There's the common misbelief that cats can't be trained. But that's simply not true! Cats are very intelligent creatures, and with a little patience and the right cat tricks, you can have your feline friend doing all sorts of fun behaviors in no time.
The best method to teach cat tricks is clicker training.
- ✓ Quiet Clicker, for indoor training
- ✓ Target Stick with Clicker integrated
- ✓ Quick Start Guide and trick tutorials
- ✓ Treats Pouch
With the help of a clicker, training a cat is very easy. If you don't know what clicker training is, before reading this post, I would recommend that you understand the basics of clicker training first.
So, what sort of tricks can a cat learn? Here are 12 ideas to get you started:
First Tricks To Trick a Cat
Not all tricks are created equal; the first tricks you teach your cat should serve as a foundation for everything you are going to teach after.
1. Come When Called
This one is also very useful, especially if you have an outdoor cat. By teaching your cat to come when called, you can help them avoid getting lost or into dangerous situations.
Getting your cat to listen indoors is going to be easier than outdoors, as there are fewer competing stimuli.
Watch this video on teaching your cat their name and to come when called:
2. Finger Targeting
This was the very first trick I taught my cat Mia. This trick will allow you to take your cat wherever you want, and it will also help you lead your cat off the counter or into the carrier.
It's so important I made a video about it:
6 Easy Tricks to Teach a Cat
3. Sit on command
Now that you've taught your cat the basics, you might want to start teaching other tricks that are fun and cute to watch. They might not be as practical, but they will help you improve the trust, the listening, and the bond with your cat.
The easiest trick you can teach your cat is to sit.
This is probably the most common trick that people teach their cats, and for good reason. It's a great starting point for other tricks, and it's also a behavior that can come in handy.
Teaching your cat to sit it's very useful if you ever need to give your cat a examination, or to put their harness on and off.
To teach your cat to sit, simply hover a treat over their head until they assume the sitting position. Once they sit, click, then reward.
If you need a little extra help, take a look at this video:
These next tricks should also be VERY easy to teach your cat, particularly if they have already learned how to come when called, how to sit, and finger targeting.
4. Shake Hands
This is a cute trick that's sure to impress your friends and family. To teach your cat to shake hands, simply hold out your hand and wait for them to put their paw in it. Once they do, give them a treat.
5. High Five
This is another fun trick that's similar to shaking hands. To teach your cat to high-five, hold out your hand and wait for them to touch it with their paw. When they do, give them a treat.
6. Spin
This one is a bit more advanced, but it's still a fun trick that your cat will enjoy doing.
To teach your cat to spin, start by getting them to follow a treat that you're holding in your hand. Once they're following the treat, slowly start moving your hand in a circular motion. As they continue to follow the treat, they'll start to spin around.
Once they're spinning, use your clicker to "click" and then give them the treat and praise them for a job well done.
7. Jump Through a Hoop
This is another trick that's sure to impress your friends and family. To teach your cat to jump through a hoop, you have to make it easy, like a no-brainer for them.
Start by placing the hoop against a wall and holding a treat on the other side of the hoop. To get to that treat, they will need to walk through the hoop, that's the 1st step. After that, you can raise the hoop a bit (just enough so they can't go under) and repeat, they'll start doing tiny jumps to get to the other side, and continue raising the hoop until the behavior is learned.
Once they've done it a few times, you can start moving the hoop away from the wall and trying it in different locations.
I taught Mia Agility Training. If you have a 15min for a fun video, I'm posting it below:
8. Stand on Two Feet
Let's teach your cat to stand on two feet, also called sit pretty.
Start by getting your cat to a sit position (you have the trick tutorial on n.3). Once your cat is sitting, hold a treat in front of their nose, so that they know it's there, and they will lock onto it. Then, slowly raise the treat until they're standing on their hind legs. Once they're standing, "click" and reward after.
Quick Tip: Some cats will try to paw at your hand. If that happens, don't give in. If you let the treat go, your cat will learn that pawing at you gets free treats and wll do that instead of the command you are trying to teach!
Advanced Tricks to Teach a Cat
Once your cat has mastered the first set of tricks, you can start teaching them some more advanced tricks.
9. Play Dead
Cats are naturally predisposed to flop, stretch, and expose their bellies when they feel safe. There are a couple of ways to teach this trick, but what worked for me was to capture (use the clicker to reward the behavior) when Mia (my cat) offered it and put it on cue.
Expect this one to take longer than sit or high-five; you're asking for a vulnerable position to your cat, which means they have to genuinely trust the environment and the moment.
In our case, Mia flops on the floor when she is begging for food. She knows it's cute and gets our attention. For a week or so, right before mealtime, the time when she usually exhibits the behavior, I got the clicker and got ready to click as soon as she plopped.
