5 Tricks You Can Teach Your Cat with Treat Training

A lot of people don't think cats can be trained. The popular image of a cat as an independent, aloof individual that only really lives with you because you provide food and shelter is pervasive, but inaccurate.

Of course, you and I know that our lovable little furballs are extremely trainable. It's not even all that hard, if you do it right! It's just a little different than it is with dogs, so you need to be sure you're training your cat the right way.

Treat training is one of the easiest ways to train a cat, as long as your cat is food motivated. Today, I wanted to go over treat training and explain five great tricks you can teach your cat using the method. Interested? Read on!

How to Teach Your Cat with Treat Training

First, what is treat training, and how does it work with cats?

Treat training is a kind of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is part of the four-quadrant operant conditioning model that has been well-studied in the field of psychology since its development in the late 1800s. The four quadrants are:

• Negative Punishment: Remove something good as a penalty for a bad behavior.

• Positive Punishment: Add something bad as a penalty for bad behavior.

• Negative Reinforcement: Either remove something bad as a reward for good behavior, or add something bad to trigger avoidance of the bad behavior.

• Positive Reinforcement: Add something good as a reward for good behavior.

All four of these have roles in various kinds of training, but most of them don't work on creatures like cats and dogs. The more complex the relationship between cause and effect, the less likely an animal is to understand it. Also, some of these can be considered cruel; using a loud noise or spray bottle to dissuade a cat from a behavior only serves to stress them out and hurt your bond with them, right?

With both cats and dogs, by far the most reliably useful of these is positive reinforcement. Identify a behavior you want to see and, when you see it, give your kitty a reward. In our case, that's a high-value treat, hence the term "treat training".

How Does Treat Training Work?

In concept, treat training is very simple. In practice, it can be harder than it sounds.

The main process looks like this:

1. Pick a behavior you want to reward. For example, coming to you when you call their name.

2. Set up a situation to trigger the appropriate behavior. Stand a few feet from your cat and call their name, and encourage them to come to you.

3. When the behavior occurs, give them the reward immediately. When your cat comes to you, give them a bit of their treat.

4. Repeat the process. Move a few feet away and call them again.

5. Add complexity to further reinforce the behavior. Move further away, or call them from another room, or add distractions like toys.

6. Gradually reduce the reward. Once your cat associates a positive outcome with a behavior reliably, they'll perform that behavior, and you won't need the reward anymore.

And that's it!

So, why is it so tricky?

For one thing, some cats are almost too proactive. If your cat is really clingy and refuses to leave your side, especially if they know you're holding a treat, you can't really train them to come to you, right? Well, you can, but it's harder.

Some cats are also surprisingly not food-motivated. I'll have more on what to do if your cat doesn't care about treats near the end of this post.

It can also be difficult to set up the right kinds of situations to train a behavior. For example, if you want to train your cat not to scratch the furniture, you can't exactly set up a situation where they're encouraged to scratch. You need to be very vigilant with their natural behavior and distract them instead. Dissuading behaviors is a lot harder than encouraging them.

Finally, you need to be consistent and proactive while you're training. If you're too slow with the treats, you might accidentally reward a different behavior. If you're inconsistent with rewards too early, the association doesn't develop as strongly. Consistency is key.

Five Tricks to Train Your Cat with Treat Training

Now, let's dig into five cool tricks you can teach your cat using trick training.

Trick #1: Come!

The first trick I like to teach is also one of the big obedience tricks with dogs: coming to you when called. Personally, I think this is a very important trick to teach, so much so that I wrote a dedicated post about it. It helps you keep your cat safe, can help you recover them if they get lost outside, and is just a fun thing to do when you want a little feline affection.

I already described the process in my example above, too. Just stand near them, call them, reward them when they come to you, step away, and repeat. Gradually add distance and complexity until they can reliably come to you even if they're in another room. Then, reduce the treats until they just come when you call them.

This is a great first trick to teach for a few reasons. For one thing, a food-motivated cat will already be happy to come to you when you have a treat. For another, it's a good starting point for several other tricks. And really, that little chirp they do when they hear and start trotting over is so adorable!

Trick #2: Fetch!

Fetch is a great second trick. For one thing, half of it is already done when you've trained them to come to you. For another, it's just enough of a trick that it stands out and helps you show off your obedient cat to your friends and family. Plus, your cat is already going to be pretty highly motivated to chase and catch something you throw, since it tickles their prey drive.

Start with a frisky cat and a toy they like to chase. Toss the toy and say your keyword, like "fetch" or "get it!" to associate a command. When they grab it, use your "come" command to get them to bring it back and trade it for a treat.

