I bought a clicker on the weekend and am about to attempt clicker training. Has anyone tried this before? any advice or recomendations?

I have a 9 month old Cornish Rex kitten. 

    A Clicker can simply be thought of as a "directional, motivational, communication tool", as it serves all 3 functions, simultaneously, thus becoming a very powerful training tool when used PROPERLY by a knowledgable handler or trainer.  Too often, the Clicker is misused by well-meaning, yet untrained pet owners and handlers, with the best of intentions! In short, the Clicker-Training Technique can be best utilized after understanding 3 main aspects and how each work together to achieve the desired result.

    This technique is designed to mark the exact moment that an animal (your cat) behaves in the direction of our request.  In other words, while training a new behavior, one simply cannot praise ONLY the final result (the perfect "sit", the perfect "stay", or the perfect "come", etc) but MUST first praise the baby-steps your cat takes in the right direction as he/she learns to work toward the final result.  When marking the exact moment of the desired behavior, you are communicating to your cat that he/she did well and "pleased you"; therefore sending the message that you are happy with his/her behavior and want to see it repeated or continued by them; Hence, motivating him/her, by positive reinforcement, to willingly strive to please you.

   The importance of marking that exact moment of an animals' desired behavior is to help them become consciously aware of their body movements and for clarity, leaving no doubt in their mind about which behavior was the desired behavior. 

    The "power" of the clicker comes simply from the pact that you make with the animal, in this case, cat.  That pact, or agreement being:  "I promise you, that a yummy treat or positive motivational toy or gesture, will immediately follow every time you hear the click, even if it be by mistake ."  Believe me, I have accidentally bumped my clicker and "sounded the (surprise & unearned) reward alert," numerous times, I might add...Even after using the Clicker-Training Technique as a Professional Animal Behaviorist/Trainer for over 7 years!  The key is that we keep our end of the bargain and reward our animals at the expense of our clumsiness.  

        First, you must find a source of motivation for your cat, whether it be food treats, a special toy, or a cheerful “Well done” pat on the head.  This source of motivation is very important and must be something of significant desire, comparable to a human winning the lottery.  Second,  you must, consistently, prove the pact or agreement you made with your cat, that he/she will be given the motivational reward, immediately following every click he/she earns/hears.  Third,  create opportunities for your cat to earn a click and a treat.  For example, if you want to train your cat to sit on command, you start by clicking every time your “sit” request is responded to by any type of posturing involved in your cat’s behind finally flat on the floor.  Obviously, he/she will not understand the word “sit” at first, let alone understand that the word “sit” is a cue for he/she to position his/her behind flat on the floor; Therefore, you must use your clicker as their big arrow, which tells them they are going in the right direction, and will eventually lead to their behind sitting on the floor.  So, you begin by looking for little movements, such as their hind legs bending at the knee and then you click and treat/reward.  Then you look for another little movement, such as sitting “in mid air” and then you click and treat/reward again.  It becomes a game for them, as they will repeat their actions and consciously try new ones in order to get you to click and treat them.  After following your clicking directions, your cat will eventually end up at your pre-set destination, with his/her behind on the floor.

    In order for me to paint you the exact picture and understanding of the 3 aspects of the Clicker-Training Technique and how they work together, forgive me a moment, as I will need to use an example of training with a DOG...  No offense to your puddy-tat!  Picture training an energetic puppy to do a simple task, such as “sit”, especially when it is interested in every single sight, sound and smell around him/her, thus being highly distractable. The  source of motivational reward must be more interesting to them than all the distractions around them.  Then, after clicking and treating the puppy, naturally, he/she will get more excited as they continue to play this neat game, and earning the thing they deeply desire (the motivational reward).  At this point, timing becomes crucial.  Simply put,instead of using a clicker to mark the exact moment of the desired behavior, and chose to use verbal and physical praise only, the puppy in training would have nothing definitive to base their rewards and future baby-steps upon.  Without using a clicker, the result would likely be as follows:   You say, “Sit”, puppy fools around a few seconds, maybe trying to push your limits and eventually desides to sit.  As soon as they sit, you feeling excited that they complied with your request, praise them by saying, “Oh, what a good boy/girl you are!” and offer them a good pat on the head and maybe even a quick ear scratch for good measure.  Now, as soon as your excited voice began to speak and you anxiously offer pats and scratches, that puppy who just sat upon request, did so for merely a fraction of a second, then jumped up on you to relish in your excitement, just did a no-no.  Sit = good.  Jumping up on trainer = not good.  The desired behavior was very quickly and immediately followed by an undesireable behavior, of which you do not wish to encourage them to repeat.  Now where is the clarity for them to understand, with a doubt, which behavior was the one you are actually praising them for?  Which behavior are they likely to repeat in order to get more praise?

    I hope I have helped you toward becoming a new Clicker-guru and having your cat star on TV.  Seriously, should you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  Good luck and have patience…Remember, we weren’t born running…we too had to take baby-steps.  

Thanks for the info :)

I started training with him yesterday, he really seemed to enjoy it as a new stimulating game to play. I started off with click, treat, click, treat etc and he quickly learnt that the click was a positive thing. He also learnt to come to a marker (my finger tip) and to strech up (sitting on his back legs, with his front paws up)

I would also like to teach him sit, high five, leap through my arms, etc but I'll let him master the easy ones first and move on to them a bit later.  

I'm glad he likes the training game, I'll be sure to do work on it for a few mins each day :)

That is great advice KK9! Thank you. I have bought a clicker but wasn't sure what the right approach was to train my kitten. Thank you and I'll keep you posted how the training is going!!

You both are most welcome!  I'm glad to be of service.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can help any further.

Keep clicking and be patient.  Repetition breeds understanding and practice makes perfect.