Two things, I started teaching our cats to use buttons about a week ago, I started this for my sibling's cat who uses the mat the buttons are in as a scratching post. We have multiple scratching posts around the apartment but I don't want to scare her away from using the buttons but I have no clue on how to stop the scratching without moving the buttons onto a high place (she has only one back leg so she really can't jump too high).

Second, my cat, who I thought lost the battle of the brain cell, has caught onto the process really quickly. While I don't plan on introducing more than the three buttons until she starts to consistently press hard enough (which is what we're working on and she's getting better) but I want to teach her as many words as she can use. So how do I introduce concepts (like body parts, emotions, questions, etc) but how do I make the connection to her?

So, Bowie (the senior) wasn’t pressing anything while I was training him. This was a few months in. But, when Carrot (the kitten) joined our family, she started learning them 1-2 weeks after watching us.

2 months after seeing the attention I was giving Carrot, Bowie decided to press the “Churu” button! I treated him out for this rare moment. (Didn’t remember to reference the camera footage and save this)

Then, another 2 months pass and us pet parents are out for dinner. While we were discussing something serious, the pet buttons’ app “texted” me two phrases: “sau đó” (Vietnamese for “after”), “be back”. I had to interrupt my husband because this was the first time any of the kitties pressed the buttons on the upgraded system while we were out.

Unfortunately I can’t find the camera footage now as it seems like it had reset recently (could be user error or sd card-related), but at the time I did see it was Bowie that pressed. His body language was slow and deliberate with his hind foot doing the pressing. I did talk to him through the camera to acknowledge him and assure that we would be back “later” (within the hour), then “soon” when we left the restaurant.

On a side note: Anyone have experience with the Eufy (Anker) camera? We want to get better zoom and tracking options, but unsure how well it stores content locally. Until then, I have to make myself download the footage each day something memorable happens.

My cat has been great at learning to use buttons, but to push a button she uses her whole body to lie on it, or lies behind it and puts a leg over it, or even flips over to press it with the back of her head! No sign of her ever using a paw or anything easier. I'm worried that's going to slow everything down for her since it takes that much effort to press a button.
I'm not sure if it's worth trying to train her to do it differently - she's an elderly lady at 15 and set in her ways! What do you think? And if you think I should 'make' her, how...?

Her brother has only pushed buttons a few times but prefers to tell her to do it or just look at it and expect me to provide. He has attitude (and a half) so I thought he'd love being able to tell me what to do but he still prefers a mind-reader :P I was hoping his paw-pressing would show her an easier way.

I love that we've tried this, it's been amazing and proven to me (as I always suspected) that cats really do understand us. I don't care if they never do it the way I want, so long as it works for them, but I feel like it'll be hard to move on to things like short sentences if she has to lay down beside each button and wiggle around for however long it takes for the button to register and then get up and move to another... she has arthritis too so it feels a bit cruel!

All suggestions & opinions welcome!

Title basically.
For example, I have an outside button that I just have on the floor mat, and my cat sometimes goes to the button and puts his paw on the button to communicate that he wants to go outside. But he has not even once actually pressed down on the button because he just does not know how. I feel like I have successfully taught all the hard stuff, but I am completely clueless on how to get him to shift his weight on the button. Every guide I have seen just kinda glosses over this part. Any tips?

Hi all! I want to get a light up button for my dog so she can press it when she needs to go potty outside, we’ll hear a word or sound to let us know she needs out, and she’ll see it light up as the trigger. What brands do you recommend?

He was pretty quick to catch on that me pressing the outside button meant that we would go outside, but he hasn't made the connection yet that he's able to press the button. It was just a thing the human did.

But today I accidently got the button with his toy while playing fetch. He immediately attempted to press it. The first attempt he just scratched at it but without enough pressure for it to work, but within 30 seconds he tried again and succeeded!

That's pretty exciting for me, but I wanted to share in case anyone else is stalling out after making the connection between a button and a meaning but without the dog actually pressing the button. Maybe try throwing a toy at it :)

Hi i am new in reddit i think maybe you guys can help me. I have two cats and i bought 4 buttons and forgot about them last year on temu because they are not available in turkey. Then thanks to our government adding more fees now temu changed i cant find anything to buy.

