The home to the wandering cat..

Saturday 2 February 2013

How to train your cat to walk on a lead


Wondering how on earth are you going to get that cat on a lead? Here are some top tips on how get that kitty into it.




Firstly get your cat used to a harness, I was trained as a kitten when i was too young to go out by myself. This the best time to start but cat's are smart and most cats can be trained at any age.

When choosing a harness choose one with clips, instead of buckles,  it's a lot quicker to put on so less stressful at the beginning.

I have tried a few different brand and styles of collars. The best are the ones that do not go round the throat. Also i find the cushioned harnesses are better as i like to pull, alot.

NEVER- ever ever, put a lead on your cats collar. It will choke him and make him hate the lead and you for doing it.

With leads, the longer the better and extendable dog leads work well. When you start training your cat will follow you and run in spurts, if the lead is too short you will also have to run with the cat, which will make them freeze, turn around and stare and you with big please don't eat me eyes.

So you're back from the shops with all the goodies for the cat?
First time round let him smell the harness but don't make it the main focus, get the treats ready and as they are scoffing a couple try and put the harness on as quick as you can. If they try to stop you, just restrain until it's on and tightened ect.
 ( If your struggling and your just running around the house after him stressing him out, just stop and try again later. You don't want them thinking harness = bad things)
Reward with treats and your cat probably wont even notice the harness is on.







 Clip the lead on, pick the cat up and start walking around your garden. This is best done outside, along their normal patrol paths if they are already outside cats. Make sure its a quiet area, every time he gets spooked they will just want to freeze and hide. keep walking with the cat in your arms till he demands to be put down.  Start walking in the direction you want to go and he probably wont follow you or start to walk off in their own direction of interest or try and hide in a bush. pick the cat up and carry on walking till he demands to be put down then start walking in the way you want to go. This may take you 10 attempts it may take a 100 recreating the process over several months, i'm nearly a year old now so been doing this for 9 months and still improving . Eventually the idea is if he doesn't want to be carried he has to walk the way you want to go.


 Please respect that cat's don't like walking through the middle of a field. so instead stick to the going around the edges of the fields, gardens, until you get there.


This is not an overnight process. Do NOT drag your cat around trying to encourage them, we are much slighter than dog's and cant handle being yanked about.

 Understand the weather can be too hot or too wet to go walking in. Build up your cats stamina as it will be very tiring at first, take regular breaks to catch their breath. always carry around a bowl and water, treats are good too.

 Just because your cat follows you around the block doesn't mean you don't need to put a leash on them when anywhere unfamiliar. it could easily be scared by a dog/person/car/anything. This will cause them to seek a hiding place making them run off. Then try to imagine how long that might take to find them in the middle of the wildernes...

What my owner does if something is approaching us that i don't like, for example a dog, she will jsut pick me up untill we are past it. I feel safer high up and it stops me getting so stressed about having to cross paths with it.

Once you have mastered the leash and harness you can take your kitty everywhere! This has great rewards for both you and them. Cats love patrolling new territory and bonding time with you. It also means your kitty doesn't need to stuck indoors all the time. I have had many great adventures with my humans. Seeing things i never thought i would; like waterfalls, meadows, mountains and caves.


 So what are you waiting for?

4 comments:

  1. Your tips are so helpful, especially for newbie cat owners. By the way, do you have any idea on how to train a cat to avoid going to such places or some parts of your home?

    ssscat


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  2. sorry for the late reply pal.

    I do, but it really does depend on the area and it would be useful to know when kitty started doing it.

    if your trying to get a kitty to stop jumping up on kitchen counters try to place objects along the edge, big items that don't break, if they don't see a flat edge cats rarely jump up. after a while of jumping up and these crashing down they wont bother anymore n you can remove the items. Books stood up are good for this. metal pans too.

    obviously persistence in teaching a cat 'No' is really useful. yes it takes time but cats soon learn what it means. But every time the cat goes into that area you have to make sure you get up and shoo them out of the area. Dont be afraid of being vocal with your kitty. Seeing as it is probably going to spend its whole life with you it's a good idea to talk every now and then. Soon your cat will learn what happy relaxed speech is, and a big ' i cant believe you knocked that over' voice.

    my last bit of advice is scenting. cats are really particular about what they can sniff. if you are stopping cats from going in plant pots orange peel laid on top of the soil should stop them urinating or digging in the pots. but i have taken this idea into our sewing room (lots of pins!) and i spray a shop bought odarizer that i don't like and there is a plug in freshner too. seems to work. i have heard of different flowers working too but in my experience flowers don't seem to do much. so stick with the citrus smells. try not to spray too much in an environment they spend a lot of time in, it can irritate.

    lastly, when ralph kept jumping in the toilet i bought a teeny tiny joke water gun and stunned him every time he jumped on it. he had no idea it was me doing it and completely put him off it,It was also hilarious.

    good luck, i hope that helped. if its somewhere not covered here let me know and we will see if we can think of something >.<

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  3. some of great stuff to follow. need some good suggestion to make my blog interesting. can you help me how can i make it awesome.
    Kitten crate training

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