Unwanted behaviors such as scratching and climbing can be corrected with persistence. If your Ragdoll does not respond to a stern “No” you may need to reinforce this with a spray bottle, a whistle, or shaking a metal can filled with coins. When you do this it is important to understand the cat needs to associate being squirted or startled by a noise with the bad behavior, not with you.
Here are several tips to help use behavioral deterrents effectively.
1. Avoid making eye contact with your Ragdoll when squirt them with water or startle with a noisemaker. It is extremely important to be consistent and provide the same response (squirt or startled) every time you observe the behavior you are trying to correct. After you squirt your cat for instance, walk away. The correction you apply is meant to be unpleasant for your Ragdoll cat, not a terrifying experience.
2. If you are having a problem with scratching try covering the area being scratched with aluminum foil. Cats hate the feel of foil and will not scratch.
3. Try placing a motion detector alarm in the area you want to keep your Ragdoll cat away from. You can purchase an alarm of this type from your local pet supply store.
4. Never yell at or hit your Ragdoll cat. This is not an effective way to train your Ragdoll cat as they will only learn to fear you. Violent punishment is the worse thing you can do to your relationship with your Ragdoll cat.
5. If you are trying to teach your cat not to climb, be careful not to startle or squirt your Ragdoll when they are high off the ground. If you scare your cat and they fall, your Ragdoll could be injured in the fall.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Got a 1 1/2 yr.old male. He does really good in liter box. Except when we go out at night for dinner or movie. He uses the bathroom on rug going down step near his litter box in middle of night. Squirting water in face and putting him in litterbox. Does not work?
I clicker trained my Ragdoll. When she is on furniture like the dining room table, I just have to say OFF and clap my hands and she gets off. If she is on her cat tree and looking to jump into the open cabinet that holds my lp’s, I just have to say “don’t even think of it” and she stops.
if you want to see how well she does, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAw9hRvU6FY
We train every night before bed, and once in the morning while I drink my tea.
She is toilet trained, and if she goes at night, she is quiet, but if she has a good poop during the day, she hollers at the end of the top of her voice and I have to look at her poop before I flush. I have a room where I train my dogs, and she will go down there and holler when she wants individual attention. She also insisted on learning Crate Games, which is a dog training strategy, and when she does something good, she goes into the training crate and assumes the position for her treat. Her absolute favourite is cauliflower.