As a child I was determined to convince one of our three cats to walk on a leash, since my parents refused to get a dog. Despite months of determined practice, not a single cat walked more than three steps in the harness before flopping over and rolling. I think my parents felt badly for the cats because a few weeks later my trainer approached me and offered to let me hang out at the barn and hand graze her ponies between lessons.
Does anyone else think it’s interesting that all cats seem to have the same physical behavior to a harness. :lol:
The cat harness I was given was a buckle-on sort for kittens, and even though Miss E is barely 10 pounds, she was not fitting in it. So I adjusted the hound’s Gentle Leader (neck part went around her girth, nose band went around her neck, after some snugging up) and carried her out into the fenced yard.
She was quite convinced she was in a straitjacket until a mourning dove landed on the fence about 20 feet behind her. Her powers of movement returned to her miraculously, she took off toward the fence quite hastily (and quickly learned the bit about the leash).
After that we were golden. She’s still not good about the concept of a limit to her ability to go somewhere, but she’ll trot along with her leash and ghetto harness pretty well (I need to get her a real one). She even vaulted up the fence one day when she saw something in the trees behind the fence, and I snatched her just as she reached the top of the fence and was preparing to leap off it. Now our excursions are limited to the middle of the yard. :lol:
I even took her out in the snow last winter, but she wasn’t a huge fan. :winkgrin:
I used to leash-walk my cat - he had been injured and had a limp, so I did not want to just let him out. I was a kid, and just used a regular collar and leash and luckily he was good and never had an issue. I did find that it was not good to pull like you would a dog - sometimes if you pulled the OPPOSITE way he would go that way - seemed to lean into the pressure. Maybe needed some Parrelli work heehee. He never panicked, but I did not walk him in busy areas, mostly around the yard and in the small woods behind our house. I also leash walked other cats and never had any problems - some slinked around for a while, but I’ve had dogs do that when first wearing a collar.
I really like that cat jacket and if I were to start walking any of mine, I would get that so that the cat could not slide out of a collar or harness. I have 5 indoor cats and have no plan to leash walk all of them lol! That would be tangle city!
I would avoid the flexi-leash too. Not enough control and they can burn when they wrap around you!
Good suggestions for harness type.
However, very few cats take to a leash/harness naturally, so you’ll have to spend a lot of time training and go very very slow if you ever hope to have a prayer.
Have you ever tried clicker training with your cat? A lot of them take to it really well if you can find some food/toy that motivates them. First, I would give the cat something tasty while the harness is nearby. Then gradually work into getting the harness on and buckled (again, pets and treats during this). It might take some time to even get him happily wearing it. Once he’s okay with having it put on, treats and play time while he’s wearing it. Do that for awhile until he stops acting like it’s the end of the world. Then add the leash and repeat. Let him drag it around and get used to it (keep an eye on him so he doesn’t get hung up on something).
Then you can start to ask for some sort of on leash walking. Again, go super super slow. One step towards you, treat! Next day, maybe ask for two steps. I can’t imagine this being a very quick process (the reason I sort of forgot about this pet project while in college - got all the way through getting the cat happy in a harness and leash and never worked too much on the walking, haha), but I think it’s the only way you’d have a chance with a recalcitrant cat…
My cat has decided he really wants to explore the hallway in our apartment building though, so maybe I’ll put my money where my mouth is and see if it might work = )
There are also some youtube vids on this.
My assistant’s cat walks on a leash but I don’t know how she did it. I think she has a regular cat harness for him. Rugs is an exceptional cat. He likes to ride in the car and goes on trips with them regularly. He’s been skiing in Colorado and has gone to Branson several times. She has some pictures of him hiking with her in one of the state parks.
I’ve taught two cats to walk on leash. To teach your cat to walk on leash, you need to teach the cat to walk WITH YOU without a leash present. Follow the “choose to heel” training programs suggested for dogs, but with your cat. Then harness the cat and let the cat wear the harness for a couple of weeks. Then add a drag line in the house. Then try it in a very safe outside area. You have to think of the leash as an emergency tool, not a way to control the animal. Actually this applies to dogs and horses too come to think of it- the animal should be walking WITH YOU not being dragged around by the rope.
Cats respond to aversives like leash tension the way wild animals do, not the way domesticated animals do- flee in terror/fight/freeze. Domesticated animals “give in” to aversives and learn. It’s a major difference.
^^THIS^^ I decided to put my very loved kitty on a leash and take him outside because he was an indoor only cat and so wanted to come outside. He was fine until he noticed one of our other cats inside the house and freaked out. He some how managed to wiggle out of it in seconds :o Thankfully he just ran to the door to get back in. We never tried it again.
For fun (for the human not the kitty) tie a string or bow around your kitties waist just tight enough to stay on and for some reason they cannot walk and will fall over. It is pretty funny to watch :lol: Every cat I have cannot walk with something tied around their waist :yes:
Ours does now. Just be patient, go slow.
My sister trained her aged Siamese to go on leash. It took time & patience and lots of picking up & carrying the cat to get started. She has just a plain cat harness of some sort. Most of the time outside is the cat leading and choosing the direction, which is ok by my sister as she does not have a destination in mind when they walk.
The cat only goes walking when they are traveling in their RV.
I’ve had two that I trained to tolerate a leash. We’d pretty much have to go where the cat wanted to go, though. My first was a little white angora, got her as a kitten when I knew I’d be moving cross country by car. She got very used to the leash and riding in the car. You should have seen the stares we got when we got out at rest stops for her to take a little walk!
[QUOTE=JumpIt;5769190]
I saw this and it made me think of this thread. ^.^
http://catghost.net/2011/05/03/walkies-part-2/[/QUOTE]
:lol::lol::lol::lol: Yup, that was me.
I know you have all been dying to see this so here you go:
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/300730_10150262988930213_507505212_8089907_5289035_n.jpg
This is Emma, my mom’s cat. And yes she is wearing her walking jacket - which has her name embroidered on it. :lol: I gave it to my mom for xmas one year. She also has a red one but I don’t think the color suits her as well.
I’m sure the neighbors think my mom is weird and senile wandering around with a cat on a leash. 