Every day, right after she plopped, I said the word "platz", "clicked", then rewarded.
Mia quickly learned that "platz" meant plopping and that if she did it on command, she would get a treat. Once your cat is consistently responding to the command, you can add a hand signal (a finger gun) which is both understood by your audience and by your cat because the shape is distinct from your other training gestures.
10. Walk on a Leash
Some cats will stare through the window all day... that's a sign that the cat will love to walk outdoors. There's a quick test you can do to check if your cat will enjoy the outdoors.
If your cat passes the Adventure Cat Test, your cat will very likely love to go on walks. To teach your cat to walk on a leash, you'll need a cat harness. Collars are not recommended for walking cats because they put too much pressure on the neck. Also, if you use a breakaway collar, your cat could escape.
If you want to walk your cat on a leash, make sure you choose the right harness and leash for your cat.
Once you have your cat harness, start by attaching the leash to the harness and let them get used to the feel of it indoors first. Use treats and playtime to do so.
As they get comfortable walking on the leash indoors, you can start teaching them to follow your lead outside.
11. Ring a Bell
This is a great trick if you are planning to teach your cat to use talking buttons.
I like using a Post-it note.
Cover a treat with a Post-it note. When your cat paws at the Post-it, click, then reward. Repeat several times until your cat understands that pawing at the Post-it note gets them a treat.
Place the Post-it note over the bell. Your cat will touch the Post-it, but only click and reward when they do it strongly enough to make the bell sound. When that happens, click and reward.
Fold the paper in half and repeat. Fold again, then repeat.
After 3 or 4 times, the paper will be so small your cat won't need it anymore. Remove the paper and see how your cat rings the bell to get treats!
12. Roll Over
To teach your cat to roll over, start by getting them to lie down on their side. This trick can be taught after play dead or after down. If they master those, it's pretty easy to teach this one after.
Once they are lying down, get a treat and move it from where their paws are pointing towards the other side. They will want to follow the treat with their eyes, then with their head, and that will force a roll.
If you continue going, they'll get up or stay lying down but facing the treat. When that happens, click, then reward.
Ticks, Cats Can Do That Dogs Can't
The tricks that I like the most, though, are those tricks that cats can do and dogs can't.
13. Sit on the Shoulder
One of my favorite cat-only tricks is to teach them to jump onto our shoulder from the floor and stay there.
I was a Pokémon fan as a kid, and having my cat go around with me, riding on my shoulder, is kind of magical.
If you would like to learn how to do that, take a look at this video:
With a little patience and practice, you can teach your cat any of these tricks. Just remember to keep the training sessions short and sweet, and to end on a positive note. And most importantly, have fun!
Are you ready to level up your cat training?
Even after you've taught your cat all these tricks, your training and bonding do not have to finish here. There are plenty of resources to take your cat to the next level, from books and games, to even agility training.
The easiest way to continue growing is to get some ideas and tips to teach up to 30 tricks. I'm talking about considering buying a cat training book or "The Click Crusade," a card game to clicker train cats while having fun!
- ✓ 10 Cat Training Cards Tips &Tips
- ✓ 11 Beginner Cat Tricks
- ✓ 10 Intermediate Cat Tricks
- ✓ 10 Advanced Cat Tricks
The next step, which requires your cat to know a bunch of tricks beforehand, is agility training. Agility is not only for dogs; cats are amazing acrobats and will quickly learn how to use the different elements. Then, it's up to you to get them to complete it as fast as possible.
Take a quick look at our free agility training guide below:
Happy training!
Albert & Mia
5 comments
Looking forward to teaching our cat these tricks. I will post comment within a year or so. All of Lovies progress. Only worry is, he’s a senior 🐈 cat.
Junebug was taught her tricks with treats. She sits, shakes paws (both paws), high five, sits up (sit pretty), touches nose to finger, jump thru hoop, and spins (turns around) to left and then to the right. She knows when it is 9am and 9 pm which is when the tricks are done and she is rewarded.
Onze kat vind het leuk om op een dienblad te springen als je deze voor je houd. Vanuit daar springt hij dan op een ander dienblad. Of op een kinder winkelwagentje waarop hij blijft liggen als je deze vervolgens rond gaat rijden. Hierbij spint hij en geeft kopjes, lijkt het zelf ook leuk te vinden.
I taught my cat to jump to me like 6 feet and then lay on my shoulder.. it’s awesome cats are really smart actually I love my baby..
Thank you for posting all these trick ideas for my cat! I only have one my cat Arlo does and it is giving me a high five. I am going down the list and with my clicker try and master each one. Thank you!