How to Keep a Cat off the Furniture

Cats are independent creatures with an air of arrogance, but they offer love, loyalty and companionship to many pet owners. That doesn't mean you want them on every piece of furniture, scratching their claws on your favorite arm chair or walking leisurely on the kitchen countertops. Cats may be more difficult to train than dogs because of their personalities, but here are some helpful tips on training your cat not to get on things he shouldn't.

Instructions

1. Prepare yourself to train your cat using positive reinforcement and praise. That means training without the use of punishment or reprimands. A reward system is one of the most successful ways to train your cat.

2. Introduce a mechanical clicker, and follow the sound by a small treat. Give these for no reason or expected behavior at first. You are associating the sound to the tasty treat, and your cat will begin to react with anticipation to the sound.

3. If you want your cat to stay off the furniture, associate a command word such as "off" with the clicker.

4. Show your cat the treat hidden in your hand, and motion your hand down while stating firmly "off." Reward this behavior with the treat. This may come in stages so reward each effort or motion to come off the couch. With consistency, issuing the command "off" will give the desired behavior.

5. Create successful situations for your cat so you may reward her for behavior you want.

6. Make sure your cat has other outlets for his behavior. Scratching the claws is part of his nature, so provide a scratching post if you do not want him to use that arm chair.

7. Do not prepare your cat's food on the countertop if that is an area from which you want to keep her away. Sheets of aluminum foil laid along the countertop may serve as a temporary deterrent when not actively training.

Tips & Warnings

• Get off to a good start by planning on at least 15 minutes of quiet time with just you and your cat to introduce the clicker and treat.

• There are several products on the market from sprays to mats that emit noises to serve as repellants. Read the instructions and manuals before deciding if one of these tools is right for you.

• Don't get frustrated. Reprimands and punishment will not help you succeed with any type of behavior training with your cat.