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| Isn't Lucy a beautiful little spoiled brat? |
What I'm finding out most about my parrots is that they have totally different "needs" as far as training goes. Lucy needs tempering, Gracie needs to focus, Bobby need to focus on training more than his FEAR and Coco needs to focus, listen, and respond to requests from his momma if he wants to come out and be a silly, cuddle-bum, cockatoo. I'm thinking that, just like children, birds all have their unique positive and negative traits that need to be encouraged and discouraged. Trying to make a single training diet or plan of action to fit all the flock just isn't going to work. If my kids read this, they'll laugh! My son, the oldest, was Mr. curious and you could say "no" until the cows came home and he'd still stick his fingers into the electrical outlet. When my daughter came along and tried the same activity, I just had to say "no no" once. She cried and never did it again that I know of.
Here's a refresher rundown on the personalities of the four birds, listing their strongest trait and their weakest. Hopefully, training will bolster the positive and temper the negative:
Most Positive Most Negative
Gracie-11: Calm Temperament Attention seeking (noise)
(adopted at 10) Bites men (loves them, tho!)
Timneh
Coco-6: Tolerant of new Reluctant behavior (step up)
(adopted at 2) Tolerant of touch Refuses good foods
LSC Cockatoo Periodical Screaming
Bobby-6: Sweet/responsive Scared of everything!
home at 10 wks Knows tricks x 4
Timneh
Lucy-5 Smart/talks a lot Reactive/bite
home at 12 wks Knows tricks x 4 Low frustration point/bites
Congo Grey Interactive Not tolerant/Bossy bully bird
Progress last two days... or, in some cases, regress:
Bobby and I have been practicing "step up" for click/treat training because he's grown more phobic with the hormonal upswing and is even afraid to put both feet on my finger. A few repetitions this morning and I could see his demeanor change and focus change from FEAR to FOOD. I quit after we went through wave, meow, kiss, and about 10 step-ups. He wagged his tail, so we left it on a high note. Bobby Goal: Confidence building.
Coco did great this morning and yesterday on the t-stand. I asked him to target on the t-stand from the far end of the perch (about 3 feet) and got him running back and forth for the sunflower seeds. He was allowed 1 hour on the T-stand while I did kitchen duty. He gets one seed each time, but sometimes I give him a jackpot! to make him happy. Jackpots are 2-seeds or (at the end of the session) a nutriberry seed ball. We practiced turn-around, gimme a kiss, and targeting on the stand as well as step up. This morning (breakthrough) he did step-up from his cage perch on command about 10 times without hesitation. He did hesitate 2 times in the middle of the session and I reacted after 2 seconds with closing the cage door and turning to Bobby for a turn. When I returned to Coco, he stepped up immediately. <: It's gonna take time, but it is working. Coco Goal: Erase reluctance to step up and build relationship. Non-screaming time out of cage, close door/ignore when screaming.
Gracie is going great guns! While she says "woof" all the time, it's obvious that she understands when I ask "what does a doggie say?" and reacts correctly every time. We trained on the t-stand and the cage. The t-stand training isn't going very well as she is still a little nervous about it, but it is going forward. Her "turn around" is improving to the point where I only have to trace the route part of the way and she completes the circle. All target training and wing-flapping tricks are going perfectly with her. She never loses her temper with waiting or shows frustration. I love that! Gracie Goal: Build relationship that doesn't depend on horrible, loud, repetitive noises to gain attention. She is blossoming like a June rose with the training and both talking and whistling more. I can't wait to see how far I can take this little chicken! <%
Lucy, OMG, Lucy! It has not been a good 2 days with Lucy. She will *not* stand on the T-stand, but flaps away immediately. (Wing trim coming next week!) On the cage last night when we started target training, she touched the target and then purposely bit the end of my index finger instead of taking the sunflower seed. (Grrrrrr!) I made no sound, but retreated to the rest room to bleed heavily into the sink, find a band aid and silently returned to the bird room. I offered my wounded hand and asked Lucy to step up, which she did, and placed her ever-so-gently on her perch. I closed the door, covered the cage, and continued target/trick training with the other three birds. I wanted her to "hear" the other birds in training, but not to "see" what was going on. Her jealousy is easy to trigger and her frustration level, very high with little stimulus. Seeing everyone else get seeds would really have angered her, counterproductive to what I would like to accomplish with her. Once the other birds finished their training, I uncovered Lucy's cage and went through the paces of each trick and gave her a few seeds, perhaps 4 or 5... not more. Her attitude this morning was 100% aggressive and non-compliant, so... I did not attempt to train her after the first, rejected, attempt. She has spent the day in her cage with "bird kibble" and none of her favorite fruits or vegetables. (She had those on the bird stand earlier this morning and I usually transfer leftovers to her cage for all-day consumption.) Lucy Goal: Calm her spirit without breaking it. She is an amazing bird with lots of brain power and talking/whistling talent. Create situations where she has to "think" her way out of situations instead of becoming frustrated and "biting" her way into trouble.
I'm video taping some sessions and will edit and upload this next week. Whew. Tired.
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