A Michael Broad Blog
The research seems to show that cats can assign a meaning to a word in minutes. Moreover, they did this without special training or the prospect of being rewarded, which mirrors how infant humans learn languages. – The Times newspaper Oct 24, 2024. This Japanese study confirms what observant cat caregivers know namely that …
There is an understandable desire by many cat owners to keep their cat companion off the kitchen counter. If this troubles you then the best way forward is through positive reinforcement training. You might be aware of that. The short Infographic on this page explains what I mean and is one example of how …
There is a shocking (to me) story in The Times today about parents who refuse to toilet train their children. Apparently, half of parents in UK believe that they should not have full responsibility for toilet training a child. It’s according to a survey conducted by the early years charity Kindred. Some parents don’t …
The mantra for so many years has been that the only way to train your dog or cat is through positive reinforcement. This is reward-based. The concept of punishment to get a dog or cat to do what you want them to do has been quite rightly outlawed. It doesn’t work. It just makes …
Fear in a cat can be ‘trained in’ by bad experiences. This infographic is about ‘training out’ that acquired fear (fear developed through experience) through a sensitive, graded and progressive approach to desensitizing the fearful and anxious cat. It is training the brain to accept what once frightened them. The points I want to …
You will read the phrase that in clicker training a cat or dog, the sound of the clicker, acts as a “bridge” and therefore makes the training more efficient. What does a “bridge” mean in this instance? That’s the question. And the answer is in the illustration below. In other words, when you are …
How to get a cat used to his travel carrier? You let him explore the carrier at home. Then you give him a treat inside the carrier. Then you carry him around the house. Then you practice carrying him outside. You then give him a treat with petting when using the carrier outside. That’s …
The phrase “training is logical” comes from Dr. Bruce Fogle (Complete Cat Care). I think that it is an interesting phrase. It implies that caregivers should be training their cat as a matter of course. And it makes sense because informal training is going on constantly. From cat to person and vice versa. The …
