you'll see why in a minute (it is some thing to do with not very getting sufficient hands!)
  
• The cat is allowed to be zero cost in the room. The dog is kept leaded (leashed) and muzzled in the case of ex-racing greyhounds or any rescue dog where history is uncertain. In the case of new puppies, leaded (leashed) really should be sufficient.
  
• Keep the dog sitting or standing next to you. Hold the lead firmly. Watch the body language – if the hackles (fur on the back of the neck) rise and the dog goes stiff, it is squaring up for a lunge.
  
• If the dog lunges at the cat, immediately right with a sharp pull back on the lead accompanied by a firm loud ‘NO' or ‘LEAVE' command. Do not shout or scream but raise your voice enough to make it understood this is not acceptable. (The cat may possibly leap up high to get out of the way.)
  
• If you can, at the same time, the dog lunges, get the other individual to squirt the dog with water between the eyes. If you don't have a friend, squirt the dog oneself as very best you can as soon as the lunge starts. And it's only water so the floor or carpet will dry out pretty quickly. Greyhounds and sighthounds commonly don't tend to like water so this is a superb non-physical strategy of making it unpleasant for them to lunge at the cat. Countless other dogs are the same. It does not tend to function so well with water dogs or working dogs such as labradors or spaniels!
  
• Repeat the procedure until you see the dog is calming down and learning that lunging at the cat = being reprimanded and squirted.
  
• When the dog stops lunging reward with praise ‘good boy/girl', a pat or stroke and a treat.
  
• Repeat the procedure until the dog and cat essentially meet up and can sniff each and every other. At this point, assure that the dog is still held rather firmly on the lead (leash). If your dog is muzzled, do not take off the muzzle until you are sure they will not lunge and bite. This may well take a even though. Some dogs are pretty intelligent and will bide their time. Reward all decent behaviour positively with praise and treats.
  
• Immediately after the dog and cat have sniffed each and every other, a very good sign is when the cat basically rubs against the dog. This is saying ‘you are my friend'. Cats have scent glands on their heads so when they rub their heads against you it's marking you as ‘territory' and ‘friend'.
  
• If the dog responds well to that by calm acceptance and sniffing the cat's bottom, rather than lunging and barking, reward with treats.
  
• At this point, I would try letting the dog have the full length of the lead (leash) but keep it muzzled if a muzzle has been used all along, walking it about the room with the cat nonetheless in residence.
  
• As soon as all lunging behaviour, which includes any suggestion of lunging has ceased, I would then permit the dog off the leash. This is when having two folks working together on the dog is helpful – if you do suddenly get a lunge/chase, there is far more than one set of hands to grab the dog.
  
• Usually throughout the process reinforce superior behaviour with praise/treats so the dog learns ‘nice to the cat = treats' and ‘lunging at the cat = unpleasant things'.
  
• As soon as the dog and cat have accepted each other, allow them to reside in each other's space under close supervision. Never leave a dog and cat alone together in a room or a residence until you are totally satisfied that they get along fully.

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Taking Care Of Your Cat Will Ensure A Long And Lasting Relationship

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Cat care includes ensuring that your pet has food and water readily available. as they play and prowl about the home, therefore alleviating the need to take them on walks. It doesn't take a lot to maintain a cat pleased which is another reason that they are such favorite pets.

Cat care includes providing your pet with a box or a cushion to sleep. This is an location in which they will really feel comfy and safe, and they will quite often pick out their own spot to make their residence.

Providing them with a litter box is necessary, and cats are normally easily trained to use the box in accordance with their habits of cleanliness. Litter wants to be changed on a normal basis, as cats will regularly not go to the toilet in an unclean environment.

An simple and easy cat training tip is to function with your cat over a few weeks and figure out which type of litter they like most effective. There are a awesome assortment of diverse litters and you may perhaps acquire that 1 works far better than another.

, and will sometimes sharpen them as required on tree trunks and the like. If yours is solely an indoor cat, you could locate that your cat will use furniture to sharpen its claws which can result in gouges or scratch marks. A cat training tip to stay away from this problem is to offer your pet with an option selection such as a scratching post. Rewarding your cat for working with the scratching post can be accomplished in the form of little treats, and they will soon find out to use the post rather of the furniture.

