Some people will tell you that cat training is a fruitless endeavor. The common wisdom is that cats do their own thing and couldn’t care in the least what you want them to do. That may be true to some extent, however, cat training is possible. It may be difficult to train a cat to do tricks, but even that is not impossible. You certainly can, however, modify cat behavior and make life with your cat more pleasant for both you and your cat as he learns good behavior.

When I was much younger and much more patience I did some cat training in the more classical sense. I trained a couple of kittys to sit up lay down and do other simple tricks. The cats are actually pretty good at performing the tricks about 70% of the time. Unfortunately, I no longer have the patience or the time for that type of cat training.

Cats are intelligent animals, but felines also have their own agenda. If you are going to try cat training to modify your cat’s behavior you need to either provide rewards for the cat or get the cat to recognize the negative consequences of the behavior.

You need to avoid having the cat associate bad consequences with you. Otherwise, instead of learning to avoid the negative behavior they will be learning to avoid you. For example, if you want your can’t stop jumping on the counter you need to make it unpleasant for the cat to be on the counter and not yell at him or chase him away. Placing something unpleasant for the cat such as sticky paper or aluminum foil on the counter can do the trick. That demonstrates one good approach to Training.

Positive rewards for positive behaviors works well in cat training just as it does for training other pets. If there is a particular type of tree at your kitty enjoys you can reinforce positive behavior with the treat. That is cat training though positive reinforcement.

Cat training for good behavior is not only possible, it is necessary to to keep the felines and humans of the household happy.

Have you ever seen a mother cat discipline and unruly kitten? You can bet she doesn’t stand there and say bad cat. She grabs the kitten by the back of the neck and holds it down until the kitten calms down. This is called scruffing the cat. Scruffing can be a very effective means of cat training when your cat is getting out of control.

Cat scruffing should be reserved for those times when your cat’s behavior is totally out of control. A good example would be if your cat starts biting you during playtime. It is important to use good cat training to stop this type of behavior before it becomes habit.

You are going to play a mother cat, but you obviously are not going to use your mouth to hold the kitten down. However, you need to simulate the mother cat’s behavior.

Your cat training by scruffing the cat is accomplished with the following steps:

Firmly but gently grasp the cat by the loose skin at the back of his neck. This is called the scruff.

You will then firmly but gently hold the cat against the ground and make a hissing sound just like the mother cat would.

You will continue to hold the cat down until he becomes a calm. You can tell that the cat is calm when his body relaxes and he is no longer struggling to get away.

Once your kitty has calmed down you can release him and gently stroke or cuddle him to let him know he is safe.

Remember, one of many Training methods that can be effective and scrauffing the cat should only be used when the cat is out of control and when the scruffing can be done immediately after or during the behavior.

There are many reasons for your cat to like being on counters and tables. Just like their wild counterparts house cats like to be on a high perch where they can see what is around them and feel safe and comfortable. Counters and tables also often contain food scraps or smells of foods that your cat would enjoy.

You really can’t blame your cat for wanting to be on counters and tables, however, most people prefer to keep cats off these surfaces. The question becomes how do you convince your cat to keep off the counters and tables.

As you probably already know it is not easy to change a cat’s behavior when the cat does not want to change. Most cats do not like change and will continue their habits until convinced otherwise.

What kind of cat training methods can you use to change stubborn cat behavior? When it comes to methods to keep cats off counters and tables you need to make those places less inviting for your cat.

Your first step in cat training is training yourself to make sure counters and tables are very clean and free of cat attracting food crumbs and smells. This will give your cat less reason to be on the counters and tables.

Taking this cat training one step further you can place something on the counters and tables that will discourage your cat from jumping up there. You can use aluminum foil, double-sided tape, or anything else that your cat would not enjoy standing on. You may need to keep this material on the counters and tables until your cat is convinced those are not places he wishes to be. Eventually you should be able to remove these items once the cat training is complete.

This kind of cat training is much more effective than scolding your cat and chasing him away every time he jumps on a counter or table. Chasing your cat just teaches him that you are a mean person and someone to be avoided. Not only that, he will just learn to stay off the counters and tables when you are not there. That is not very effective cat training.