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Hi, my kitten is about 15 weeks old. Is luring him with treats to get him off of counters & undesirable surfaces an effective method of training, or does it just teach him that every time he gets up there, he will get a treat? Thank you so much for your help.

Hi, my kitten is about 15 weeks old. Is luring him with treats to get him off of counters & undesirable surfaces an effective method of training, or does it just teach him that every time he gets up there, he will get a treat? Thank you so much for your help.

Updated On July 9th, 2020

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 4 months and 8 days old

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

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That's a very good question! If you are concerned about Boris associating treat with getting on the counter, I recommend turning the action into a "get down" command, and treating once he is off the counter, rather than when he is on it. That way he can start to associate the command (and treat) with being off the counter instead of on it. You can also use a nice toy such as a feather on a stick to sort of lure him off of the counter, and then proceed to treat and interact with him on the ground. If he starts hopping up onto the counter regularly and 'demanding' a treat, you may need to do what is called extinction behavior. This is where you ignore the behavior (being on the counter) until he hops back off on his own, in which you then reward him with attention and treats again. Something to note, extinction behaviors usually get worse temporarily before they start to improve as the pet will try to do the behavior more to try and get attention before giving up -- this doesn't mean you're failing, it means it's working!

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