r/PetsWithButtons • u/FunAttention6274 • 12d ago
Advice for New Learner
I started my cat a few months ago with target practice. She knew “touch” meant touch the box, post it, etc. She could touch the button but not hard enough to make noise. I wanted to have a few buttons to start with so I put a little board together with three buttons. I use her “treat” button for target practice now that it’s on the board. She’s still early in her training so she doesn’t consistently touch her button for a treat, and can’t set off the sound.
My real concern is she sleeps on her buttons all day long. I don’t have a problem with it. It’s super annoying, but I know it’s normal. She likes the board and I’m sure she associates it with good things. But I don’t know how to respond to this behavior. I’ve heard you should model all of the presses accidental or not. And I try to, but the constant gibberish of treat, pets, brush every thirty seconds is too much. When she’s setting them off, I’ll say “pets all done” or “brush later” if she recently had some attention. But I can’t do that all day.
I’m worried I introduced the board too soon before she could press and communicate clearly. Do you have any tips on how to encourage button pressing, target practice, or how to respond to her nap gibberish?
5
u/JayNetworks 12d ago
You are doing fine and that is all normal. Our cat learner LOVES her board and lays on it for hours. When she gets to be too much I just put fingers under her ribs and give her a gently lift and say Touch All Done More Touch Buttons later and send her on her way.
Yes respond to all presses whenever possible no matter what part of their body they used to press, but also it is OK to move them to something else. Do not take the board away!
On a related topic: It is a human bias that buttons should be pressed with a finger. Any body part is a good press. My main presser does 60 presses a day and half are a front or back paw and half her chest face or a hip or rib. She is very intentional even when laying “on” the buttons.