# Training question



## D&L (Nov 22, 2009)

How do I train a cat to jump over a baby gate.

Yes I know strange question but Marie will not jump a baby gate and I want her to be able to.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Place a treat on the other side and lift her over it to get the treat. Do this a few times and then place the treat on the other side and encourage her to jump over. If she still won't jump on her own, lift her, but set her feet down on top of the baby gate so she has to touch it as she jumps down from your lift.
Other issues: 
Is the baby gate *securely* fastened and in NO danger of falling or wiggling while she is trying to jump over?
How tall is the baby gate for her to jump?
Is Marie fit enough (_not overweight or with any mobility issues_) to jump over it herself?


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## D&L (Nov 22, 2009)

Heidi n Q said:


> Place a treat on the other side and lift her over it to get the treat. Do this a few times and then place the treat on the other side and encourage her to jump over. If she still won't jump on her own, lift her, but set her feet down on top of the baby gate so she has to touch it as she jumps down from your lift.
> Other issues:
> Is the baby gate *securely* fastened and in NO danger of falling or wiggling while she is trying to jump over?
> How tall is the baby gate for her to jump?
> Is Marie fit enough (_not overweight or with any mobility issues_) to jump over it herself?


I have done the lifting her over, but that is harder than it sounds because she HATES being held for any amount of time, whether it is for a second or ten minutes. 
You would thing food would be a great motivator for the food vacuum but even that is not enough to get her to go over.
She has watched Leo jump the gate a hundred times. the gate is a little higher than a dinning room chair but not as high as my bed and she jumps onto both of these without issue.
The gate is totally secure, I am unable to wiggle it at all and I have tried. 
The gate I have is not solid (you can see through holes in it) and I thought maybe that is the issue so I wrapped a towel around it thinking she would do the jump but that was no help, she thinks it is for scratching on. 
I have thought about putting a dinning room chair on each side and moving them further and further away each day. do you think that might work?


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

D&L said:


> I have thought about putting a dinning room chair on each side and moving them further and further away each day. do you think that might work?


My first reaction was to LAUGH! :lol: Because I imagined you as a Lion Tamer and you would be teaching her to jump from platform (chair) to platform (chair). All you need to add is a ring of fire! :lol: 

But seriously, I think if her issue is she wants something to jump ON, chairs should work. Start with chairs on each side and then remove one chair? and finally remove that last one?
It certainly sounds like a great idea and it *should* work.


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## D&L (Nov 22, 2009)

The idea of having to train a cat to jump is laughable but i can totally understand the humor.

If I had enough boxes of various heights I would try increasing the height she has to jump to get over the gate.

Am I the only person who has a cat how can't or wont jump a baby gate? :?


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## D&L (Nov 22, 2009)

I placed a box that is about a foot maybe foot and a half tall in the door way that will have the baby gate in it.
After about five minutes of eying the box Marie finally decided to give it a try. She didn't just jump over the box, she completely cleared the box (two 1/2 ft wide) without touching any of the box. So I know she can jump, I think tomorrow I'm going to flip the box over so she has to jump the tall side, and just keep adding more height to it until thee box is the same height the gate is. Hopefully that will get her in the mind set that she can jump over the baby gate.
This so the strangest thing to have to train a cat to do. :jump


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Yup. I think you got a weird cat, alright! :lol:


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## D&L (Nov 22, 2009)

Thanks Heidi, I needed that :thumb


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