Cats will invest hours grooming themselves, usually swallowing hair in the method. Cat care also consists of brushing your cat on a typical basis to minimise the occurrence of huge hair balls becoming swallowed.

Part of cat care consists of monitoring the well being of your pet. Please keep in mind that your cat ought to have vaccinations at an early age and normally these are legally needed. Monitoring your cat for changes in behaviour is also crucial, and if any important changes are noticed, it is generally a fine thought to consult a veterinarian. Taking care of your cat will make sure a lengthy and lasting relationship.

House Cat Training: Dealing With Furniture Scratching

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Does your cat scratches your preferred fabulous furniture? Well, scratch is component of your cats life. Your Cat's instict commands the pet to scratch in order to be comfy and really feel wonderful. Is there any home cat training approach to avoid or minimize scratching?

Very first lets see why cats will need to scratch on furniture or objects. It is simply because they will need to replace the outer sheath of their claws with a newer claw. And a brand new claw is one of the most importand issues for your cat.

So how to you train your residence cat to prevent scratching?

1. 1 strategy suggests that the cat's claws need to be tipped with smaller plastic caps which are glued to the claws. Of course the cat will by no means stop scratching but utilizing caps is a beneficial residence cat training strategy to stop damage when your cat scratches some thing.

two. One other fantastic practise would be to make use of scratching posts. You can purchase a scratching post from any pet store. Put the post near the location exactly where the cat usually takes a nap. All cats really like to scratch immediately after a fantastic sleep.

three. Do not yell at your cat or punish it in any way. By no means hit your cat! As I said earlier the cat scratches by instict and can not associate your punishment or hitting with the reality of scratching. There are men and women who perform de-clawing for aesthetic or shelfish reasons. Of course I would in no way advise such a violent approach. This has absolutely nothing to do with home cat training.

4. One more not so nice house cat training technique to stop scratching is to use repellants. You can get them in any pet store. Spray the repellant strategically on places that are most likely to be scratched by your cat.

five. A similar technique is the use of double sided sticky tapes. Stick pieces of the tape on the furniture and your cat will quit scratching. But would you like your furniture covered with sticky tapes?

6. It is a truth that cats do not like the smell of citrus. In reality they hate it. So a fantastic residence cat training practise would be to spray some lemon juice on specific targeted areas where your cat is about to scratch.

These are some of the residence cat training methods to stop your cat from scratching your favorite furniture or objects. I hope you discovered the facts worth reading.

How Cat Training Can Fix Your Cat's Behavior Problems

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A large number of men and women believe that it's only dogs that need to have to be trained. This is just a myth. Cats behavior improves significantly and your relationship strengthens with you and your cat when you have imployed a little cat training. Plus, cat training sessions give your cat some thing to focus their energy on. Many cats turn out to be destructive if they naturally have a lot of energy and they do not burn it off.

Do not be alarmed. Many people today have heard that training a cat is complicated given that cats are stubborn and independent. It certainly can be if you use the wrong methods. Then again training a cat employing the ideal techniques is simple in particular once you have a general understanding of how a cat learns. You require to maintain in mind that a cat learns by means of experiences sort of like a little child. Your cat learns to avoid  they will prevent performing issues that are unpleasant. They will spend extra time doing things that bring them attention, praise, pleasure and of course treats!

So why are so numerous cats untrained? Nicely, some people today that own cats are creating a giant mistake! They are rewarding their cat when their cat is behaving badly. Those cat owners are not doing it on purpose. If reality countless of them do not know they are doing this. A fast example would be if your cat is excessively meowing and you stop them by holding them or feeding them. Properly, your cat just associated becoming loud and obnoxious with really like and food so you can anticipate they are going to do this behavior extra frequently to get want they want.

Cat owners are frustrated and confused when their cat training practices are not prosperous. Nicely, if you are trying to train them like a dog it won't function. Using punishment to train your cat like making use of a spray bottle to spray your cat when they are performing some thing wrong doesn't make them afraid of behaving badly it just makes them stay away from you because you are the one spraying them. If you are are the 1 creating the environment unpleasant they associate the punishment with you.

