Cat Agility?

[jennaniccole]

Has anyone here trained their cat to do agility? I want to try with my 4yo Maine Coon rescue since she's a great jumper and loves running around the house, and so she'll hopefully get over the being bored/destroying the house/peeing in my bed stuff she's got going on if I tire her out. But I've never trained a cat (or any animal, really, past teaching my aunt's dog to sit) so I'd love some advice on where to start, if anyone has any! Thanks  

 

[Columbine]

I've never trained a cat myself, but I've done a lot of dog training. I'd say clicker training is the way to go. Start by teaching her to touch/follow a target stick (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=i...ker+training+target+stick&tag=&tag=thecatsite), and then use that stick to guide her over/through/under/around the obstacles.

The key is to keep sessions short and sweet, finish on a good note, and find that one treat (either plain cooked meat or a commercial treat) she'll do anything for and ONLY use it for training sessions.[article="30493"][/article]

 

[Anne]

Training a cat is not like training a dog and honestly, while it's doable and some cats and owners enjoy the interaction, it really isn't necessary. You have the right idea there in trying to re-direct her energy but with cats a good way to do that is with interactive playtime. It's not training, but it's a great natural way to stimulate a cat and have fun while doing it - 

 [article="0"]Playing With Your Cat Ten Things Every Cat Owner Needs To Know​[/article]  

I'm not trying to discourage you from training though. @Columbine  linked you to some resources and I'm sure there are more. If you have your heart set on it, I would try www.Amazon.com for a book or two about training cats and read them first. Just keep in mind that not all cats like to be trained and this may or may not work for your cat, regardless of her agility levels. 

 

[Columbine]

Anne - The technique I laid out is actually pretty different to how I'd teach a dog agility - I've seen a few TV programmes that talked about the differences between dog and cat training.

Regardless of the animal, clicker training is one of the best ways to teach new skills, imo.