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You are here: Home / Kitty Wisdom / Cat Tricks: Sit Up, High Five, Shake and Stay

Cat Tricks: Sit Up, High Five, Shake and Stay

July 11, 2016 By: Summer Samba49 Comments

somali cat with human trying to get her to do a High Five

As you know, I can do some tricks. The humans who I met at BlogPaws got to see me do them in person! Cat tricks are not really all that hard. I bet a lot of you kitties out there could get your human to do them with you. And the best part is you get treats, just by giving your human some very specific paw or body signals. Pretty awesome, isn’t it?

All your human needs to start working with you on this is patience and some treats. A clicker is optional — I learned without one. And your human should also trim your claws before you start practicing. You will see why once we get started.

I’m going to show you the four basics because they are all sort of related: Sit Up, High Five, Shake and Stay. Learning one led to the others, and I still practice them several times a week.

Sit Up

somali cat hungrily eyes chunk of cat food

Every cat that has ever come to live here, beginning with the cat before Sparkle, has learned how to do this trick. Except this one — she knew what my human wanted her to do, but she just refused. That means, if you do the math, 85% of cats my human has worked with do this trick. It is part of our breakfast ritual — we all have to sit up for a bit of food before my human gives us our bowls. My human simply holds up a treat or some food the way you see here (she is using a fork with a chunk of food to make it easier for her to photograph).

somali cat goes cross eyed sitting up for treat

While we were learning it, my human held up the food or treat just out of our reach until we sat up, and when we did, she said, “Sit up!” and then gave us the treat. Eventually, we learned that when my human said, “Sit up,” if we did, we got something tasty. My human doesn’t even have to look at me anymore. If I am sitting there, waiting for breakfast, she can just say, “Sit up,” and I will do it. It is just a matter of repetition. When your human thinks you have learned to Sit Up, she can try saying it before holding out the treat to see if you will do it. If you don’t, that just means you need to keep practicing.

High Five

somali cat watching treat that is being held out of reach

Some cats are naturals when it comes to High Fives. Here is how you figure that out: take a particularly tasty treat and hold it a little higher and farther away than you normally would for doing a Sit Up.

somali cat standing up for a treat

If it’s a good treat, your cat will stand up, trying to reach it. If it is not a good treat, then why are you using it? Go get some freeze-dried chicken or something else super good!

somali cat trying to grab a treat

If a cat tries to grab the food or treat like I am here, it will be very easy to get her to learn how to do high fives! This is also why it is a good idea for you kitties to have your claws trimmed before practicing this — you don’t want to snag your humans’ skin with your claw. That will discourage them from working with you.

Once you humans get your cat to reach for a treat, all you need to do is hold the treat in one hand and give your cat’s outreached paw a high five with the other hand, and at the same time say, “High five!” Then give her the treat. It’s that simple.

somali cat giving a high five to her human

Just keep doing that a few times a day, several times a week, and eventually it will stick.

Shake

somali cat lightly giving her human a handshake

High Fives and Shakes are totally related. Instead of giving your cat a high five, say, “Shake,” and lightly hold her paw instead — emphasis on lightly. You don’t want your cat to think you are being grabby and graspy. You can teach your cat to do both High Five and Shake but make sure she knows one really well before going onto the other one, or she will get confused. Chances are she will be a little puzzled when you start the new trick anyhow, but that’s when the patience thing needs to kick in.

somali cat getting a firm handshake from her human

When your cat is used to doing Shake, then you can grasp her paw a little more firmly, like a real handshake.

Stay

somali cat stays when her human tells her to

Stay is actually a very good trick for a kitty to know! It helps us focus. I confess, I get a little ADHD sometimes, but when my human tells me to Stay, and I know there’s a treat at the end of staying, I will sit down and stay put. For some reason, most kitties understand that pointing the way my human is in the photo above means to sit down. If your cat needs help with this, just point at her when she is sitting still, say, “Stay,” and give her a treat. Eventually make her sit longer before giving her the treat. Soon she will relate “Stay” with sitting patiently (or like with me, semi-patiently) and waiting for a treat.

Staying is a good thing to practice between other tricks. It may take a while, but eventually a cat will learn to stay still while you are digging through the treat bag for another treat. That is a good test to see how well she is catching on.

somali cat giving her human a big high five, one of her many cat tricks

So there are my cat tricks! I hope you and your human have learned some new things to try. Remember to make each session fun and brief. My human and I only spend about 10 minutes, sometimes less, to practice my tricks. She uses them for when we are out places to tell if I’m comfortable. Even if I am a little nervous, she knows that if I will still do a trick for her, that I’m okay, and if I won’t, then maybe I’m too uncomfortable and we should leave.

The best part about cat tricks? Not only is it a fun game to play with your human, we kitties are always the ones in control! Your human always should follow your lead and practice tricks with you that you naturally gravitate towards. I know it has strengthened my relationship with my human. Maybe it will do the same with yours.

