Parrot Training, an adult flock

Progress is being made!  I have to admit that it is messier to feed the birds seeds than just to let them have them inside their cages.  Small price to pay for the results I'm getting already.

Gracie and Lucy have the best attitudes and the best results. 

Gracie seems happy and anxious to target (anywhere) and gives kisses on request as well as "woof" when I ask her what a doggie says.  As a matter of fact, Gracie goes woof pretty often, just hoping it will bring a seed, but I only treat when I've asked for "woof!"  I've started having her "turn around" in different places, but still have to show her the seed and circle underneath her to get her to turn around.  Still, she does it.  She flaps her wings on command, too.  She never has an aggressive attitude, but loses focus fairly quickly.  She's a very stable bird, other than biting my husband when he puts her back into her cage.

Lucy only showed frustration by biting the stick once yesterday.  My ignoring the behavior and turning to another bird with my clicker, convinced her that "attitude" means you get left out.  She is turning around, waving, giving kisses, flapping her wings, and targeting all over her cage!  I pulled out an old "trick" from a couple of years back that we haven't practiced.  I call it, "touch your wings."  Lucy is very reluctant to be touched, so I just used my pinky finger and touched only her right wing.  It's like she held her breath... she is not a snuggler, but I think she would like to get more attention.  She's just not comfortable with it.  Lucy is beautiful and got a shower today!  (:

Bobby is a basket case, but we continue with treating for waves and meows.  I tried the target, but he freaked.  He's just on kibble, so he's wanting the seeds.  I'm hoping that "want" will trump fear, eventually.

Coco is a cockatoo.  For some people, that would be "enough said."   I fill his dish with "kibble" and he throws it all on the floor.   I'm pretty careful to have clean newspaper in the bottom of the cage when I fill his dish, so I can scoop up that food and put it back in the bowl.  (:  He doesn't want to "step up" to get out of the cage and spent most of the day *not* doing it.  Mid-afternoon he did step up and we managed a good 7 or 8 minutes of training on the new T-stand.  It went pretty well.  He runs to target and gives kisses for treats.  I've started "turn around."  He did it a couple of times, but he is a cockatoo... and went of somewhere in his own mind.

Diet and weight:  Birds are doing fine with weight.  I've withheld a lot of their favorite stuff until bedtime so that we could train, but then allowed some seeds and nuts to make sure that this transition in diet doesn't make them too lean and hungry.  It's amazing how much more they appreciate their breakfast fruits and veggies!!!  I weighed Coco because he's been so negative about eating the kibble and doing the training.  He hasn't lost a gram!!!

The girls are thriving with the attention and I see an eagerness I haven't seen for a while!  YaY!  Coco is a cockatoo (giggle!) and he will come along, when he feels like it.  Bobby?  I hope that his phobia improves, but I love him even "phobic" and I make sure he's in the training-loop albeit much limited.

I'll be gone much of tomorrow.  Good resting day for us all.