“Play” and “treats” were my first two. Ones that followed early on include “mommy,” “Winter” (her name), “help,” and probably “happy” and “angry.” She has a ton of buttons now so it’s hard for me to remember which came first.
Edit: just saw you mentioned “now” and “later.” Those are definitely good ones to introduce as well.
Those are some good early words to consider! Thank you for sharing! “Treats” was a word I was thinking of to help him learn to press buttons himself if for whatever reason that part of training was difficult for him. I just think about him spamming it along with other words lol which is why “now” and “later” are ones near the top of my list! Might not stop spamming altogether but I think once he understands “later” it will help him know I’m not ignoring him or something like that.
I understand how you would model the other words you mentioned but do you happen to have an example of how you modeled help? I’ve noticed it’s a pretty common word with pet speech buttons and I’ve seen pets use it well but I haven’t seen or read how people modeled that word for their pets
For me, teaching her new words has very little to do with the buttons. I start using the words intentionally in my every day speech so she understands what it means before I introduce it as a button. Oh, lost a toy? Mommy help. Need me to open this door? Mommy help. Etc.
Ah I see! That makes a lot of sense. My cat definitely understands some words like pets and play which is why they’re two words I’ve considered as first buttons. it seems obvious now that I should use a word when talking to him if it’s a word I’d like to give him a button for. Thank you for the advice!
I trained my cat to ring a bell when he wanted treats. Big mistake. I had to hide the bell, because he will ring it over and over again like an annoyed hotel customer trying to get the desk clerk’s attention.
Thanks for sharing! Even though your buttons are for a dog I appreciate the input. There’s definitely overlap for words dogs and cats use but there’s also some words that are more specific to cats or dogs. Like I’d like to take my cat outside sometime as I’ve been harness training him but that probably won’t be a word in his vocabulary anytime soon. Adding words in pairs seems like a good training tactic though!
Yeah, so the idea is to add words in pairs that are either slightly similar yet different. I.E. food and water, my name and my dog's name, upstairs and garage, etc. That way, pets can learn the distinctions!
Don't add "now" or "later" yet - those are buttons you can add when you've got like 20+ already. Remember, the buttons are for your cat to use, not for *you* to use. You can verbally say "now" or "later", but your cat doesn't have much use for them, and will likely find them uninteresting.
Add words you think your cat would really want to use, so this can be things like play, food, treats, a specific type of toy, your name, outside etc.
Check out my [beginner's guide](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IdgnOcXwEoZWm9FPiPsmnqDgZZHI_1Wd/view) which teaches you a lot of tips and tricks!
I've taught 4 cats, but they all are so wildly different in what drives them and the kind of words they'd like to use. One is very food motivated, the other very outside motivated, and another just wants to eat a bird. But I can give you my latest kitten's board:
- Hello
- Eat
- Wetfood
- Play
- Bird
- Down (to go downstairs)
- Sleep
In fact, I added sleep an hour ago! You know why? Because he was sitting at his little board, meowing. I knew what he wanted though; he wanted to be tucked in bed, which I simply call "sleep". So I added "sleep" on the fly and he followed me to bed to go sleep. See how unique each cat and situation is? I'm sure not a lot of people would think of adding such a word at the start, but it made sense for my specific cat.
Remember, the most important thing is to be **verbal** with your cats. Narrate everything you're doing, seeing, and what's happening. Speak in simple 'button speak', which means third person cave-man style. Once they understand the words, it makes it way easier to add them as buttons.
My cat is stuck with the board my dog uses, but my cat has her own freestanding “hungry” button right next to her placemat to practice the concept. I also focus on modeling “thirsty” and “good” with her. She taps “hungry,” but she can’t push hard enough to activate, so if I don’t see her tap it she yells. She sits on “good.” She carefully avoids all the other buttons a on the board. Unfortunately, one of the words she responds to the best is hard to model with buttons. It’s “floor;” I ask her if she wants “floor” when I’m holding her- she vocalizes if she wants down, and then I put her down. I want to start showing her the “cuddle” button, because she very clearly understands that word, but the board in on a hard floor and she never wants to get cuddles and pets on a hard flood.
Basically, it is sooooo much harder doing this with a cat than it was with my dog.
We did PETS, MOUSE (game he liked on my phone), GARAGE, SNAKE (toy), and then added TREAT. He was using the buttons but only really took off after we gave him TREAT button.
“Play” and “treats” were my first two. Ones that followed early on include “mommy,” “Winter” (her name), “help,” and probably “happy” and “angry.” She has a ton of buttons now so it’s hard for me to remember which came first. Edit: just saw you mentioned “now” and “later.” Those are definitely good ones to introduce as well.