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Comments

  1. Catherine A Lingg says

    September 28, 2019 at 11:41 pm

    Summer, I’m proud to say my Princess has mastered all those tricks, even stay. Smartest kitty I’ve ever had

    Reply
  2. Quinn and Carol says

    August 8, 2016 at 8:19 am

    Mommy and I only have a couple of tricks. Before she feeds me I am required to sit, stay. And if I want to say something to Mommy, I gently paw her–usually this is an alert for her, as I can tell when her glucose level is low, but it can also mean, here I am, you need to calm down and pet me.

    Reply
  3. Maggie says

    August 3, 2016 at 2:48 pm

    Nice tutorial, Summer. Rufus the Red and Mickey Mouser both shake paws very nicely, but we haven’t tried any other tricks. It really helps if your cat is food driven! We’ll be trying to extend our repertoire, thanks.

    Reply
  4. Lola says

    July 13, 2016 at 9:06 am

    What a great post, Summer! These tips are super. Oh, Mommy LOVED seeing you do your tricks at BlogPaws.

    Reply
  5. Lily says

    July 12, 2016 at 3:34 am

    Great tricks, my Chewy does the high 5 when I use wand toy, and he definitely stands up high as a toddler when I’m chopping something in the kitchen 😀 😀

    Reply
  6. Mark's Mews says

    July 11, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    We sit up fer treats, stand high fer wand toys, get up on lap when called, and answer when spoken to. What we CANT do is be around lots of strangers.

    Reply
  7. meowmeowmans says

    July 11, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    Those are such good tricks, Summer! Moosey used to do shake, and Angel Graphite, too. Thanks for showing us all how to learn those other tricks. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Fraidy Cats! says

    July 11, 2016 at 7:39 pm

    great trick tips, Summer! our mom has taught some of us here a few and she has to use a target stick cause we go a bit crazy if the treats are out and visible 😀 the stay or at least four-on-the-floor is what our mom used for sharpie so she could get through fixing his meals without him jumping on the counter into the middle of it all!

    we haven’t practiced in a while so hopefully this will get our mom to play trick games with us again 🙂

    pip, smidgen, minnie, hollie

    Reply
  9. Cathy Keisha says

    July 11, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    You must get a ton of treats during a 10 minute session! TW used to shake with a couple of the cats that came before me. I admit we weren’t even shaking and I just put my claw through her finger.

    Reply
  10. Jo-Anne says

    July 11, 2016 at 5:18 pm

    These photos made me smile and for that I thank you

    Reply
  11. Rene kokoska says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:44 pm

    I tried this with one (of our 5) cats and she gave me the finger and laughed in my face as she walked away from me.

    Reply
  12. Laila and Minchie says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    Very impressive, Summer!

    Reply
  13. THe Island Cats says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    Very impressive, Summer. I have been known to do the sit up trick. The mom may try teaching me some of the other ones. ~Ernie

    Reply
  14. Savannah's Paw Tracks says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:11 pm

    TKS will do anything for treats and chicken. So she might go for doing the tricks. But not me, nope, no way no how.

    Reply
  15. Maxwell, Faraday & Allie says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    I know you mentioned “sit up” but what about “sit” from a standing position? We have done that with some of the Wayside kitties, too!

    Reply
  16. Melissa, Mudpie & Angel Truffles says

    July 11, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    Mudpie and I do “Sit Up”! I don’t even have to use a treat…I hold a couple fingers above her head and she stands up to reach them!

    Reply
  17. Harvey, Miranda,Silver and Dusty says

    July 11, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    This sounds lot of fun!!!!!!

    Reply
  18. Three Chatty Cats says

    July 11, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    Thanks for the tips on the tricks! I will definitely try this out with my kitties.

    Reply
  19. LP says

    July 11, 2016 at 1:05 pm

    Summer, you are very co-operative! We cats here spend our time training the humans . . . we don’t have time to be trained ourselves ;D

    the critters in the cottage xo

    Reply
  20. Dragonheart, Merlin, and Devi says

    July 11, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    Great advice on how to train our humans to give us treats!

    Reply
  21. Toby says

    July 11, 2016 at 12:29 pm

    Very cook tricks!!! But we love the photos of you even more – the way the the perspective is kind of skewed – it makes your head look HUGE and your body look teeny!!

    Reply
  22. Ellen Pilch says

    July 11, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    I have never thought of training my cats, they are usually too busy training me. 🙂 I am going to try a high five and see how that goes. I want to know what became of the gorgeous calico from the post back in 2004.

    Reply
    • Summer Samba says

      July 11, 2016 at 12:42 pm

      She was adopted by one of the other meditation class students, and I hear she promptly took over the woman’s apartment! The humans have lost touch with them, but I’m sure she’s still around and in charge – she would be about 13 now.

      Reply
  23. Kitties Blue says

    July 11, 2016 at 11:25 am

    Summer, you were a young kitten when you started learning tricks. Can older cats learn them as well? How old is too old to start? Can you high five with either paw? That’s what it looks like. Thanks for the lessons. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

    Reply
  24. Lone Star Cats says

    July 11, 2016 at 10:09 am

    I bet Crockett would be a natural at high fives.

