From click to trick

The most important tool – the clicker

The most important training tool that you need is the clicker. It is the kind of cricket toy which makes a sharp, short sound when you press down on it. These days you can easily get a clicker either from a pet shop or on the Internet. They come in different forms and colours and – this aspect is important for your cat – in different volume levels. The quietest clicker that I know of is the so-called I-click, which was developed by the clicker pioneer Karen Pryor.

You can also employ other sounds as an alternative to the clicker, for example the clicking sound of a biro pen. However, whichever clicker you choose to use needs to fulfil two criteria: it should always sound the same, and it must not be a sound that the cat hears constantly outside the training sessions during her day-to-day experiences. Unless you click your tongue to call your cat or tell her that food is ready (which is something a lot of people do), I would recommend the tongue-clicking sound. Clicking with the tongue is well-suited as a clicking sound and offers two great advantages: you will have your hand free because you don't have to hold the clicker, and you can also click your tongue spontaneously outside training sessions.

It is time for humans – the clicker game

It is time to proceed with the first practical exercise. However, in this first exercise you don't use the clicker on your cat. Instead, try it out with another person. Invite your partner, a friend or your child to play the clicking game – you can promise them a lot of fun without investing too much!

The clicker game works as follows: imagine an action that your game partner should carry out. Start with something simple: to sit on a specific chair; to touch the window handle; to touch the light switch. Do not tell your game partner what you expect from him/her, but ask them instead to figure out by themselves what you want them to do by trying out a number of different things. Use the clicker as a helpful aid. Explain to your partner that the click means: 'Great, you are on the right track' and that you will not speak to him/her in any other way, nor are you allowed to give them additional hints. You will point them towards the right goal solely by means of the clicker.

Touching the light switch, for example, could proceed as follows: your partner looks or moves in the direction of the light switch – click! He/she looks in another direction – no click. He/she looks roughly towards the light switch again – click! He/she moves a leg to step in the correct direction – click! Another step – click! However, if he/she moves past the light switch and through the door – no click. He/she asks: 'Shouldn't I go this way?' You smile in a gentle manner, don't say a word and wait for the next opportunity to click: he/she turns around – click! If he/she now walks past the light switch in the other direction –no click! He/she turns around again – click! He/she is now limited to the space near the door frame and touches it with his/her hand – click! He/she touches the door frame again at the height of the light switch – click! If he/she touches the doorframe much higher than the light switch – no click! He/she touches the doorframe again at the same height as the light switch – click! He/she moves his/her hand in the direction of the light switch – click! If he/she presses down the light switch – click and verbal confirmation: 'Great! That's exactly what I wanted!'

This sounds very easy but it requires a number of things from the trainer. To begin with you need to think in detail about what result you want to see at the end of the exercise. You should envisage in your mind which signs your game partner could offer on the way to the ultimate goal. That could mean a first step in the direction of the target object, but as a rule you will probably have to start with an earlier sign: a look at or a slight leaning forwards in the right direction. Unless you have defined these small steps for yourself in advance, you will automatically start pondering over them during the game. 'Should I click this action now? One step is good, of course, but it wasn't completely in the right direction. Hmm, maybe I should have already clicked a moment ago, when he/she looked in that direction ...'. While all these thoughts go around in your head, your game partner is not rewarded with a click. That isn't a very nice feeling, as in the first place your game partner does not get the expected confirmation that his/her action was right and secondly he/she will feel slightly helpless, a feeling which can restrict further activities and attempts. It is clear that a high level of clarity and the greatest degree of attention are needed in order that you don't miss even the slightest attempts and movements.

This ensures that your game partner will find the game easier and will experience a greater sense of motivation, if he/she is rewarded with a click as a result of an action on his/her part. In order for that to work, the clicker needs to be used at the exact moment of the action. For example, if you want your partner to walk several steps forward, you always need to click at the exact moment when he/she lifts a leg to step forward. If you are slightly late and use the clicker when your partner has placed his/her foot back on the ground, he/she will hesitate and stop, because you are signalling to him/her that he/she is supposed to have both legs firmly on the ground and should not step forwards any further.

Your game partner will be a marvellous indicator of your ability to use the clicker correctly. To begin with he/she will probably frequently complain, 'What do you want me to do now?' or 'I don't understand what you want me to do ...'. You should make use of these complaints to analyse which things present difficulties for your game partner. The better you become, the less frequently these moments will occur, and your partner will perform certain behavioural patterns during the exercise with increasing speed and with greater enjoyment.

You should definitely swap places as well. You will experience what it feels like if the clicker isn't used at the precise moment of your action or is used infrequently, and feel how great it is when one click is followed closely by another and all your actions are confirmed in each case through the 'Correct!' click.

If possible, practise with a number of different people in order to become competent with various characters – every person and every cat has slightly different behavioural strategies which will become apparent in the clicker situation. Think of differing tasks and slowly increase their degree of difficulty. Have the last five of your clicker games been fluent, fun and successful? Did your game partners ask for more? If that is the case you can start practising with your cat. However, we need to make sure in advance that your cat understands what...