Escalate this training by tossing it further away or into strange places like behind a piece of furniture or around a corner. Soon enough, your kitty will be playing fetch like the best canine companion.

Trick #3: Shake or High Five!

Another very trick-like trick is a paw, shake, or high-five style trick. This is a little different to train, but still follows the same concept.

Start by holding a treat in your hand where your cat knows it's there. Hold it up above them, where they have to sit up or even stand to reach it, but low enough that they don't have to jump for it. You want a reach, not a leap.

As they stand to reach for it, tap their paw with your hand, say your key phrase (like "high five!"), and give them the treat.

As you repeat this trick for training, focus on their paw movement, and make sure to tap their paw. Over time, they'll get that the tap is what you're aiming for, and you can start reducing the treats and just keep the behavior.

Trick #4: Jump!

This one is an old circus trick. You can use a hoop or stick to do it, or just an arm or other object. The idea is that you train your cat to jump over a bar or through a hoop when you hold it out and give them the command.

Start low and simple. Place your hoop or bar just a little over their normal standing height, and hold the treat on the far side of it. You can use your "come" command to get them to come to you through it, but make sure to add in your "jump" command as well.

Gradually, raise how high you hold the bar or hoop. You want your cat to jump through it, not just ignore it and come to you. Eventually, you can get this to be your standing height! Just make sure you aren't encouraging them to jump into or onto something they shouldn't.

A variation of this is a jump up to your arms or onto your shoulders. This can be a fun trick to get your cat to come greet you when you get home!

Trick #5: Bed!

This is the "sit and stay" of cat training. Identify a bed, mat, box, or other space that you designate as your cat's "home" for them to sit and stay at. Place it somewhere safe and visible. Then, lead your cat to it.

When your cat steps onto the mat, bed, or box, say your "on your bed" command and reward them.

Expand this over time:

• Start from further from the bed, while still only rewarding them when they go to it.

• Add a delay between them reaching their bed and getting the treat, to encourage them to stay.

• Move the bed around the house to ensure that your cat is associating the trick with the bed, not the spot in the house.

This is another great trick for safety, too; if you have people over or doors open, getting your cat to go to their bed and stay there is a great way to prevent them from slipping outside and getting lost.

Frequently Asked Questions about Treat Training Cats

There's a lot to treat training that is worth covering, but didn't quite fit up above, so I'm adding more down here. If you have a question about the process or about the tricks, feel free to ask me in the comments, too!

What kinds of treats can I use for treat training?

You want a treat your cat finds irresistible. But, you also want a treat that won't be harmful to them if they get more than a couple bites over the course of your training. It's no good to give your fur baby a health issue while you're teaching them a trick, right?

The usual go-to treat is a dedicated cat treat. If you want to try it, some people food can be allowed, if your cat likes it. Things like apples, bits of cheese, bits of egg, certain berries, or a bit of cooked seafood can all be fine, though you want to make sure they have no seasonings or other harmful ingredients.

Meanwhile, you want to avoid anything that can be harmful to your cat. A lot of human foods are toxic to cats, so be sure of what you're giving them!

What do I do if my cat isn't food motivated?

Most cats are highly motivated by treats, but some are a little abnormal and aren't going to care much about them. They might just not like the treats you have, or they might have been over-rewarded and don't consider them special anymore, or they may have developed a negative response to them at some time in the past.

Most likely, though, your cat isn't food motivated because of free feeding. If you generally keep a bowl of cat food sitting out for your cat to graze on, why would they care more about a treat when they can just go get food when they want it?

Free feeding isn't usually a good idea for most cats, and can lead to weight and behavioral issues. When done right, it can be part of weight management, but you need to be deliberate with it. It's still better to have defined mealtimes instead of free feeding, though.

If you make that change and your cat still doesn't like treats, you'll just need to find another reward that they enjoy. Some cats love to be scratched or brushed, for example. You can also try higher-value treats. Sometimes, you just need to find the treat that really triggers your feline friend's neurons. With a non-food-motivated cat, your job gets harder, but it's still possible.

What about a clicker? Should I use a clicker to help with training?

That's up to you. I have a whole article on clicker training for cats, complete with pros, cons, and how to do it. It can be a useful tool, especially if you want to train your cat to do a lot of different tricks! But, it also has some downsides, including the simple fact that a sudden, sharp noise can itself be a negative stimulus and hurt your training.

So, there you have it; my guide to training your cat using treat training. Have you tried this method and taught your cat to do tricks? If so, how many tricks, and how did it go? I'd love to hear your stories, so let me know!