Place your cat on an elevated surface, such as a table. It may assist you if the cat’s back is to a wall. Allow kitty to get a good whiff of your bribe. When the cat shows interest, slowly raise the morsel (you may place the goodie in a teaspoon or between your fingers) along an invisible line from the cat’s nose to a point between its ears. Don’t raise the treat too quickly or too high over the cat’s ears. Say the cat’s name, the command “sit,” and then click the clicker while presenting the reward when kitty does what you want. Now, praise your smart cat, and pet her.
If the cat isn’t following the treat, either your kitty isn’t hungry, you’re waving the treat too high above the cat or that goodie doesn’t smell good enough.
Repeat these training sessions often enough and eventually your cat will sit at your feet whenever he or she is in the mood for a treat. Don’t overdo compliance, or you’ll have a cat who is training you. Ask friends and relatives to command your cat to “sit” for a treat. Soon, Kitty will be more outgoing, and more interested in “sitting” for your guest, hoping for the possibility.
Excerpts taken from the article "Train Your Cat, Too" by Steve Dale in the Fall 1998 Issue of Pet Life Magazine