How to teach a cat to lie down

Cats are selective about where and how they lie down because they are spoiled and graceful (at least most are) – it's just part of their nature. Because lying down can be a vulnerable position, a cat may prefer to perform the command in a high familiar place, such as a bed or other furniture. To make the training go smoothly, conduct it in places where the cat is already ready to rest.

How to teach a cat to lie down on command

One way to teach a cat the "lie down" command is to wait for it to move to the lying down position on its own, then confirm this behavior with a word and give it a reward.

As an animal trainer, I love to train cats to perform simple but unexpected tricks. It's nice to see the surprise on a person's face when they see a cat lying down on command. Suddenly the pet turns into a real Einstein!

A cat's ability to learn new tricks is valuable for a number of reasons, from deepening the cat's relationship with people to helping resolve problem behavior. Fortunately, you don't have to be a professional in training: cats are easy to train when it's broken down into easy-to-learn steps, and your pet is rewarded for completing them.

If you've never trained your cat on commands, start with the basics, which include different ways to reward and give her a signal to mark the behavior for which she is being rewarded. Once you've done that, you can move on to learning a specific command.

"Lie down" is the perfect trick for those cats who have not yet been trained on anything. Since dogs usually have this skill, this trick performed by a cat is doubly impressive and surprising. However, not only is it fun, but it also has practical applications. It can be used to teach a cat to rest only in designated areas of the house if it likes to escape through open doors. It also gives the cat a way to interact with people and can be used to replace unwanted behavior – such as biting your hand when playing.

It's important to start with realistic expectations of the actions you can get from the cat. Its training is a little different from training a dog. Unlike dogs, which simply sink to the floor, cats like to rest on higher ground. The cat is also less likely to fall precipitously into a recumbent position. Instead, it prefers to settle into a comfortable lying position at a more casual pace.

Help in choosing a dog bed

Requirements for a dog bed

It is common for wild felines to lay down in hidden places during the day. In order for the call of the ancestors to help the pet to settle in an artificial den, it must meet the appropriate requirements:

1. Appropriateness of size.. The pet feels safe when the walls of the shelter are touching its body. A caring owner can arrange a whole cat stadium in the house for games and hunting fun, but the place to sleep should not be too spacious.
2. Softness. Every other cat prefers to rest on a soft surface. This is especially important for small kittens who miss their mother's furry side and aging animals who suffer from joint pain. For this reason, cat cots are sewn with multiple layers, and lodges are covered with fleecy fabric. A plastic cat carrier, on the other hand, will obviously not appeal to a cat as a cosy kennel.
3. Warmth. Kittens are very picky about heat, so they like to sleep on the central heating radiator in the cold season. The owner-built house will become native if it is comfortable enough from a temperature standpoint.
4. Ease of care. A cat cot, like any household item, requires periodic cleaning. Fabric mattresses, padded pet beds with tops and fabric hammocks can withstand machine washing, but baskets and frame houses have to be cleaned by hand, which is especially important for owners of long-haired cats. Some pets like to hide in the house food "for a rainy day", which requires more frequent hygienic procedures. Thorough cleaning is also necessary for the bed of a maternity cat. When choosing a cat bed, you should consider the possibility of treating it with chemicals in case of parasitic or infectious diseases.

What models of cat beds are available

In order to make sure that a pet likes the novelty bought at the pet store, the caring owner should review the options offered and choose the one that best suits the individual peculiarities of the cat.

Keep in mind that cats spend up to 20 hours a day napping, so the cot should be perfect from the kitty's point of view.

1. Basket. A wicker basket with a silk cushion has been considered a traditional cat snuggle for many years. Nowadays, the decorative wicker can be imitated by using plastic, and a synthetic foam mattress is placed on the bottom. The advantages of such a cot include an attractive appearance, perfectly fitting into any interior. However, for an older animal, it may be too difficult to jump in every time over the high rim. Another disadvantage of the basket is the hassle of cleaning. In addition, many cats love to "try on the teeth" of natural bars and sharpen their claws on them.
2. Mattress with borders. Voluminous soft mat in the form of a rescue circle is an analogue of a basket. The limiting edges are made in the form of a thick roller or curb with a frame. This model will suit perfectly for a sick cat and a female patient, taking into account that you can put an additional absorbent nappy on the bottom of the bed.
3. Hammock. Common to this category of beds is the ability to hang at any height, which meets the cat's natural climbing needs. There are lightweight wall and corner models for active cats who love acrobatics and give free rein to their hunting instincts. At the same time, for massive cats there is a soft suspended lounge on a wooden stand not far from the floor. Very popular is also a special multi-layered lounge chair suspended from the radiator. Its sturdy metal frame will withstand the body weight of an adult cat, and the universal attachment will allow adapting the construction to any type of batteries. Using such a bench trains muscles and sense of balance, and its location is attractive from the cat's point of view: during the heating season it is cozy and warm there, and in summer when the windows are open it is fresh and cool. Moreover, the cat will be able to watch everything happening in the open air. Removable covers make washing easier.
4. Tunnel. Soft model in the form of a bag, imitating a "blind" burrow. If long enough, it is made of fleece or plush, allowing the pet to get away from intrusive attention and rest in comfort. Such a shelter is suitable for small kittens and fearful animals that have trouble adapting in a new place.
5. House. This is a very common version of an enclosed sleeping place. For all its decorative qualities, a factory-made "kennel" is quite bulky and heavy, has a rigid construction of walls and is difficult to care for. But silence and isolation from the outside world may please non-contact solitary cats. The shelter house can be combined with a scratching post, ladder, play area, and hammock in the same complex.

