TEACHING AN OLD CAT NEW “CLICKS”
Pat Miller
© 2000, Pat Miller/Peaceable Paws, LLC All Rights Reserved
Behold the cat; independent free-thinker of the animal world. Conventional wisdom says you can’t train a cat. Ask a cat to sit and she’s more likely to roll over. Conventional wisdom is wrong.
Sit up. Lie down. Go To Your Place. Fetch. Turn Off The Light.
These sound like things you’d ask a dog to do. Would you be surprised to learn that you can teach your cat to perform these and many other behaviors on cue? All you need is your cat, her favorite treats and a clicker for positive reinforcement, a creative mind, and patience. As with dogs, it’s easiest to start trasining when your cat is a kittne, but it is never to late... you can teach an old cat new tricks!
We perceive domestic cats as untrainable because they are not a social species like dogs and humans are. African lions aside, most felines are solitary souls. They come together to breed but generally raise their young alone, and live their lives in relative isolation. (Many of the behavior problems that arise in multi-cat households are a result of forcing members of a solitary species to live in close proximity to each other. But that’s another article...)
Until recently, the unfortunate model for companion animal training was the traditional force-based, compulsion method used to train dogs since World Wars I and II. Some of the soldiers who trained and handled dogs in the wars came home to become professional dog trainers, using and teaching the techniques they learned in the military. Not surprisingly, those military methods tend to be rigid, harsh and unforgiving. If the dog doesn’t sit when you tell him to, you force him to sit by jerking, pushing, pulling or prodding, then praise him when he does. The dog learns to sit when told in order to avoid the unpleasant results of “not sitting.”
This method works with a fair number of dogs because of their pack instincts (although positive reinforcement is a better way to train dogs as well). The appeasing behaviors dogs use to try to stop the punishing collar jerks – ears flattened, tail wagging, licking, wiggling – are misperceived as an eagerness to please us, the human leaders of their pack. Canines are genetically programmed to accept being pushed around by more dominant members of the pack. Felines are not. Try to force your cat to do something by jerking her neck and patting her on the head afterwards, and she’s likely to look at you as if to say, “What, are you nuts?!” That is, if she hasn’t already scratched your arms and fled behind the sofa. Appeasing you is the last thing on her mind. If, however, you use positive training methods -- a clicker, and rewards that are meaningful to her -- you will have Puff wrapped around your little finger far more quickly than you could ever imagine.
What Is Clicker
Training?
Clicker training, or “C/T,” is a gentle method of training that uses a simple noise-making device to communicate clearly with our companion animals. The key to the clicker is that the Click! noise is paired with a food reward. Because most animals, including cats, are strongly motivated by food, it can be an extremely effective training tool.
Dolphins, Dogs and
Cats
Karen Pryor, of Boston Massachusetts, is a behavioral biologist who learned positive reinforcement training methods while working as a dolphin trainer at Sea Life Park in Hawaii. The methods were routinely used to train marine mammals (using a whistle as the behavior marker instead of a clicker). Pryor realized that positive reinforcement training had significant applications in the companion animal field. She introduced clicker training to the general public in 1984 through her book, “Don’t Shoot The Dog.” The method is now widely used in the dog training field, and is spilling over into the training of other animals, including horses, and yes, cats.
“Clicker training is trainer’s slang for applied operant conditioning, which is training with positive reinforcement using the principles of behavior developed by B.F. Skinner in the 1930’s,” Pryor explains. “In this system, the trainer uses treats to reward the animal for a desired behavior. The Click! sound serves as a marker signal or ‘bridge,’ that gives the animal instant feedback about what behavior is desired. The animal quickly learns to try the desired behavior again, in order to hear the Click! and get the treat. It is easy for the average animal owner to use because it is not a system that requires a lot of practice and skill, it only requires an open mind.”
Click! and Treat
Here’s how it works. We start by charging the clicker. That means we teach Puff that the Click! means she gets a treat. This is easy. Click! the clicker, then toss Puff a treat. Do it again. And again. And again. After a half-dozen to a dozen repetitions Puff starts to get the idea that Click! means Treat! You can test this by waiting until she looks away, then Click! the clicker. If she immediately looks back at you in anticipation of the treat, you know she’s got it.
Targeting
Now we can teach Puff to target. Targeting means teaching the cat to touch a target with her nose, or a paw, on cue. It is easy to teach, and once she knows how to target, we can use the touch behavior to teach lots of other tricks.
Take
a half-inch diameter (or smaller) dowel, three feet long. Tape black electrician’s tape around
one end. This is your target
stick. If you want to get fancy
you can paint it and dress it up as a magic wand, or buy a collapsible aluminum
target stick (see “Resources, back page.”) Because cats are naturally curious, when you offer the taped
end of the stick to Puff she will probably sniff it. Click! the clicker and feed her a small piece of her
favorite treat. (If she doesn’t
want to sniff the stick, rub some tasty food on the end to tempt her.) Make it easy at first, then hold the
stick farther away, so she has to move to it to touch it. Repeat this exercise until she is
eagerly touching her nose to the stick whenever you offer it. Then start using the verbal cue,
“Touch!” as she touches the stick.
After a dozen or so repetitions you can start saying “Touch” first as
the cue to touch the stick, then Click! and treat when she does. (Remember, every time you Click! she gets a treat.) Once she is touching the target stick eagerly and reliably,
you can use it to get her to jump up on different surfaces. Hold the stick over the sofa and say
touch. Presto! Puff jumps up on the sofa to touch the
stick. Click! Treat! You get the
idea. Now get creative!
