How To Teach Your Cat To Lie Down

As humans, when we get sleepy or tired, we usually lie down in our beds to catch a snooze.

With cats, it’s usually more or less the same thing.

Cats will lie down in their cat beds (if they have one) if they’re feeling sleepy or tired.

But what if you could get your cat to lie down on command?

That’s what I did with my cat Minky, but not before an extensive trial and error process.

It’s one thing for your cat to go lie down on its own, but it’s another if you can get your cat to lie down on command.

With one, you kind of have to wait and that’s assuming you literally sit there and watch your cat until it lies down and goes to sleep.

With the other, you have more control, which is honestly more fun if you’re a cat lover, enthusiast, aficionado, and owner like I am.

And that’s what I want to get into today.

So without further ado, let’s get into how to train your cat to lie down.

Read on below!

What You Will Need to Teach Your Cat to Lie Down

You will need a clicker (these clickers for dogs on Amazon work fine), some treats and a whole lot of effort and patience.

All of these things should be more than enough to get the job done.

4 Simple Steps to Get Your Cat to Lie Down

Step 1: Lure your cat’s head under your arched knee.

Click for lowering its head and place the reward under the leg.

Once you lure your cat under your arched knee, click your clicker and give it a treat immediately.

This will make the teaching process much easier.

Step 2: Lower the knee even further and repeat.

By lowering your knee, you are purposely reducing the space your cat will have to maneuver under your knee.

This will help get it to lie down.

Step 3: Fade out your leg so that your cat lies in front.

Remove your leg once you feel that your cat can lie down on its own without you using your leg to make it lie down.

Step 4: Add a hand signal.

Pair the hand signal (hand lowering) with the food lure.

Click and then treat for lying down.

Cats are attracted to movement so use your hand signal to your advantage.

By moving your hand down and using your food lure, you will make things a lot easier on you and your cat.

3 Key Things to Remember When Teaching Your Cat to Lay Down

1. When using a food lure, push it towards your cat so that it stops moving forward and shift back to lower its hind end.

Doing this makes it easier for your cat to eat the food and makes your job a lot easier.

2. You may have to repeat lowering your cat’s hind end several times for it to understand that it won’t get a click and treat unless it lowers its hind end.

Cats, as intelligent as they are, are not perfect and you will have to take control at times to get it to do what you want.

3. Practice patience!

Your cat will most likely not get it right the first time.

Patience is a virtue and if you’re raising a cat, it’s a virtue that you can’t afford not to have!

Video: How to Train Your Cat to Lie Down

If you’re still completely lost on how to train your cat to lie down, don’t worry! I got you covered.

Just watch the video link below and you should be good to go!

Final Thoughts On Teaching Your Cat To Lie Down

Have fun with your cat!

Nurture and love your cat.

Encourage it as much as possible by clicking your clicker and giving it treats.

Trust and believe that your cat will eventually come around if it doesn’t get it right the first time.

Treat this as an opportunity to further strengthen the bond between you and your cat.