[Summit] couch on sidewalk...

[Theresa Mathiesen]

Hi, Micaela,

Your question goes right to the heart of animal training.  Punishment
usually doesn't work.  Punishments and rewards have to come within 3
seconds of the behavior for the animal to associate them with its
behavior.  Also, any attention is rewarding to animals -- even
negative attention.  This is paradoxical, I know, but this is how
animals think, from planaria to chimpanzees...

Rewards work better than punishment every time.  Praise and pet your
cat when he uses the scratching post.  Andrew Nosal's suggestion of a
rope scratching post works with some cats.  Mine used it after only
once or twice.  What they liked best was a scratching pad of
corrugated cardboard.  It lies flat on the floor.  It comes with a
pouch of dried catnip.  Crush the catnip between your fingers over the
cardboard so it falls into the little holes.  All of my cats loved
scratching this cardboard pad.  The pads aren't expensive, so when
they wear out it isn't a big investment to get another.

There are several brands and I've noticed that the catnip with some
brands is better than the catnip with others.  You could even get
catnip from another source -- the really good stuff!l

Exercising claws is pleasurable for a cat and it also marks their
territory.  If you have more than one cat, it would be a good idea to
get each his own scratching pad.

In summary, finding another outlet for the scratching behavior, and
praising and rewarding the cat when he uses it, usually works better
than punishing him.

(My credentials:  a lifetime of studying animal behavior, plus I
successfully trained my litter-box-aversive cat to use the litter box.
 I did it with rewards, not punishment.)

Best wishes and good luck!

Elva Mathiesen



On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 8:54 PM, Michaela O'Donnell <michaelao at gmail.com> wrote:
> it's well-used, and little cat scratched, but FREE and sitting in front of
> 72 8th street.
>
> Oh, and any suggestions as to how to keep my cat from scratching the new
> couch?  She loves the game where she runs up, scratches, I spray her with
> water, and then she does it again.  She also has no interest in the
> scratching post I got her.
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