Training with Treats

[Jack]

I'm trying to train my new cat (5yo) not to jump onto the neighbour's
fence. She gets down when I call 'No', which is remarkable in itself
and I guess shows she has history with a previous owner, and I then
reward her with a treat (she luuurves ham-off-the-bone).

Am I rewarding her for obeying me, or am I rewarding her for jumping up
on the fence? I don't want to reward her if it's going to cause the
behaviour to repeat!

Thank you.

[Sandra]

I think you may be making the problem worse! One of my cats will give me a
paw rather like a dog to get a treat; and if he really wants a treat when it
hasn't even occurred to me, he will lift a paw and look at me..

--
Sandra

[Monique Y. Mudama]

On 2005-03-13, Jack penned:
> I'm trying to train my new cat (5yo) not to jump onto the neighbour's fence.
> She gets down when I call 'No', which is remarkable in itself and I guess
> shows she has history with a previous owner, and I then reward her with a
> treat (she luuurves ham-off-the-bone).
>
> Am I rewarding her for obeying me, or am I rewarding her for jumping up on
> the fence? I don't want to reward her if it's going to cause the behaviour
> to repeat!
>

I'm worried it might be the latter.

I had a similar problem with Oscar. She would wake me up by rustling whatever
she could find in the bedroom. I'd say, "Oscar, no!" in a firm voice. She'd
jump up on the bed and purr, and I'd pet her for being a "good girl" and
stopping the racket.

Fast forward a bit, and I eventually (it's hard to think clearly when you're
half asleep) realized that she had me trained -- she'd make some noise, wait
for me to wake up, then run up to get her skritches. *sigh*

Now I'm trying to retrain her by moving her to the basement the first time
she's noisy, and most certainly not petting her for making noise!

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

[Marion]

The cat brain is so mysterious! Shortly after I rescued my very first
cat, Pepper, 15 years ago, I picked up and read a book that insisted
that cats could be "trained".

Well, Pep seemed quite clever, so I followed the instructions for a
couple of days, and he actually leaped up onto a chair whenever I said
"Up!" Naturally, I gave him a treat as a reward.

You know what's coming .... an hour or so later I was working in the
kitchen when I heard loud and insistent mieows. I turned around to see
Pep on his training chair, demanding his reward!

So who had trained whom?

Marion