{"id":25840,"date":"2022-04-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hartzdevelop.wpengine.com\/national-high-five-day-is-april-21st-how-to-teach-your-cat-to-high-five\/"},"modified":"2024-04-12T16:06:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T16:06:51","slug":"national-high-five-day-is-april-21st-how-to-teach-your-cat-to-high-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hartz.com\/en-ca\/national-high-five-day-is-april-21st-how-to-teach-your-cat-to-high-five\/","title":{"rendered":"National High Five Day is April 21st - How to Teach Your Cat to High Five"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Teach

Once you've taught your cat to high five, the possibilities for new tricks can be endless.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sure, you can celebrate it by high-fiving your human friends and family throughout the day, but what could be more fun than sharing the day with your cat?<\/span><\/p>\n

We know what you\u2019re thinking. Cats can\u2019t learn tricks! Actually, they absolutely can. One of the easiest tricks to teach your cat is to give you a high five. From there, you can move into low fives, high tens, and even fist bumps. The possibilities are endless with the power of positive reinforcement and a pet training clicker.<\/p>\n

To get started, you\u2019ll need a clicker and your cat\u2019s favorite treats<\/a>. Depending on what method you choose, you may also need a target stick or a small cup (like a medicine cup or shot glass). Positive reinforcement works by giving your cat something he wants (treats) in order to increase the frequency of a behavior (high fives). Think of the clicker like a camera: you want to click at the exact moment that the behavior you like occurs, just like you\u2019d snap a photo at that perfect moment when everyone in the picture is smiling. The clicker is a marker that tells the cat, \u201cGood job! I liked that.\u201d After every click, a reinforcer must follow. This means that every time you click (even if it\u2019s by accident) you must give your cat a treat. More about target sticks later on.<\/p>\n

Start out by teaching your cat that the clicker predicts good things. Don\u2019t ask him to do anything. Just click and treat, click and treat, click and treat over and over. This is called \u201ccharging up the clicker.\u201d After your cat has gotten the hang of the concept, there are then several ways to teach him to give you a high five. We're giving you two options for how to train this behavior \u2013 the target stick method and the plastic cup method.<\/p>\n

Target Stick Method<\/h3>\n

A target stick can be anything, from a pencil, to a chopstick, to a fancy one that you purchase online. Say you\u2019re using a pencil. Hold the eraser end out an inch or two in front of your cat\u2019s nose. He will likely lean forward to investigate. When his nose touches the target, click and give him a treat. Repeat several times until you can hold the target further and further away, and he will follow to touch it with his nose.<\/p>\n

\"Teach

Offer positive reinforcement by giving your cat treats as he learns.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once he has figured out that concept, we are going to up the criteria. Hold the pencil slightly up above his nose and a few inches out of reach. You\u2019ll start to see the gears turning in his head! Most mildly frustrated cats will at this point try to bat at it with their paw, or grab it with their paw to bring it closer to their nose. If this happens, perfect! Click and reinforce with a treat. Repeat until he is clear that we have now switched from nose to paw.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019ve got the high five motion down, but obviously, we don\u2019t want our cats high-fiving the end of a pencil! Slowly move your hand further and further down until it\u2019s close to the eraser. Hold the pencil between your thumb and forefinger with your palm facing the cat. If his paw touches your hand at all, let\u2019s give him a jackpot reward, meaning lots of extra treats following the click. His paw touching your hand is the end goal, after all, so let\u2019s make it very much worth his while.<\/p>\n

Over time, you will fade the pencil away and ask your cat just to touch your open hand with his paw. Voila! High five! Your cue will simply be to hold up your hand in front of your cat, but you can also begin to say \u201chigh five\u201d as he is reaching for your hand to also put it on a verbal cue.<\/p>\n

Plastic Cup Method<\/h3>\n

This method is maybe a little simpler on your part, but some cats may struggle to figure it out and become frustrated, especially if they have never done clicker training before. If you are having a hard time with this method, try the target stick method instead.<\/p>\n

\"Teach

Teach your furbaby to reach up using a cup containing a treat inside.<\/p><\/div>\n

Start by placing a treat inside your cup. Any type of cup works, as long as the cat can see the treat inside but can\u2019t stick his head in to reach it. A shot glass is generally perfect. Hold the cup up, right below the cat\u2019s eye level, and allow him the chance to figure out how to get to the delicious treat inside. The second he lifts up his paw to try to use it to reach inside, click and give him the treat from the cup.<\/p>\n

Place a new treat inside the cup, and repeat. At first, it\u2019s okay if he just lifts up his paw a little bit, but as you continue to practice, you\u2019ll want him to be actually touching the cup with his paw. Gradually shift your hand holding the cup so that you are holding it in a \u201chigh five\u201d position behind the cup (with as many fingers up as possible).<\/p>\n

Once your cat is very good at this, you can take the treat out of the cup. From there, you can remove the cup entirely and just hold up your hand. And there you have it \u2013 a perfect high five!<\/p>\n

Troubleshooting<\/h3>\n