What you need to know when starting training

The cat will perform the action that will benefit it. Hence, the first rule of training is to train the cat before he eats. On an empty stomach, the kitten will quickly understand what to do to get the cherished tasty treat, because a piece of his favorite food is waiting for him for each correctly performed action.

The training should not be long, five to seven minutes will be enough. If the cat gets bored, it will simply leave.

A big mistake in training, when the cat trainer starts to raise his voice or use physical force on the cat. In this case, the pet will hold a grudge and will not comply with your requests. Is it possible to teach commands to a disgruntled cat? Of course not! Encouragement and a kind attitude are the only motivators in training.

If a cat is sick, it is better to postpone the training until he is well again.

As a rule, a cat chooses its owner among all family members. Only this person is able to train the cat and get the result.

Learn only one trick at a time. It is desirable to repeat it on the same day to fix it, for example, in the evening. Repetition is an incomplete class. It will be enough if the cat does the command once or twice. If it fails, you should not continue.

Do the training in a quiet place where there will be no distractions. And, of course, this place should not be new to the cat. A room where the cat spends most of its time will be ideal.

Learn commands

Don't start training your cat after he has eaten. The best time to exercise is before feeding. Stock up on patience, pieces of your favorite food and start training.

The point of training is for the cat to learn to match simple commands with action. Of course, she will not understand the meaning of the words sit, lie down, etc. She will understand that when certain sounds are heard, she must perform the required action. That is to learn the cause-and-effect relationship in the chain: sound – action – encouragement.

The list of tricks you can teach your cat is varied. Below are commands for cats and how to perform them for beginners trainers. In the future, having mastered the simple commands, you can move on to more complex options. For example, teach your pet to close cabinet doors, play a musical instrument, roll a doll stroller, and much more.

Sit, lie down

If you understand how to teach your cat the basic "sit" command, it won't be too hard for you and your cat to learn all the other commands. Start by becoming shorter so you don't have to take an admonishing look – sit on the floor. Observe the pet for about a minute. Let him calm down and get used to this position. Take a piece of food and hold it over the pet's head, at the level of the bridge of his nose. This will make the cat squat. Clearly and moderately loudly say, "Sit." As soon as the cat performs the action, give it a treat and praise it.

Then hide the food in the palm of your hand, covering it with your thumb and straighten the rest of your fingers. With the outer rim of your palm, place your hand over her head, saying a command. And again encouragement if the action is completed.

Start practicing the "lie down" command in a place where your pet likes to lie down. A familiar location will help you learn the trick unnoticed. Start by rewarding an already lying pet with food and saying the word "lie down". As soon as the cat reaches for the treat and wants to get up, gently stroke it on the back with your hand, keeping it in the lying down position. Say the command again and give him a treat. Sometimes you may pat your hand on the floor or on the place where the cat is lying. Then the cat takes this action as a command and lies down in response.

How to teach a cat commands and amaze his friends

On Cat Day we decided to share with you our experience in training these pets, and also congratulated the main cat expert of the country, Yuri Kuklachev. He told us about the basic rules of interaction with whiskers-tailed cats. But first – a story about how our journalist Dmitry Pogorelov taught a cat a simple trick.

Lately I have been getting more and more convinced that my wife has been doing something she does not love all her conscious life! She has been treating people in the outpatient clinic for more than 20 years. Although, to my deepest conviction, she should have been a veterinarian. Is it any joke – on 50 square meters coexist five representatives of the cat family and a gang of dogs numbering four, led by an English bulldog Nyusha! And if you add here another adult daughter and mother-in-law, the company we have got pretty funny.

An absolutely black exotic kitten named Kuzya was the fourth. Before he appeared, I, like all normal people, was convinced that the trained cats can be seen only in the theater Kuklachev and nowhere else. Our cats understood only the command "kitty, kitty!" and did not show any predisposition to training. In time Kuzya turned into a gorgeous black cat with shiny hair and Asian yellow eyes. In addition, by the time he came of age, he had learned to do the command "die" or "lie down.

