Practise ’til it clicks: how to teach your cat tricks with the clicker method
26.11.2025
Translation: Katherine Martin
Cats just do whatever they want, right? Wrong, says clicker expert Chris Gasser. As someone who trains both cats and dogs, she’s shown that anybody can quickly achieve success with their furry friend.
«Cats can’t be trained!» When Chris Gasser hears people coming out with statements like this, she can’t help but grin. The 39-year-old clicker expert from Staad in the canton of St. Gallen has taught chickens to bow and drum. She’s also trained rats, cows and goldfish. As a result of her husband’s changing work situation in the hotel industry, she travels around the world with her cats Louis and Peanut.
The only reason she manages to do that in such a stress-free way is clicker training. Simply put, this is a technique that involves making a certain sound when a cat behaves the way you want, then rewarding it. Over time, the sound alone becomes enough for the animal to think that what they’re doing will pay off. It’s based on a method known as classical conditioning (linked website in German).
Source: Chris Gasser
Chris learned the clicker method 25 years ago – initially with a dog – from Doris Vaterlaus, a trainer based at Switzerland’s first clicker school. Several training courses at home and abroad later, Chris set up her own business, Clickercat. Under that banner, she now teaches courses from anywhere and everywhere. When I call her, she’s in Cyprus.
Chris, why is clicker training only usually mentioned in relation to dogs?
Chris Gasser: There’s this persistent myth that cats are headstrong loners who don’t take orders from anyone. The thing is, it isn’t true. Cats are able and willing to learn.
So, what’s the problem?
We’re basically forced to put dogs through their paces all day. We take them to dog school and teach them rules when we’re on the bus or out on walks. Cats, on the other hand, are independent. We see training them as unnecessary or impossible.
Are all cats really suited to training?
Yes. As soon as they start eating solid food, they can be trained. Which, by the way, doesn’t mean you can’t train an elderly cat. The oldest one I’ve trained using the clicker method was 24 years old. When a cat’s sick, I just adjust the training process. That could involve going for gentle movements if a pet has osteoarthritis, or using hand signals with deaf animals.
What equipment do you need for the clicker method?
There are countless clickers out there. I’d recommend target sticks with extendable pointers, as you can use them to direct a cat – or several cats – to specific spots if you’re precise. In theory, though, your voice alone would do the job.
How exactly?
You can click your tongue whenever your cat does something right. This gives you the advantage of always having your tools available regardless of where you are, while keeping your hands free. That’s a plus when it comes to things like medical training.
What’s medical training?
It’s a way of teaching animals not to be afraid of medical examinations. The clicker method helps them get used to things like having their claws trimmed or ears checked. Mind you, when it comes to complex exercises like that, cats definitely need to be trained individually.
That sounds really advanced. To go back for a moment, what’s the best way to start training a cat?
First, you have to learn to click at the right moment. That’s no easy feat in the beginning. After your cat’s reaction, you have one second max before you need to click. Make sure you don’t give another signal beforehand, such as gesturing for a treat.
Why?
If you do that, your cat will perceive the hand movement instead of the clicking as a signal. It’s best to practise your coordination without your cat first. For example, you could throw a ball against a wall and click whenever it bounces off the ground.
What should you do once you’ve got the hang of that?
That’s when you can start training with treats. When the cat’s standing in front of you with all four paws on the floor, the sequence goes: click, give treat, click, give treat, click, give treat.
Source: Chris Gasser
How long should those sequences last?
The best thing to do is to give five treats, take a break for about five minutes, then click again for another five treats. Do that about five times throughout the day.
Don’t cats get overweight from eating so many treats?
You run that risk if you use typical treats, for example Dreamies. It’s better to use dry food taken from their daily requirement. Alternatively, you can cut cat-friendly snacks into small cubes.
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Quantity discount
CHF3.70 per piece for 4 units CHF49.33/1kg
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Quantity discount
CHF4.10 per piece for 4 units CHF54.66/1kg
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Adult, 1 pcs., 75 g
How do you figure out what to teach your cat?
Watch out for behaviour your cat engages in unprompted. Does it enjoy roaming around? If so, you can teach it to walk over to specific places. Does it often lift its paw? If so, you can develop that into tricks like high fives.
Source: Chris Gasser
What do you do once your cat understands that a click is followed by a treat?
You could, for instance, teach your cat to lie down in a carrier. Tackle it step by step, following the shaping principle. Start by rewarding it when it looks at the carrier, then when it takes a step towards it and finally, when it lies inside it.
So should you reward your pet every time it does something right? Or randomly?
Personally, I think you should always reward your cat if it’s clearly demonstrated the right response. After all, the clicking sound is a promise that it’s about to be rewarded for its behaviour. If that doesn’t happen, it can cause frustration and, in the worst case scenario, something we call «extinction».
That’s when a cat stops exhibiting particular behaviour, isn’t it?
Exactly.
While we’re on the subject of stopping certain behaviours: is there anything you can train a cat not to do? Say, scratching the sofa or meowing loudly?
As a general rule, you should ask yourself what behaviour you want, not what you don’t want. For example, if you want your cat to be distracted while you’re dishing its food, you can give it a snuffle mat. Nifty alternatives are the most useful way to go. The same thing applies if you want to stop your cat from scratching things.
Some people put leads on their cats and take them out for walks to keep them occupied. Is that useful?
It depends on the cat, but yes. You can use clickers to teach them to walk on a lead too.
Which cats is that suitable for?
Ones that show an interest in the outside world, enjoy being around people and aren’t easily frightened.
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How long does it take for the first signs of success with the clicker method to appear?
It depends on the trick. You can often get a cat to move to a certain place within just a few days or weeks. Teeth-brushing and walking on a lead tend to be month-long or even year-long projects. It’s handy if you go for tricks that build on each other.
Could you give us an example?
Once a cat’s learned to sit on a blanket, it’ll be easier to get it to lie on one inside a carrier. The most important thing is to keep at it.
Source: Chris Gasser
Are you saying that cats never really stop learning?
Not quite. Eventually, your cat will master a trick. However, if you stop using it or rewarding your cat on a day-to-day basis for six months, it’ll get out of practice and you’ll having to go back a few steps.
How can cat owners stay motivated as trainers?
In my experience, by coming together with other pet owners, for example in clicker communities. Those spaces are good for celebrating mutual successes.
As for me, I’ll definitely be trying clicker training with my boisterous teenage cat, Jasper. He’ll do anything for food.
As part of a three-part series on clicker training, I’ll soon be showing you how to teach your cat to give high fives, lie on a blanket or lie inside a carrier.
Header image: Chris Gasser/www.clickercat.ch
Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI love anything with four legs or roots - especially my shelter cats Jasper and Joy and my collection of succulents. My favourite things to do are stalking around with police dogs and cat coiffeurs on reportages or letting sensitive stories flourish in garden brockis and Japanese gardens.
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