Teaching the command “To me!”
Perhaps, your cat has already learnt how to come to you. You may just take the special knife for cans if you feed the cat with canned food or shake the box with dry food and the cat appears before you in spite a some room distance between you and your pet.
it’s very interesting. Why does you cat come to you when it hears these sounds? it’s because it has the clear motivation. If it comes to those sounds it means that they are always followed by feeding. There is no negative position for cat in this case. It is never disappointed or abused. If you tap your cat every time it comes up to you hearing the sounds of can knife and if you don’t feed it, it will soon, very soon stop coming to you hearing these sounds. But, of course, now you won’t tap the cat. In addition, what will be if you splash it with anti-flea spray, or immediately put it into the bath or car if you are going to the veterinary? Do you understand the main idea? If you call the cat come to you and do something unpleasant the cat won’t be motivated to come to you again?
Can knife is always constant. It always makes the some sounds. And it is very important in teaching. Sound mustn’t have emotions. The sounds of dry food in the box or can knife doesn’t change. But your voice can be changed. If you shout on your cat ordering to come to you it won’t come. Cats are not silly, so they won’t come to a sad, angry and irritate man. While teaching the animal make sure that your voice sound on a middle tone. The pleasant tone of your voice can make the teaching process easier for you and for your cat.
But there is a positive point here too: if your cat learned to come to can knife sounds it will learn to come to your voice. Everything you need is to be as good teacher as the can knife is.
Begin from the choosing of the necessary award. Pay your attention to the cat’s own tastes. If it prefers fruit use fruit. If it likes mutton let it be mutton. This is not a suitable period for finding fault with the cat, so use what it likes.
As like as you do during the teaching of other difficult commands try to start from the end and go on to the beginning. That’s funny, but that’s right. As for the command “To me!” that means that you should start when the cat is near you. Then you will move from it every time before it begins to follow your order from the distance.
If the cat doesn’t want to move forward even in one foot distance to take the delicacy from your hand why will you try to make it do the same in ten feet distance? Besides, if the cat doesn’t want to go and take the delicacy that means it isn’t hungry or it doesn’t like the delicacy. In both cases you should change something. Feed it after lessons. Give less food to your cat during the days when you teach it. Use the other delicacy. In general, make the delicacy work.
As soon as the cat starts to express the readiness, you may start. Start teaching the cat to the command when the cat is near. Call it by name and say “To me!” with the lively tone and normal pitch of voice. After that give the delicacy to it immediately. Repeat the procedure for some times before it will catch the delicacy impatiently just after your words “To me!” Everything you need now is to connect in cat’s mind the words “To me!” and praises and tasty prizes.
As soon as you reach the good results (for some cats it’ll take some minutes and for the other about some lessons), go away from the cat at distance of some feet. Say “To me!”, show the delicacy to it and make it go after you. I enjoy making the cat sit when it comes up to me so I add the command “Sit!”
When your cat does everything perfectly make some steps away from it if it approaches to you. Now it has to walk five or six feet forward and sit down after your command. Then begin to command “To me!” when the cat is the other side of the room. If it comes up to you immediately give the delicacy to it and praise your pet. If it doesn’t then come up to it, hold the delicacy before the cat’s nose and make some steps back to the place where you called it from at first. Praise it and induce follow you. If it does that, praise it. If it doesn’t, stop the lesson, take the delicacy away and try again lately.
Now you can add funny elements to the lesson. When the cat is in a good mood you may play the “To me!” game with it in the whole house or apartment. Begin with the easy task and constantly complicate it when the cat reaches some positive results. As your cat is watching you, try to go away from its range of vision behind the door or in the corner and call the cat. When it tries to find you, praise it even if you don’t see it. Praise is very important in this case, especially if you are out of the cat’s range of vision. As soon as the cat finds you, praise it and award it with delicacy. Be ready to praise the cat before it finds you wherever you are!
it’s important to continue praising while it is looking for you to make it understand where you are and to provide the motivation of searching. If you sit there silently you won’t help it, and it may happen that you’ll sit there alone for a long time. Of course, it isn’t the exam, it is just the game. If the cat meets some difficulties while looking for you, help it to solve the problem to reach the success. Only the success promote the achievement of object. You should think about the game but not about the difficulties.
Here is one secondary effect of that you are the only person in the house who trains the cat. Your four-legged friend may think that words “To me!” mean that only it must run to you in spite of the fact who has said that words. So, don’t be surprised if the cat runs up to you at first times when the other man commands “To me!” it’s easy to change that. Let that man repeat the command “To me!” for some times from the short distance and while doing that he should give as more delicacies to the cat as it’s possible. Cat will soon understand the main idea of the new game.
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