Now it's his favorite thing to do. He is ready to do it from morning till night. As long as the bag of goodies stays full! But there is a downside to all this fun: the cat has become a terrible beggar. In the morning he is already "on duty. When you come home in the evening from work, Kuzya takes a place on the podium, as if to say: "Boss, I've been waiting for you for so long! Ready to work for the good of the Tsar and the Fatherland!" And understandably, because for every completed task the cat gets a tasty cushion, for which he is ready to sell even his mother.

The cat Kuzya on the command "die" showed a deadly number

1. Tip one: Study your cat, understand what she likes. "Training" is the wrong word; to train means to suppress. That trick won't work with a cat. She can only do what she likes. If a cat doesn't like to stand on its hind legs, it will never do that. So you're looking for a cat that wants to stand on its hind legs, another will sleep in a pot, and a third will do somersaults. That's their "wants" and should be the basis of education. You can't push her – she'll give you a hard time!

2. In no case you can not hurt the cat, it does not tolerate in principle any violence, shouting. If you hit it, it will remember for life.

3. Commands in training can be the most simple, the same as in the circus: "up!", "of!", "nizzya!", but it's not about commands as such. The most important thing is the timbre of voice: you have to talk to the cat like a child. You come home in a bad mood, but the child is not interested in it at all. So it is with the cat: you must speak quietly, as a human, and most importantly – with attention, with interest, she feels it very much. Does not tolerate any falsity.

4. Commands have to be accompanied by gestures understandable to a cat. You can make a "fishing rod" with a ball out of wool or paper. By the way, it seems to me, the cat remembers even more words than the dog, and most importantly, feels the words that you have not yet said. Just when you think, "Should I feed her?" – and she's already running to the fridge. Cats are psychic, and that's a big plus when raising them.

5. When teaching a cat it should be remembered that it has more natural abilities than we try to teach it – a cat is a wonderful healer, it relieves psychophysical overstrain, equalizes pressure. The cat saved all mankind from starvation: if it were not for it, mice and rats would have eaten everything. Its importance must be remembered. After all, in the end, we do not bring up cats, but they bring up us.

How to choose a place for the cat to sleep on the bed?

In order to quickly get your cat accustomed to sleeping on the dog bed, you need to pay attention to several important criteria when choosing. These parameters are:

Cats are very fond of warmth and comfort. Therefore, animals like to sleep near batteries or on blankets. When choosing a cot, you need to pay attention to the warmth of the house. The cat will quickly become accustomed to the cot in which it will be warm. Comfort also plays an important role. It should be comfortable for the cat to lie down and stretch out to the full length if desired. The size of the dog bed should match the size of the cat.

For cats belonging to long-haired breeds, it is better to choose a dog bed that is easy to clean from hair. Closed houses or deep baskets will be quite difficult to clean, unlike regular beds. In addition, conventional lie-down beds, bagels and hammocks, can be washed in the washing machine and in the case of parasite infestation, sanitation will not be difficult.

Methods of accustoming the adult cat to the new cot

The right location of the new pet house is the key to success. Before installing the pet bed, it is advisable to carefully observe your whiskered pet, paying attention to the fact where the cat spends most of its time (sleeping or just resting).

Once you have chosen a place, you should introduce your cat to the new acquisition. At first the cat may be wary of the new cot, avoiding it. Cats by nature are extremely curious and sooner or later will begin to explore the new items in the interior. A small kitten is easier to accustom, because he perceives everything as a game. It is more difficult for adult cats.

To train an adult cat, you need to use a few tricks:

• Catnip. A fragrant plant (catnip or chandra) attracts catnip and makes them feel good. Dry catnip can be purchased separately at the pet store. Quite often, manufacturers of cat beds or houses, add a bag of catnip to the design. Sometimes manufacturers make dog beds with materials soaked in this plant.

• Treats for cats. To accustom the cat to the new dog bed, you can go on the sly and take advantage of the weakness of the pet to his favorite treat. After a certain time, the cat will realize that a pleasant surprise awaits him in his new home, and then he will no longer be afraid to lie down in his cot without a treat.

• Valerian infusion. This technique allows you to accustom the pet to a new cot quite quickly. But it is not recommended to use this method, as the plant has a certain excitatory effect on cats and can cause uncontrollable and peculiar manifestations. Instead of wanting to lie down in the house, the cat may become overly active or show aggression towards its couch. This is because the smell of the plant is similar to the hormones produced by females during heat.

Popular Questions and Answers

We talked about how to teach a dog the lie down command with cynologist Natalya Tyutyunikova и Anastasia Kalinina, veterinarian and pet engineer.

Why does a dog need the "lie down" command?

