I’d like to introduce you to two of my own pets, Rena (the mutt) and Rupert (the buff cat). When this video was taken, I had adopted Rena about a year earlier. She was about 7. We had been trying to teach her to sit or shake paw or do ANYTHING for months and months and were getting nowhere. So I thought we would have a little lesson with Rupert, who is 2 in the video.
I trained my cat Rupert to sit, shake paw, high five and beg using clicker training when he was less than a year old. He is learning speak as well. He caught on very quickly, because as you can see he is very eager to do anything for a treat.
I am happy to report that a few months after this video was shot, something clicked for Rena. She learned sit quickest, and after months and months of trying to teach her to shake, she is now a master at that. She can also high five, stay, crate, and ring a bell to go potty. I am so happy she is now loving life, as I rescued her just before she was to be put down at a shelter where she was suffering with Heartworm, her teeth worn down likely from being left in a cage by her previous owners. This video has been picked up by some television shows on Animal Planet and in Japan, so she is famous! I hope one day her previous owner recognizes her and realizes what they lost.