A Guide to the Best of Southern California : PETS : Smart Cat Tricks

WHAT? YOUR CAT doesn’t know how to sit and stay or give you five? Then your feline is no graduate of The Cat Connection, the unique training class taught by veteran animal behaviortrainer Sandi Wirth, who discovered cats could “do more than anyone ever knew” while working with them on TV ads. And her own cats are living proof; among the four, they’ve mastered 67 behaviors, including hissing, crying and removing Wirth’s glasses, all on command.

Seven brainy cats recently graduated from Wirth’s 10-week course--her first ever for felines--and there is a waiting list for her future classes. Using food and a comforting scratch at the base of the tail as positive-reinforcement tools, Wirth can teach her students a variety of behaviors, from walking on a leash to playing Frisbee. Classes are attended by cats (no dogs allowed, but bunnies and a star-student Siamese rat are) and their owners, some of whom want to make their kitties stars, others who hope to create a second bonding by working together. Why settle for a cat that just purrs?

The Cat Connection, Sandi Wirth; (818) 712-0656.