Smart Cat Tricks

Stay
Teaching your cat to stay is particularly helpful when you don't want to worry about it going outside when people enter and exit the house. Begin by clicking and rewarding your cat for very short stays. Hold an open palm in front of your cat, which is a cue for "staying." If your cat doesn't step forward or backward, quickly reward and click, says Fields-Babineau. If you also happen to catch your cat being still, or "staying," reward it. Slowly build more time. Once you're up to about 30 seconds, you can start distraction-proofing, or teaching your cat to stay despite your movements or the movement of objects and other animals. Remember, as Fields-Babineau says, it's difficult for your cat to stay for long periods. But think of how much more manageable life would be if your cat would stay just long enough for you to make your way through the front door with an armful of groceries.

Closing a door
Krieger taught her cat to close a door after she noticed the cat head-butting the door. You can teach your cat to do this too by training it to first touch a target. Place some sort of target, such as a circle on a sheet of paper, in front of your cat's nose. "The normal behavior is to touch it with the nose,'' Krieger says. "As soon as your cat's nose touches it, you click." You also reward and offer the verbal cue, "Touch." Gradually move the target farther away. As you say, "Touch," your cat should learn to touch the target. Touching and closing a door that moves will become like play for your cat.

What, however, can be done if your cat is a bit more independent or, dare we say, stubborn? "I believe every cat is trainable if you find something that drives it,'' says Fields-Babineau. "Every living creature has a certain reward it'll do anything for."