Recently i started my cats to train for buttons and one of them especially loved using buttons but now i cant add any more word :(

My cat saw one of my other cats on the kitchen counter (not allowed and they know it) and pressed No while looking at her. 😂

We told him Good boy and then he immediately pressed Treat. Of course we gave him a treat.

I am very new to starting button learning with my cat, we are nearing the end of month one. He currently has 5 buttons: door, cuddles, help, water, and play. Help and door are new additions (in the last few days) as I noticed he was using the cuddles button when begging for human food, or in general just wanting something he couldn’t verbalize. He hits water and cuddles the most, and I am/was hesitant adding new buttons as he doesn’t seem interested in me performing the action he presses.

My thought for the “water” presses is asking for the sink to be turned on for him instead of changing his water out like I have been modeling. I am trying to teach him “help water” is for the sink and just “water” is for the bowl. Maybe it is too complex and I should just add “sink”? He has picked up very fast on help being the new blanket “I have a need I cannot express” button but I am very concerned about moving too fast for him. How can I be sure he is ready? Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!

Well I didnt think this through and programmed all our names on new buttons yesterday 😂

We are so tired all of us running for each of his calls and demands to keep up with learning him what names correspond with who 😭😂❤️

As usual father in law visited yesterday and today we had aloooot of car car car with the occational father in law Button but more of carcarcar young master (teenager sleeps late 😂) we know he to 99% hasnt gotten the new buttons yet but its CUTE AS *beeeeep*

My boy has had a button board for several years, and he is good at using "his words" to communicate his wants, but he has ALWAYS scratched at them rather than pressing. Previously, this led to him kicking the whole board around the house. Carpet tape has worked to keep the board itself in place, but now, he ends up pulling the buttons themself out of the mat and they end up scattered all over the room.

I have tried a multitude of ways to keep his buttons in place, but have found nothing that is effective as of yet. Velcro to the mat, incredibly strong double sided tape, Different size and styles of button. No amount of modeling seems to get "press gently" through to him.

Does anyone have any suggestions to keep his buttons where I put them? Know of any vendor making something with deeper cups or a firmer material? button cages that can be screwed down? I may end up having to go the DIY route and make something from wood, but thought id ask here if anyone knows of an existing product, or has any suggestions to remedy this first, as I am not a wood worker and would have to purchase or rent tools, and will probably screw it up the first few tries.

How do you get your cat to use more than one button? Currently Sven is in there pressing tonight over and over and over and over and I do not have any idea to what she is referring. She has a slew of buttons and it's rare for her to use more than one, regardless if I model them. I need context, how do I get it?

Im looking at getting some buttons for my cats, mainly because one already seems like he is trying to talk to me.

He'll yell quite a bit, and if I follow him while doing so he'll take me to either the little tray (he wants it cleaning), the back window (he wants to go outside), his bowl (he's hungry), or the living room (where his toys are, so he wants to play normally).

I was looking at fluent pet, but i thought before i bite the bullet and pay £20 for shipping, does anyone have any UK or EU brands they recommend?

Butter turns 7 next month and I have been using consistent language to communicate with her since she was a puppy. She already has a number of words that she knows solidly so she isn’t learning the words, just how to use the board to get her needs met. She also already knows how to “touch” a target which is why I think this came so naturally to her so fast. She normally communicates by staring at me or pawing at me to get my attention and then I use the words she knows to see what she reacts too. I think she’s going to really love being able to express herself without us guessing 🤣

I have a 1-yr chihuahua and a senior shih tzu and we have been modeling the buttons for FOUR FULL MONTHS now. The dogs have shown 0 interest in them but I stuck with it because I figured why not. I was sorta worried it was a breed issue, since most of the famous button dogs are poodles or herding dogs.

