Talk:Cat training

More edits
This article reads too much as a how-to article ... I would put a tag on it if I could find one! So I thought I'd try to fix it up a bit. I hope the author(s) don't mind too much that I am excising some of the how-to material and revising other areas. I'm going to explain what I'm doing here.

I changed the heading of "Dominance" to "Independence" ... added comments from Jackson Galaxy about toilet training being discouraged.

Problem behaviors ... "having fecal rings on anus"? what is that? I took it out. "scratching eyeballs"? I'd just say aggression toward people or other animals. For "flinging feces after using litter box" I would just say inappropriate elimination.

Under Tricks: This sentence is too much how-to: "It often helps to expand upon an activity that the cat appears to do naturally (such as is done with dolphins); for example, a cat that routinely plays with a specific toy with its human may be taught to fetch more easily than the cat who does not seem to care for human interaction when playing." For this type of instruction people can go and read a book (perhaps one that I've added under "further reading!")

Then comes a category I don't understand: "Cat behaviour training" - then this sentence: "It is important to learn a cat's behaviour before training commences. " What does this mean? The article would benefit from fewer headings and more content with a few headings, so I'm going to delete this category and merge it into tricks.

"Thus, a cat can just a very far distance from a stand still. " - a typo here, perhaps meaning "jump"? Then it says: "Knowing this behaviour, a cat is likely to be able to learn tricks involving jumping through hoops, sticks and off scratching posts. " - sounds like we are talking about a physical ability more than a behaviour.

"When training a cat, it is important to allow a cat to use and play on its natural instincts. When opening a can of food or door, a cat will most likely hear this from a far distance. This is because of its unique ability to hear things and smell things. These abilities can be used to the trainers advantage. " - again this is all how-to that doesn't belong.

More how-to under "commands for cats" "An owner must always teach a cat one new trick at a time. A cat can easily lose focus or become confused if too many tricks are being taught at once. An owner can however reinforce old tricks that have already been mastered. "

"Commands for cats" as a heading can be rolled together with the heading "Tricks". I'm moving this comment from Commands for Cats to the new "Independence" section: "Cats like to do things in their own time. Training them involves much motivation, cooperation, time and patience from their human. "

"Rules for training a cat" sounds like too much how-to ... I'm going to move this comment to the "problem behavior" section: "Consult with a veterinarian about any medical causes that could be leading to behavioural problems before trying to train it out of the cat. " (edited a bit to sound less "how to"). The other two rules given are: "Wherever possible, favour incentives over deterrents. A cat’s natural preference to be gently persuaded into doing something can be used to the owner’s advantage. and The bond between an owner and cat must not be impaired through the training of the cat. " The comment about positive reinforcement is already there at the beginning of the article. The bond issue is more how-to as written here. Actually training together can improve the bond, one of the benefits ... would be good to add in later.

Canadianknowledgelover (talk) 09:38, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

Expanding This Stub
I noticed that this is a stub article. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to work on adding to and expanding upon the information here, with the hopes of moving this article out of the stub category. I also think the article could benefit from some reorganization and addition of headings. I will note major / overarching changes on the talk page, but if anyone has a question or concern about specific changes, please communicate with me here! - SamDiamond88 (talk) 20:29, 5 March 2015 (UTC)

Added text and references to build out the section on House training, including subsections for Litter box training and Toilet training. SamDiamond88 (talk) 18:32, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Created a heading for Training methods, with the subsections "Positive reinforcement" and "Clicker training." I then merged the "Independence" section into the Positive reinforcement section, because it seemed like all of the information under that heading (on cats' independent nature) was support for the method of positive reinforcement training. SamDiamond88 (talk) 18:32, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Added more specific information, with subsections for specific behaviors, under the heading "Problem behaviors." This section could benefit from more references. SamDiamond88 (talk) 18:32, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Edited the introduction to summarize more accurately the content within the article. -SamDiamond88 (talk) 18:15, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Removed the "Kitten Training" subheading, as there does not seem to be enough information or references for this to warrant its own section. -SamDiamond88 (talk) 18:15, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Please add class template
Please add class template -Reagle (talk) 14:28, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Class Feedback

 * The introduction could use some expanding. It may be interesting to talk about other types of animal training, and history of cat training (if that info is accessible).
 * The phrase "The scent from urine and feces provide important signs that they own the territory, and if flushed away, there is a greater chance that inappropriate elimination will crop up" in the toilet training paragraph...I'm unsure what "inappropriate elimination will crop up" means
 * In problem behaviors, expand on ways to train a cat against using these behaviors.
 * Good job! -Shannclark (talk) 19:19, 11 March 2015 (UTC)


 * I agree with the intro needing to be expanded. I also think you dont really need the "Kitten Training" part, but if you keep it, maybe add more to it. Overall I think its great! Good job!Sydneys92 (talk) 21:20, 30 March 2015 (UTC)