1 significant cat behavior difficulty that cat owners have is that their cat is not using their litter box. This is a very good place to start off eliminating anything your cat finds unpleasant. Cats are private animals and want privacy when utilizing their litter box. Here you would put the litter box in a quiet low visitors area. It is very important to keep the litter box clean as nicely. No one likes to use a dirty toilet. One more reason a cat won't use their litter box is since it's shared with an additional cat. They want their own space and will obtain a location to get rid of where they'll get privacy.

What do you do if your cat is scratching up your house. You need to know that your cat scratches out of naturaly instinct. This is not some thing that can or really should be stopped. Your cat scratching to groom their nails, relieve anxiety, and mark their territoy. The only ways to quit cat scratching is to obtain a some thing that is ok for them to scratch on and praise them for utilizing it. To encourage your cat to use the scratching post or whatever you decide to obtain them rub a small catnip on it. They'll get in the habit of utilizing the post and leave your stuff alone.

To have a healthy relationship with your cat prevent punishment at all expenses, and bear in mind they adore attention. Well known belief is that cat are anit-social nothing cat be further from the truth. They are just independent. Cat's will do anything for a small attention just make positive to give to them when they are not misbehaving or you will reinforce that poor behavior with a pleasant association. An fundamental note to remember is to take your cat to the vet before you choose their bad habit is a behavioral dilemma. They may well be ill and will need medical attention and that is why they are acting out.

Take a little time to fully grasp your cat. It will strengthen your relationship with them and keep their behavior under control.

Cat Behavior Problems Solved

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At some point in just about every cat owner's relationship with their feline, the day will come when the cat misbehaves. It is a reality of pet life sooner or later, your cat will do something that, to him, seems like typical cat behavior and to you seems like a bad feline offense. When that happens, it's valuable to keep in mind that no matter now inappropriate or inconvenient the behavior, most feline acts are really normal -- for your cat. Simply understanding the normal behavior of cats can assist you live with (and even appreciate) your cat's eccentricities.

What kinds of behavior problems exist in our pet cats? The most common, by far, is urination and defecation outside the litter box. Chances are superior that every single cat will have an "accident" at least once in her life soon after all, cats naturally seek unsoiled areas in which to do their business. No matter if or not a single event will develop into a repeated dilemma is unclear, but by far your safest bet is to attempt to stop this from happening in the 1st location. As a general rule, you need to have at least one litter box for every cat in your residence (single cats benefit from having at least two boxes). Another formula to use is the one-box-per-cat-plus-1-box rule: So if you live with 3 cats, up to four boxes should really be utilized. Having enough boxes ensures that each cat will continually be able to come across a box that is clean, convenient, safe and private.

A different cause of out-of-box accidents is urine spraying, which is often a territorial behavior. It is most beneficial treated by lowering the environmental or social anxiety that caused it. If your cat does miss the box 1 day, a potential headache may well be averted by looking for assist suitable away.

The social behavior of cats is also frequently doesn't jive with our expectations. A large number of cat owners make an incorrect assumption that cats are happiest in numbers. In truth, given the selection, countless cats will either live alone or will develop relationships only with a choose group of other people. Introducing an unfamiliar second or third cat into a household regularly leads to lengthy-term conflicts. Cats are creatures of habit, like most animals, and introducing an additional cat to the group can sometimes upset the social balance. Cat owners are understandably upset when their pets hiss and bat at 1 an additional. Understanding that 1 cat's irritability does not imply "hatred" toward an additional can support owners live far more peaceably with cat behavior. When conflicts occasionally result in fighting or loud chases, the challenge can commonly be helped by a expert.

The rules of feline social behavior also extend to human family members members. It is typical, once again, for cats to occasionally assert themselves. Some cats, for example, simply do not get pleasure from long petting sessions, and may bite the hand extended to them other people will tolerate and invite endless stroking. Such personality differences can't be changed, and the most harmonious households are those that accept them. But if irritability or aggression is severe and has the potential to harm family members members, it is advisable to seek professional instruction and support.