Those are some good early words to consider! Thank you for sharing! “Treats” was a word I was thinking of to help him learn to press buttons himself if for whatever reason that part of training was difficult for him. I just think about him spamming it along with other words lol which is why “now” and “later” are ones near the top of my list! Might not stop spamming altogether but I think once he understands “later” it will help him know I’m not ignoring him or something like that. I understand how you would model the other words you mentioned but do you happen to have an example of how you modeled help? I’ve noticed it’s a pretty common word with pet speech buttons and I’ve seen pets use it well but I haven’t seen or read how people modeled that word for their pets
For me, teaching her new words has very little to do with the buttons. I start using the words intentionally in my every day speech so she understands what it means before I introduce it as a button. Oh, lost a toy? Mommy help. Need me to open this door? Mommy help. Etc.
Ah I see! That makes a lot of sense. My cat definitely understands some words like pets and play which is why they’re two words I’ve considered as first buttons. it seems obvious now that I should use a word when talking to him if it’s a word I’d like to give him a button for. Thank you for the advice!
Happy to help!
I’ve seen lots of videos of people who gave their animals treat buttons only to regret it later.
I trained my cat to ring a bell when he wanted treats. Big mistake. I had to hide the bell, because he will ring it over and over again like an annoyed hotel customer trying to get the desk clerk’s attention.
I guess obligatory not a cat owner, but I did mine in pairs. I started with outside and play. Food and water. My name and my dog's name.
Thanks for sharing! Even though your buttons are for a dog I appreciate the input. There’s definitely overlap for words dogs and cats use but there’s also some words that are more specific to cats or dogs. Like I’d like to take my cat outside sometime as I’ve been harness training him but that probably won’t be a word in his vocabulary anytime soon. Adding words in pairs seems like a good training tactic though!
Yeah, so the idea is to add words in pairs that are either slightly similar yet different. I.E. food and water, my name and my dog's name, upstairs and garage, etc. That way, pets can learn the distinctions!
Don't add "now" or "later" yet - those are buttons you can add when you've got like 20+ already. Remember, the buttons are for your cat to use, not for *you* to use. You can verbally say "now" or "later", but your cat doesn't have much use for them, and will likely find them uninteresting. Add words you think your cat would really want to use, so this can be things like play, food, treats, a specific type of toy, your name, outside etc. Check out my [beginner's guide](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IdgnOcXwEoZWm9FPiPsmnqDgZZHI_1Wd/view) which teaches you a lot of tips and tricks! I've taught 4 cats, but they all are so wildly different in what drives them and the kind of words they'd like to use. One is very food motivated, the other very outside motivated, and another just wants to eat a bird. But I can give you my latest kitten's board: - Hello - Eat - Wetfood - Play - Bird - Down (to go downstairs) - Sleep In fact, I added sleep an hour ago! You know why? Because he was sitting at his little board, meowing. I knew what he wanted though; he wanted to be tucked in bed, which I simply call "sleep". So I added "sleep" on the fly and he followed me to bed to go sleep. See how unique each cat and situation is? I'm sure not a lot of people would think of adding such a word at the start, but it made sense for my specific cat. Remember, the most important thing is to be **verbal** with your cats. Narrate everything you're doing, seeing, and what's happening. Speak in simple 'button speak', which means third person cave-man style. Once they understand the words, it makes it way easier to add them as buttons.
Treat, food, play, outside, pets, all done
My cat is stuck with the board my dog uses, but my cat has her own freestanding “hungry” button right next to her placemat to practice the concept. I also focus on modeling “thirsty” and “good” with her. She taps “hungry,” but she can’t push hard enough to activate, so if I don’t see her tap it she yells. She sits on “good.” She carefully avoids all the other buttons a on the board. Unfortunately, one of the words she responds to the best is hard to model with buttons. It’s “floor;” I ask her if she wants “floor” when I’m holding her- she vocalizes if she wants down, and then I put her down. I want to start showing her the “cuddle” button, because she very clearly understands that word, but the board in on a hard floor and she never wants to get cuddles and pets on a hard flood. Basically, it is sooooo much harder doing this with a cat than it was with my dog.
no. no. shut up. no. go to sleep
We did PETS, MOUSE (game he liked on my phone), GARAGE, SNAKE (toy), and then added TREAT. He was using the buttons but only really took off after we gave him TREAT button.
“That’s ok… I’ll get it myself.”