Clicker Training Your Cat
By: Dr. Nicholas Dodman

Golden Rules

Never coerce the "come"

Never punish or chastise an imperfect response

Never call your cat for punishment

And remember, in order to solidify the response during every day life use the "come" command plus a click and treat for coming when you have anything special to offer to your cat like dinner, a special food treat or new toy.

The Final Word: Since human hands are rather large and ungainly when it comes to training an animal the size of a cat, it is often a good idea to use a "target" instead. First train the cat to touch a target, the tip of a wand of some sort, with its nose – a fairly natural response for the ever-inquisitive cat. Nose touches target = click. Now the target can be used to guide other behaviors like sit, down, come, up, and off. The target signals where you want the cat to be: The click is supplied when the cat touches target at the successful conclusion of the maneuver. Eventually, cues like up or off will come to mean what they say, even without the target.