You CAN Train Your Cat
By Gregory Popovich
Don’t get me wrong. I like Gregory Popovich. He rescues cats (and dogs) from shelters and uses encouragement and positive reinforcement to train them for his Las Vegas show. I even featured his act in one of my recent posts. But sheesh! The title to his book is a little off-putting if you’re a kitty. As you know, I am in the human training business so it appears to be the opposite of what I teach my fellow felines. But look inside the book, and for the most part it boils down to the same tricks I tell cats: human behavior modification is generally the best way to “train” a cat. Popovich knows that we cats do what we want, and it is up to humans to accommodate us. And if you do that, we are more than happy to work with you. Most of the book is meant for new cat owners, and it covers the basics of cat ownership: choosing the right cat, introducing her to a new home and family members (human and animal), the language of cats and such. (Although I confess, I don’t agree with him about food — he says dry food is acceptable. I consider a grain-free, wet food diet far superior.) There is also information on how to travel with your cat, how to stop him from scratching the furniture, and how to stop him from begging at the table, all of which involves humans doing something different. If you humans are interested in, ahem, “teaching” your cats some tricks similar to what Popovich does in his act, there is a brief chapter in the book for you. And guess what? It involves taking whatever strengths your cat has… and making a game out of them! Sounds like a win-win situation for me. Now, if only someone would tell Popovich to stop referring to humans as “masters.” Cats do not have “masters,” we have assistants and staff, and no one should know it better than him. After all, who is getting the most applause at the end of his shows?
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We NEVER beg by the table (ok, we don’t have a dinner table at our house, but that’s not the point…)
You are so right, we do not have masters…. we have servants!
Training cats huh? Only if we want to be ‘trained’ which means we do what we already know how to do but just do it when the human wants it done so we get treats. But we get treats anyway so why bother?
TRAINING? It is to laugh!
Well, if the book encourages some new Bein to adopt a cat by lettin them think they are the “master”, we will forgive him the deception…
Oh how I hate that word “master” – I don’t care who you apply it to – it’s ugly! As far as animals are concerned, we humans are just that “humans” – Ohh nothing gets my dander up like a human saying he/she is the master over an animal, or even over another human.
He’s Russian (actually from the Ukraine), and English is a second language, so I gave him a pass on this. That said, English is also MY second language – the first, of course, being Cat – and I would never make the same error.
Sounds interesting. Or mum says so I am not so sure.. Good review.. Hugs GJ xx
I think the title is a bit wrong. It should be How to Train Your Person.
I have to admit I was a bit surprised by the title of your post today…
Sparkle, we’re with you on this one! It’s taking all 13 of us to make just a DENT in our Human’s sillyness. They don’t need to get any more ideas!
We’re with the Island Cats. Our Mom could use some training and if we get treats too it’s win-win!
The Florida Furkids and Angel Sniffie
Well, if there’s food and treats involved in training, we might let our human have some fun with it…
I think we all manage to train our servants properly without having to go to the expense of buying a silly book.
I’m with you on the “masters” part Sparkle. That’s not appropriate vocabulary at all. Great post. It’s always to good to see an honest review of a cat-training book.
pawhugs… Max
hmm, sounds like a interesting book. I think I’ll “hide” M’s copy so she not get too smart about the “ways” of a cat.
Hey, who is training who anyways!
You are so correct Sparkle. We do not have masters, that is for sure. That is an excellent review of the book. Enjoy your weekend.
Does seem like the book and its title are a bit nervy. We all know cats are in charge, not humans, in any given situation.
Uh oh…..Momma says she may need to read this……
I swear ! I’m not going to tell my mom about this book. It’s too much for me !..sorry