    Reply
  25. caren gittleman says

    July 11, 2016 at 9:46 am

    Really good Summer!! But….I have always done all of that naturally without being taught (wink), I am an extremely tactile kitty who uses his paws like “hands”, always have! Love, Cody

    Reply
  26. Colehaus Cats says

    July 11, 2016 at 9:32 am

    Those are awesome tricks, or as our angel brother Seth used to say, “Whatever makes ’em happy,” meaning our Mom. Angel Seth used to give high fives and roll over just for pets. Our Mom hasn’t been able to get any of us to do either of those things but we’ll admit we can Stay pretty well when we want to. Well, some of us will Stay.

    Reply
  27. Emma and Buster says

    July 11, 2016 at 9:09 am

    Very interesting. I’m sure after reading this our inept humans will try to use this. Goodluck to them.

    Reply
  28. Noodle says

    July 11, 2016 at 9:06 am

    Great tips!
    Have a wonderful weekend…

    Noodle and crew

    Reply
  29. Sue Brandes says

    July 11, 2016 at 8:51 am

    Thanks for the tips. Your very good at them.

    Reply
  30. mommakatandherbearcat says

    July 11, 2016 at 8:51 am

    Hmmm. I don’t think so. ~Bear Cat
    ps – We enjoyed the pictures of Summer though!

    Reply
  31. Craig s. c. okajima says

    July 11, 2016 at 8:49 am

    How about “roll onto your back, trying to look cute?”

    Kitty cats look so cute, when they tilt their heads or bat their paws around, for some reason!

    Reply
  32. Raven says

    July 11, 2016 at 8:34 am

    You’re a fast learner and your mom is a good trainer. I’m not interested in food so there’s no incentive for me to listen to my human and do tricks.

    Reply
  33. Annabelle says

    July 11, 2016 at 8:12 am

    You did all of that with great precision, well done Summer!

    Reply
  34. Team Tabby says

    July 11, 2016 at 7:13 am

    Summer you are so smart, thanks for all those training tips!

    Mindy & Mike

    Reply
  35. Brian says

    July 11, 2016 at 6:32 am

    You taught your human well pretty Summer, we are impressed!

    Reply
  36. dma says

    July 11, 2016 at 6:22 am

    if it means more treats, theo is willing to try anything. unfortunately he knows i’m pretty untrainable.

    Reply
  37. Toby & Leia says

    July 11, 2016 at 6:19 am

    You are very patient to work with your hoomin so closely. And just think – SHE thinks she’s training YOU. ha ha meeowww!!!

    Reply
  38. Mr. Chivers, Greyson, and Tabitha says

    July 11, 2016 at 5:40 am

    Great ideas Summer. You are so right about us kitties doing only what we want, and treats sure do sweeten the deal. MOL. You make these seem so easy. Our humom is ready to begin. She keeps lots of treats in the pantry too. Thanks for sharing all these helpful tips with us. Purrs

    BTW, does Binga perform too? MOL

    Reply
  39. Grace says

    July 11, 2016 at 5:28 am

    I had enough problems training a dog, I’m definitely not trying to train a cat!

    Reply
  40. The kitties of purring pines says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:34 am

    Wow, we can use that to get more treats! That’s good stuff fur you to use at the nursing home too.

    Reply
  41. Andrea and the Celestial Kitties says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:28 am

    Aww, those are awesome treats and you look so cute doing them!

    Reply
  42. The Poupounette Gang says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:15 am

    You are so talented, Summer!

    Genji was really amazed to learn how petite you are. He always thought he was the littlest guy around!

    Purrs,
    The Chans

    Reply
  43. The Swiss Cats says

    July 11, 2016 at 4:09 am

    Those a great tips, and it’s very interesting to see in which order one trick leads to another. Purrs

    Reply
  44. Sometimes Cats Herd You says

    July 11, 2016 at 3:17 am

    The head peep says thanks for the tips. Newton could totally learn these, and she thinks he could use a little training!

    Reply
  45. Sammy says

    July 11, 2016 at 2:21 am

    You have given us a purrrrfect demonstration! Mom says instead of HER training me, I’ve trained HER. If I scream she comes – if I hop up on her lap, she brushes me – if I go to the pantry she feeds me. I’m really very good at training!

    Love, Sammy

    Reply
  46. Mickey's Musings says

    July 11, 2016 at 1:09 am

    Those are great tips for training a cat. Mum likes them.
    We like the idea of treats. We would like to train our mum 😉
    MOL!
    Purrs Georgia and Julie,
    Treasure and JJ

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. I'm an Excellent Cat Writer! - SparkleCat says:
    April 6, 2017 at 12:17 am

    […] In which I show how kitties can learn several basic tricks… and earn treats in the process! This story is here. […]

    Reply
  2. Tricky Tortie - SparkleCat says:
    July 12, 2016 at 12:11 am

    […] on Facebook who read yesterday’s post wanted to know if their four-year-old cat was too old to learn tricks. The answer is no! Binga will […]

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