Cat Titles and Training: What’s the Point?
Article originally published on Space Cat Academy.
Training your cat is one of the best ways to build a strong relationship with them. Actively interacting with your cat not only helps boost their mental wellbeing, but your cat will also positively associate solving puzzles and training with getting rewards from you.
Peak Purrformance is the official certifying body for cats that provides certifications in cat tricks, sports, and cat behavior.
The titles that Peak Purrformance offers not only serve as achievements for you and your cat but also as goals to help guide your training. The certifications are designed with several aspects of cat guardianship in mind. The Cat Ambassador Certification focuses on your cat’s life in their home and at the vet; the Trail Companion titles focus on your cat safely exploring beyond their home, and the Trick titles emphasize building interspecies communication skills between you and your cat. Regardless of the titles that you choose to pursue, each one carries many benefits for your cat and for your relationship as a whole.
Cat Ambassador Certification
The Cat Ambassador Certification runs through ten test items of various situations your cat will encounter in their home, such as being picked up, greeting a visitor, and calmly getting into the carrier. To pass the certification your cat needs to react to those situations with minimum stress.
For example, your cat’s behavior while in a carrier will be evaluated. Your cat’s ability to be calm and confident in a carrier is vital for anything that involves taking your cat out of the house, such as a vet visit or moving homes. This certification shows that your cat can take on any situation you throw at them without reacting in fear or stress. For you, this certification is a goal to achieve with your cat. However, to others, such as your pet sitters, landlord, or roommates, the certification shows that your cat is well behaved.
Trail Companion Titles
This series of titles is designed as a goal to encourage you to safely take your cat on outings and adventures outside of the home. Outings and adventures include walking places, such as hiking trails, parks, or your neighborhood street, with your cat walking on leash or in a backpack. As you go on more outings and track how many miles you have walked together, these miles will earn you titles and are a great goal to work towards.
These outings are extremely beneficial for cats: they are a wonderful form of enrichment and are a more immersive version of ‘cat tv’ or sitting in their favorite window. They will be able to smell, hear and see more than they could through the window.
The result is a healthier, happier cat and a happier guardian as well! If you are interested in learning more about how to harness- or carrier-train your cat, check out these classes by Space Cat Academy!
Trick Titles
The trick title series is my personal favorite. Trick training may seem trivial to some people as some tricks may not seem directly functional or useful. However, if you can successfully ask your cat to get on a pedestal to wave at you, chances are that you could also ask your cat to get off that table which they are always knocking things. But the benefits of trick training run deeper than that. Trick training at its core is a form of communication between humans and cats: You are using a hand signal or verbal cue and your cat responds in a specific way. As your cat is puzzling out which action will earn them a reward, you are learning more about your cat’s personality. As your cat learns more tricks, they will better understand how to learn more tricks; thus, the learning curve is exponentially positive.
They receive enrichment in the form of deciphering what you want, they receive rewards from you which further enhances your bond, and they gain confidence in their actions through positive reinforcement. Having a task to do is helps cats harness their energy and gain confidence. Trick training has helped countless cats go from cripplingly shy to affectionate, or from hyperactive to calm.
The Peak Purrformance trick titles give guardians a roadmap of sorts in their trick training progression; they also are a wonderful recognition for all of the hard work that you and your cat have done, and an achievement to prove to others that cats can do anything.
If you are interested in trick training you can join the Trick of the Month Club at Space Cat Academy! This online community shares their progress and successes as they learn a new trick each month!