Sit Up
You can use targeting to teach Puff tricks. Want her to sit up on cue? Hold the target stick just over her head and say “Touch!”. When she stretches up to touch the stick, Click! as her front paws come off the ground, then feed her the treat reward. All living things repeat behaviors that they find rewarding. Once Puff understands that lifting her front paws off the ground earns a Click! and a treat, she will offer the behavior more and more willingly. Repeat until she is doing the behavior easily when you move the target stick over her head. Now add a verbal cue such as “Sit up!” as she does the trick. After a dozen or so repetitions, start saying the cue first, then moving the target stick. Over time, you can gradually fade the stick until she ultimately sits up for the verbal cue alone. Bingo – you taught her a trick. Once she knows the trick, you don’t have to Click! and treat every time you ask her to do it – just often enough that she stays enthusiastic about offering the behavior on cue. Of course, you can Click! and treat every time if you want!
Cue vs. Command
You may have noticed that we use the word “cue” instead of “command,” and that we don’t use the verbal cue until Puff is actually doing the behavior. In traditional training, we tell (command) an animal to do something, then make him do it. In positive reinforcement training, we believe that it is our responsibility, as the supposedly more intelligent species, to be able to get Puff to offer the behavior voluntarily. Before we ask her to do something, we have to figure out how to show her what we want her to do. We often do this using the target stick or a treat (or an enticing toy) as a lure. Once we know we can get her to repeat the behavior, then we introduce the verbal cue to tell her what she is doing. English is a second language for cats. A word has no meaning to Puff until we associate that word with a particular behavior. Since we’re not going to force her to perform the behavior, there’s no point in using the word until we know that we can get her to do the behavior we want her to associate with the word.
Capturing Behaviors
We
can also use the Click! and treat to reinforce behaviors that your cat offers
all of her own accord. This is
called “capturing” a behavior.
Does Puff have that endearing feline habit of sitting on any piece of
paper you put on the ground? Put
it on cue and teach her to “go to her spot.” Just put a piece of paper on the ground and wait. You know
that sooner or later she’ll just have to park her furry derriere on it. When she does, Click! and give her a
treat. Then put down another
paper. When she sits on it, Click!
and treat. Because all living things repeat behaviors that
they are rewarding to them, you are reinforcing Puff’s natural tendency to sit
on pieces of paper. As soon as you
can predict her movement to the paper, add a verbal cue “Go To Your Spot!” as she is doing it. With ample
repetitions you will be able to send Puff to her spot on request... very handy
when you have company over for dinner and you don’t want her on the dining room
table licking the butter dish...
Shaping Behaviors
We can get Puff to offer a complete simple behavior, like sit up, all at once. More complicated behaviors, like “Turn Off The Light!” may have to be shaped. Shaping means breaking a complex behavior into small increments, and clicking and rewarding each increment until you have trained the whole thing. The increments for “Turn Off The Light” might be:
1. Touch a target with the paw. (If you already taught Puff that “Touch” means touch with her nose, you will need another cue, “Paw” for a paw touch. Use something as a target that she will likely paw at – perhaps something shiny or wiggly. Click! and reward the paw motion using the same sequence that you did for the nose touch, until you have it on verbal cue.)
2. Touch the “Paw” target in various locations.
3. Touch the “Paw” target on a chair next to the light switch.
4. Gradually reduce the size of the “Paw” target so Puff is actually touching the light switch. Click and reward any touches to the light switch.
5. Click! and reward only more enthusiastic paw swats to the switch.
6. Click! and reward enthusiastic paw swats that move downward on the switch.
7. Click! and reward only those swats that are strong and downward enough to actually turn the light off.
In any series of repetitions, some of Puff’s responses will be better than others. When she is touching the light switch reliably, you can stop clicking tentative touches and only click more solid pats. When she is patting routinely, sometimes, in her enthusiasm, she’ll swat harder. Gradually start clicking only the harder swats. With some of those swats, she’ll swipe down a little. When she starts doing this, you can click only the more enthusiastic swats that move downward. As she swipes down more often, some swats will be strong enough to actually turn off the switch. When “Lights Out” is happening consistently you can reward only those swipes that really turn the light off. Now you’re ready to impress your friends!
This process is called “raising the criteria,” and is one of the more challenging aspects of clicker training. If you raise the criteria too quickly Fluffy may get frustrated and “quit.” She needs to have lots of wins in order to stay interested in playing the game. If she starts to lose interest, lower the criteria, give her several wins in a row, try one or two harder ones, and end the training session while she is still playing the game. Note: The biggest mistake trainers make is raising the criteria too quickly. If Puff seems like she’s not “getting it,” you’re probably guilty. Slow down.
Training Tips
Each time you start a new session, begin at a level where Puff was previously performing very confidently, then slowly start raising the criteria again. Five to 15 minutes per session is plenty. Stop each session on a high note while she is still enthusiastic, before either of you gets frustrated. (Remember, training should be fun!) You can do several sessions each day, spaced a couple of hours apart. In the beginning, it’s best to practice in an environment with very few distractions. Shut your other cats in another room. Stash the dogs in the backyard. Close the door to the canary’s room. Put your three-year-old down for his nap. You want Puff focused on you, the clicker, and the treats. Now train your heart out! The things you can teach Puff are limited only by her physical abilities and your imagination. If you’re still not convinced, watch Karen Pryor’s “Clicker Magic” video that shows a cat being clicker trained to run an obstacle course. Then get Puff and your clicker out and get to work. Today, “Touch.” Tomorrow, David Letterman?