Less severe, but equally bothersome behaviors contain middle-of-the-night crying and playfulness, jumping on kitchen counters, and clawing the pricey furniture. Cats have their nightly function to do, following all, and few will miss an opportunity to do something that they think of enjoyable. For cat lovers, such misbehaviors commonly double as endearing personality traits. It could be reassuring to know, nevertheless, that assist is available if lack of sleep, paw prints on the counter or puddles on the floor become a challenge.

Solving Litter Box Problems - Harmful Mistakes Cat Owners Make

It can be very frustrating when your cat stops using her litter box. Suddenly everything in your home can become a potential target of urine. Litter box aversion is the most common problem of clients call me on and in many cases, those customers are at the end of his rope. Nothing sends a cat to a shelter as fast as the question of the litter box. Unfortunately, many cats are relinquished to shelters, abandoned or euthanized because of litter box problems could have helped. Litter box problems cause owners to react emotionally and sometimes irrational. sight or smell of cat pee on the sofa or carpet cherished dearly easily short-circuit people patience.

Harmful mistakes owners make

Waiting too long to do something about it . I can 't you tell you how many times the owners call me and ask for immediate consultation, because they were planning on getting a cat to a shelter for several days. The problem usually lasts for weeks, months, maybe even years, and then the owner reaches the point of fracture. more problem goes, it is difficult to correct. Do not wait.

Assuming the problem behavior . Many behavior problems are the underlying medical causes. Many cats suffer in pain, because the owner takes the cause of litter box aversion is due to behavior problems when, in fact, it could be due to lower urinary tract, kidney failure, diabetes, or any number of medical issues. Whenever a cat showing the changes in behavior should have it checked by a veterinarian.

punishment . This is so counter-productive it is heartbreaking. Rubbing your cat's nose in her mess, spanking, yelling, time out, or any other form of punishment does nothing to help her retrain and, in fact, can make the situation worse. If your cat is peeing outside the litter box she does it because she feels she has no other options. If you punish her ​​for adding to her stress, potentially creating added to the fear of you in this process, and it May start retaining her urine (which is medically harmful) for as long as she can for fear of being penalized. Hitting a cat is also inhumane and harmful to the process of behavior change. Hands should never be used as a weapon. How can you ever expect a cat to trust you and if you do not know if the hand comes close to it will pet her or hit her? Fear, intimidation, and pain is not appropriate behavior modification tool. Do not let your frustration over the behavior problems get the best of you, because your relationship with your cat will suffer.

Not finding the real cause of . Animals must not repeat the behavior, unless you serve a function. If kitty is eliminating outside the litter box there is a valid reason for it. The reason for this is certainly not acceptable from an owner's point of view, but the cat is trying to solve the problem in the best way she knows how. Let's look at a few examples: Maybe she eliminates outside the box, because it's too dirty. While you think that May grab a box every day or so is adequate, May your cat does not feel that is clean enough. It can be eliminated in other areas of the house, because they are cleaner. Perhaps she is peeing in the dining room, because every time she tries to go in the litter box she gets ambushed by a companion cat. Perhaps her dining room offers a more escape potential , because she can see her opponent approaching from a distance and has more room to run. You May have found a litter box that is very private, but the cat mind policy limits her ability to feel safe. Another example might be that a box that is located in the city unappealing. Maybe it's in the basement, where she has to go up and down the stairs. There are many other reasons your cat May feel it necessary to choose an alternate location for the litter box. If you just set deterrents without getting to the source of the problem she will just continue to look for other locations.

Since it is inconsistent . Cats are creatures of habit and they take comfort in knowing that things in their environment is not going to change on a daily basis. Whether your desire to switch to another brand of litter, the fact that you like rearranging furniture, or an irresistible urge to buy cat food that is on sale this week, a sudden change is traumatic for the cats. I had one client who could not decide where he wanted the litter box located in his house and moved up each day as an experiment. The experiment ended in disaster because his cat could not keep up with daily disappearing act. Introduce changes in your cat lives in a gradual manner. If you want to switch brands of litter to slowly adding a bit of litter in the current brand, and then increasing the amount over several days. When introducing another cat in the household to do it gradually, and cats get a chance to adjust. Cats do not want to be surprised.