– This command, above all, forms the dog's self-control," says Natalia Tyutyunikova. – It is very important that the owner can put the dog down, and the dog does not move no matter how far he goes. He can follow the person with his eyes, turn his head, but under no circumstances will he get up.

What breeds of dog need to be taught the "lie down" command?

– Get down" is one of the main commands in the General Training Course (OKD) for working dogs, explains Anastasia Kalinina. – Owners of hunting dogs, especially friendly dogs (pointers and spaniels) teach their dogs to obey this command flawlessly since the dog won't get shot by the hunter after it picks up a bird on the wing.

How do you teach your puppy the "lay down" command?

– Teach a puppy to lay down on command in the following way. A sitting dog is gently held by its collar and quietly pulled a treat parallel to the floor so that it is forced to lie down. You can gently press on the withers area. Don't forget to praise and give a treat," says Anastasia Kalinina. – It's also possible to put the dog down when he's on a leash.

What to do if the dog doesn't want to do the command "lie down"?

Particularly reluctant ones can be tempted with a bite so that they crawl under a chair themselves, for example, and are forced to lie down.

Give me your paw: How to teach simple commands to a cat

Cats, unlike dogs, are independent creatures. They are difficult to teach commands, they will never do what they do not like. Look closely at your cat, find out what he likes, be patient and go ahead.

The first step in training a cat is establishing a bond with him. In addition to your love for the cat, it is important to provide positive reinforcement for her actions to show the cat that she is doing something right. Reward her with treats or toys when she performs a command.

The first command that cats easily learn is "sit. To do this, take a treat and bring it close to the cat's nose. Then raise the treat above the cat's head. When she raises her head following the treat, move it back a bit to get her to sit. Once the cat sits, reward and praise him.

The second simple command is to lie down. It begins after the command "sit. Starting position is sitting. Take a treat and hold it forward from the cat. When she tries to reach for the treat, move it slowly down to make her lie down on her side. When she lies down, give her a cookie.

The third simple trick is to teach the cat to come to you. Tie a toy to a rope and throw it at a distance. When the cat goes to get the toy, say "come" and show it a treat. Don't forget the praise.

Some cats learn more complicated tricks on their own, like opening a door or even using the toilet. So you can teach your pet these tricks, too. But it will take more time and patience.

Teach the cat how to open the door by lightly pushing on the doorknob. To do this, take a treat and tie it to the handle. Bring the treat close to the cat's nose and allow him to grab it with his teeth. Then, slowly guide her to the door handle so that she will accidentally press it. Reward her for completing the task.

How to teach a cat to sit

Now let's learn how we can train our pets and still enjoy the process. What can make a cat obey you and follow your commands? Of course encouragement – treats and praise. It is best to work with a cat when it is hungry, then the efficiency of training will increase. You don't have to train long. Just practice for five minutes before you eat and teach the cat only one command, for example "Sit".Sit". Training follows a familiar pattern – you say clearly, but not too loudly: "Sit" and give her a piece. The treat should be lifted slightly above the cat's head, its head will rise and the opposite part will inevitably fall, according to the cat's anatomy.

At the same time, encourage her with praise and affection. Then repeat the lesson over several days until the cat learns to obey the command.

How to teach a cat to lie down

After that move on to the next lesson. In this way, you can teach the cat to do several of your commands. For example, the command "Lie down". This might be useful at the veterinarian's office and will also impress your friends and relatives. You should sit the cat down, show him a treat, and then slowly lower it down. The cat's head will drop down behind the treat. Then you slowly move the treat aside, ideally the cat will move into a lying position by itself in pursuit of the treat. As soon as the cat lies down, give it a treat and praise it. If the cat won't lie down, you can lift up its front paws and gently put it down. In any case, the cat will understand what you want from it.

Five commands you can easily teach your cat.

Cats learn commands as easily as dogs. The main thing is to find the right approach. If you are seriously thinking about cat training read at first the article about 7 simple rules of cat training and How to use clicker for cat training.

Start the first exercise when the cat is active, interested in you and doesn't mind a snack.

There are two methods of training this command . Choose the method depending on whether or not the cat is comfortable with you holding its paw. Some animals don't like it.

If your cat doesn't mind you holding her paw gently, then you can Start the training by taking her paw in your hand and treating your cat at the same time . This step should be repeated several times.

In the second step, the command "paw" is added . Say this word as soon as you touch the cat's paw and immediately give the animal a reward. Click when your hand touches the paw and give the treat immediately.

If the cat is not comfortable when you take it by the paw, then it should act on its own. . To do this, hold her favorite treat in your hand, squeezing your fingers a little. Let the cat smell your hand and understand what is inside. At some point the cat will touch your hand with its paw! At this point, flick the clicker and open the hand with the treat. In the next step, attach a command to this action.

Do the exercise regularly until the cat herself starts to give her paw in hopes of getting something tasty.