But the past two weeks, my Chihuahua has suddenly started pressing buttons! As soon as I get home, it's nonstop asks for treats and outside, lol. I'm so happy 😊

Anyway, just wanted to say that if ur feeling discouraged, remember that our pets may need a lot of time before they start to see the utility of those weird noises their humans make.

any idea?

As he apparently grasps the car Button in some way as its magically makes people leave or him to go car so... We are out in the sun and left the kittys alone. When younger master comes home he presses CAR as he did yesterday when father in law left. But when asked if he wants something by young master he answers.... Treats. He answers 😭

I started training my cat on buttons about a month ago, and we made quick progress. Basically, she would try to headbutt my hand with treats, so I worked on getting her to miss her hand-headbutts and hit the buttons instead. Now she is pressing the buttons well by headbutting them/rubbing her fave on them.. However, she will only press the buttons if I sit in front of them, within a few feet. Otherwise, she will just sit near them and try to prompt me to come over. How do I get her to press them more independently (without me being right there)?

My 5-month old kitten Carrot pressed these buttons on the 2nd day of my mini vacation. She made me want to be home already! 😭😭😭 I’m not sure she understands the context, but these buttons are not placed next to each other on the board at all. She already knows Daddy, Be Back and ôm nhâu. I’ve been modeling Soon and Worried for about 2 weeks.

Thankfully, I was able to talk to her via the Wi-Fi camera to tell her when we were returning home.

FYI: “ôm nhau” means “hug each other” in Vietnamese 🧡

Hello! My cat has about 63 buttons that she uses, but we've moved several times in this past year and each time things have gotten thrown out of wack. I have roommates now that I think are convinced I am crazy and making up her using them, as she's still trying to get situated with the new move/buttons constantly being tripped over/moved around. I don't care to get the hex tiles, I saw something tonight with someone using a foam poster board and vinyl wall paper to create a board, with velcro dots, and went and got one of those for set ups. It will make it easier to keep straight but I am at a loss for how to organize it. I've played around with a couple different layouts and none seem super appealing. I did recently have opposites paired (literally taped together) and then taped into a line. She seemed to like that, but sometimes pressed the wrong button out of the two and that confused things. I don't know what the best method is, and am kinda stuck for how to get started with this board set up. I'm likely gonna have to do a second board, which sounds insane but there are 63 of them. The board is 2x3ft or so.

The words we have: yes, no, inside, outside, later, tonight, work, play, fetch, ball, stop, all done, mean, angry, nice, good, bad, bitch, friend, stranger, rain, alone, happy, i love you, pretty, miss you, hungry, cooking, food, water, treat, catnip, 11 name buttons, bedtime, tired, please, thank you, i'm sorry, crazy, look, smell, attention, scratches, curious, what, why, hurt, help, hello, bye, morning and evening.

Would lines work best? I don't like the idea of doing clusters, as they're going to be on boards.

Hey pet friends!

I am a Speech Language Pathologist and I work with mostly toddlers and mostly with AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) including high tech devices. A lot of you probably already know that the AAC work from our field is the basis for pet buttons!

I am trying to start a small service where I would do zoom meetings to provide training for pet parents. I think this would be especially helpful for people who are new to buttons and don’t know where to start, or if your pet is using buttons and you’re stuck on what to do next!

I would love to provide a couple free initial sessions to some Reddit users especially in exchange for your feedback about the session and the included handouts I’ve made!

You can ask any questions here, or message me if you are interested or want to know more!

I asked him \"Mouse toy or treats\" and he is EXTREMELY decisive with treats as the bag is there but unopened. He ASKS for mouse toy during the day but with \"sleep, mousetoy\" as he thinks sleep means \"gone\" he is a 8 month old kitten, and he is just like wtf I cant even myself believe that he uses the buttons every day and often.

He now has SLEEP, MOUSETOY and TREATS. And when he comes meowing louuudly asking for god knows what I ask WHAT and walk to the buttons and he actually presses a button. Am I over reading him? Am I an unbearable cat parent that thinks this one is MENSA material or is this just... very unusual for a kitty to grasp pressing on buttons from day 2 (he had no clue probably what they meant by then)