Shelter Cats Across the Country Are Learning to High Five to Increase Their Adoption Chances

A simple handshake can go a long way, and so can a high five.

The Jackson Galaxy Project, a charitable program of GreaterGood.org started by the Cat Daddy himself, created the Cat Pawsitive program because it believes in the power of high fives.

Cat Pawsitive is dedicated to encouraging and teaching shelters across the country to train their adoptable felines to master adorable tricks like how to give a high five or jump through a hoop.

Through this positive reinforcement training from rescue workers, kitties increase their chance of adoption by showing prospective owners that they are good listeners who want to connect and have fun with their future forever families. Learning these tricks also makes time in the shelter easier for the cats, helping to boost their confidence and decrease stress levels. 

A high five has the power to make a shy cat open up and a feisty cat learn to play gently, and it’s just plain cute. To encourage more shelter and rescues to try positive reinforcement training with their cats, Jackson Galaxy Project, a signature program of GreaterGood.org, is teaming up with the Petco Foundation, and Halo pet food for the first Cat Pawsitive National High-Five Day Shelter Contest. 

From now until National High Five Day on April 19, animal shelter employees and pet owners can share their feline high five photos and videos on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #CatPawsitive and the tags @TheJacksonGalaxyProject and @HaloPets.

After April 19, Jackson Galaxy will judge all the entries and will pick five finalists. The grand prize winner will receive a $5000 cash grant and 10,000 bowls of Halo pet food for an animal shelter/rescue of their choice, and a post shared on Jackson Galaxy’s Facebook page. The four runner-ups will each receive 10,000 bowls of Halo pet food, courtesy of GreaterGood.org and FreeKibble.com, for a shelter/rescue of their choice. After the contest is over, shelters will also have a chance to apply to be part of 2018 Cat Pawsitive program. Those selected will be taught training techniques for cats in their shelters to improve engagement and adoptability.

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“The genesis of Cat Pawsitive stemmed from the simple desire to duplicate the ‘AHA!’ moment I had in the early stages of my life with cats as a shelter worker,” Galaxy said in a statement. “By utilizing the training concepts that were, to that point, only used for the dogs in our care, not only were the cats stimulated, motivated and energized, but so was I. That, along with the most important result, lives being saved, was the win-win.”

To learn more about the contest and how you give your pussycat the power of the high five, visit www.felinehighfive.com.