Is Your Cat Ready For School?
If this is your first time looking into Cat School, welcome! I'm Julie, the Cat Teacher, and my assistant teacher is a black cat named Jones.
The biggest hesitation that keeps people from signing up for Cat School is the thought that their cat can't be trained. Cats have been branded to be independent, aloof, unwilling to learn. This is just not the case, and is proven time and again with my students in Cat School.
But my cat REALLY can't learn!
I get it! If you haven't seen your cat's capacity to learn, it feels like they never will. But you CAN teach a cat new behaviours if you can figure out why they don't seem willing to learn.
A series of five tests are in the YouTube video below to get to know your cat's trainability and help you prepare your student for school. Don't worry; the marks don't go on their purrmanent record. A few of my favourite tests, taken from the video, are below:
The CUPS Game
CUPS is a problem-solving game where you want to see if your cat will use their paw to get a treat out of a cup. The point is to see if your cat can get the treat out of the cup, not just play with the cup or target it with their paw.
The Magnet Method
This is a way to measure your cat's attention span. It's known as the Magnet Method because, by holding the food directly in front of your cat's face, the food acts like a magnet drawing your cat towards it. You can use it to teach skills like sit, spin and rollover.
Follow The Spoon
This test can help with seeing if your cat is motivated by different foods. Can your cat can follow a spoon with wet food? A few licks of your cat's wet food can be an excellent training reward. If you've ever worried your cat would get too many snacks at school, this method will be purrfect for you.
Watch the video below and follow instructions for a total of 5 tests and see how trainable your cat is!
How Did Your Cat Do?
If your cat didn't seem to be into pop quizzes, it's likely because they aren't that interested in food. The good news is we can build your cat's motivation for food and find some treats they love simultaneously.
You might be surprised to learn that I use lots of different rewards – there is no purrfect treat. More challenging jobs require bigger paychecks, and the value of the food you use will depend on the situation. Plus, giving Jones different foods keeps our session dynamic and exciting.
Focus On Their Meals First
If your cat isn't willing to work for their food, the first place to start is looking at their meals. Check out my five tips to help you build your cat's food motivation so you can start a fun and rewarding training journey with your cat. The article is a preview of what I go into more in depth in Cat School. So even if your cat seems unmotivated, we can start there in Cat School!
What Is Cat School?
- A roadmap to training your cat
- Includes all the tools and resources your need to achieve cat training success
- Teach your cat lots of practical skills and fun tricks
- The ability to ask questions and post videos for feedback; the best part is the one-on-one support you'll receive
Click here to find out more or sign up below, Jones & I would love to meet your cat in class!
What Do I Get Out Of Cat School Membership?
As a student, you'll get a few great benefits from membership:
Access exclusive content. Courses range from finding a food your cat will work for, to leash walking, to trimming nails, to teaching tricks. We've designed all of our courses to inspire, instruct, and engage.
Meet new people.Your fellow students are as motivated as you are to master what we're exploring in Cat School.
Get results. As you dive into the course content and meet the community in Cat School, you're on a path of mastery. While it's not necessarily easy, the transformation we'll get together matters.
More questions? See the FAQs below:
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