Pardalis Ocicats

This was a very easy one to train! I put a square of carpet down and as soon as Lexi or Fizz put a paw on it they got a click and a treat. We progressed quickly to them sitting on the mat to get a treat. This is so useful! The mat goes down when I’m in the kitchen and they’re under my feet, and gone are the days when they were clambering onto the dining table as soon we sat down to eat. Now I just throw the mat down and they both run and sit on it as good as gold! I just give them a treat for the first sit on the mat and then perhaps just once or twice more during the 10-15 minute session. Lexi will sometimes get a bit bored and fed up with waiting for the next treat so she’ll wander off but at least she’s not on the table, while Fizz has been known to sit there for ages after we’ve got up and cleared the table, she’ll do anything for food that one!

Just before we got Lexi I ordered the Karen Pryor book about clicker training for cats. Knowing that Ocicats are highly intelligent and eager to learn I bought it more for me, so I could learn how to train a cat. Not much point getting it for Lexi as, clever though she is, she can’t read…..yet! The basis is very easy, you get a clicker (I’m currently using an empty mini stapler) and use it to teach the cat that a click earns a treat.

So far we’ve had a handful of sessions and she now comes to me when I call and follows a target around the room for clicks and treats. Today I thought I’d jump ahead a bit and see if I could get her to sit on command and it was a total doddle! I held a tiny piece of ham in my clenched fist just behind her head and as she automatically dropped her haunches down to see what I’d got I clicked and gave her the ham. Less than 5 attempts later she was sitting on command. I wonder how long it’d take to teach her to do the dusting………..