Praising good behavior

[trichardson]

I have two great big male cats (6 and 1) who did very well on the red stage of LK, but have been having difficulty with the amber stage. (Only one of them, and I don't know which one, has mangage to pee but not poop on it.) I have tried so hard to catch them "in the act" to correct them and/or praise them, but they are so darn private that if they even hear me coming down the hallway, they start casually wandering away from the bathroom in that way cats have... "What? Me using the bathroom? No, I was just going for a stroll. Don't mind me." So, I pick the cat up and put him on the toilet and tell him what a good boy he is and pet him until he's purring like a motor. Then as soon as I turn my back, he jumps down and runs into the living room only to return and have an accident when I'm not looking. How can I praise my boys' good behavior (or stop their bad behavior) if I can never get them to go in front of me?