Inch by inch... anything's a cinch!

Gracie likes mashed potatoes!

     My philosophy about training my birds is that it should be fun and beneficial for all of us, humans included. Therefore, I am not sticking to an iron-clad training diet for my birds, nor do I adhere to an iron-clad training regime. Sometimes the birds don't feel like training and sometimes I don't feel like training them. So, by adjusting the training to their needs and mine, I hope to keep this a fun way of life for all of us. We do some training every single day, and some days are better than others, and the progress is slow... but definately in the right direction.   They get "bird food" and I give them seeds and nuts during training.

All 4 birds are holding their weight in spite a the reduction in seeds, nuts, and treats. There has been no aggression at all with the "target" stick in weeks.

Gracie (TAG) is turning circles, flapping her wings, kissing, barking, and targeting with ease. We introduced "the wave" this week. She didn't like having her foot touched at all, but is to the point now where she "raises" her left foot to wave. We will work on the actual wave this week. She's getting it.

Bobby (TAG) cannot work at all when he is outside of his cage, so we ask him to wave, meow, turn around, while he's on his perch, in his cage. We also have him step up and we count to 10 as we carry him around in a circle... returning him to his perch... for a treat. He seems to focus on the counting and calms now when we count. My husband also does the 10-count. It's small progress, but it is progress.

Coco (cockatoo) is whipping out the turn-arounds this week and completely interested in the training. :D No aggression at all from him. He is answering my "hello" with his "hello" more often now... but he forgets and says "come here" sometimes... and doesn't get rewarded for that.

Lucy (CAG) has been doing everything right. "Mama touch" is getting much easier for her. I introduced "hello" to her a little at a time. She already says it, but I want her to answer my hello with hers. We called back and forth to one another the past days with whistles and words and when she answered my hello with her hello, I "bridged" by telling her she was a good girl and ran to her with a pistachio nut. Today she said hello many many times, but she only got the nut when she responed to my hello with one of her own. <%  She did it right at least a dozen times today, but I still can't get her to do it when I am in the room and directly address her with "hello."  She just tries any of her other "tricks" to get the nut.  Maybe next week?

 I have to make it clear that training my flock is to be a lifelong "family" habit, so it has to be consistent and fun for all of us.  People and animals continue to do things that are "fun."  Even when I'm tired and really would rather just sit and watch TV, I find I enjoy the training once I get my backside in gear and go into the bird room.  Just watching them respond to me in such a positive way is pleasurable...

Slow progress, but that's okay.

Coco in the wndow

Some days are better than others and each one of my 4 birds seems to be in a "different" mood every day.  It's difficult to tell when they will... and when they will not... take favorably to training. 

I have been doing incidental training with all of the birds throughout the day.  That is to say, informal requests for an activity are made to a bird, and with a positive response... the promised treat.  Then, in the evening when I've cleaned their cages and changed their water and filled their food bowls, we have a more lengthy session with all the birds that takes about 30 minutes altogether.

NOTED:  The girls were not eating their "bird kibble" during the day.  Apparently they have learned that seeds and nuts come at cage-cleaning time.  I haven't decided how to deal with this exactly, but for now I am not putting extra seeds or nuts into their cages post-training.  They need to eat the good-for-them bird food.

Gracie's food was dumped all over the floor of her cage.  That which landed on clean newspaper was returned to the bowl.  She was brought out to the T-stand and she went through her training easily for a few minutes, got bored, and refused to perform.  I returned her to her cage with only about 6 sunflower seeds having been offered during training.  Surprise!  She went straight to her bird food bowl and started eating BIRD FOOD! 

Lucy refuses to train or even take a treat from the bird stands... either of them.  She wants to train On-Her-Cage.  I will continue to bring her out to the stands and attempt training.  We need to move forward to more advanced training, in different locations, so that I can start new behaviors.  She is getting very good at "mama touch!"  Apparently the training is teaching some trust.  (Duh!)

Coco is sweet and dives into his wet breakfast bowl these days.  He is also trying to wait for training to get seeds and all-the-while avoiding the bird food.  Through the week he has been refusing to say "hello" on command or "turn around" without my hand pointing the way over top of his head.  Today, on the T-stand he said "hello" several times in succession when asked.  :D  However, turn around... is a work in progress.  His demeanor is more trusting.  I ask him to step up to come out of his cage.  If he refuses, I leave.  When he does step up, we go to the living room T-stand and he gets a nutriberry.  It's starting to pay off.  He seems much less agitated, doesn't scream much, and steps up more frequently.

We have taken Bobby to a slightly new level.  I ask him to step up and he has to stay on my hand for a count of 10 before he can go back to the perch and get his treat.  Now I have added stay-on-my-finger-while-I-do-a-360-degree-turn and count to ten at the same time, and THEN he gets a treat IF he doesn't fly off my hand.  If I start out slowly and he can concentrate on the smaller requests (wave, meow, etc), he can manage to contain his fear for a 360-ten-count.  :D  Baby steps.  He is a phobic bird and this training is about building confidence, so I'm happy.

This coming week:  Work more with the birds, one-on-one in the living room.  Get Lucy to do anything positive on the T-stand.  Teach Gracie to "wave" if she'll let me touch her foot.  Get Coco to say "hello" even more often, on command.  Work with Bobby and the 360-10-count and see if it doesn't help his confidence.  VARY the training so that the bird food gets eaten and the birds don't "wait" for the predicted treat/train time.

Chugging right along...

It's funny how the birds are reacting to the training and training menu.  (:    We haven't done new stuff because mama was gone for a week and then sick.  However, we have continued training every day.  The diet of bird-kibble and wet-bowl in the morning (fruits,vegetables, and sometimes scrambled eggs) continues.  AMAZINGLY, all 4 birds are more interested in their healthy food now that I'm not stuffing them with treats all day long.  In addition, it is so much easier on me!  ALSO, all of the birds run to their breakfast bowls now instead of looking at them like they were filled with dog-food.  Makes me happier and them, I think!

We continue to shower the birds, one a day, throughout the week.

Lucy (CAG) is happy and glad to do stuff to get treats, seeds, nuts, and praise.   She doesn't exhibit the impatience she did at the beginning.  "Mama touch" is getting better and better.  It's still hard for her, but now I make her "not pull away" in order to get the treat. 

Graice (TAG-11) is a pill and cute as a button!  She has learned to make an exact copy of the clicker sounds.  Hard not to laugh.  She's doing turn around quickly now and "mama touch" is (every time) easy for her.

Bobby is still a basket case.  I started having him step up (that has improved as long as he's inside his cage) and then I draw him to me and count to ten before I click, return him to the perch, and give him a treat.  In the beginning, he was too nervous to even step up with both feet!!!  (I've started counting to 10 by counting very slowly sometimes, stretching out his time of self-control, ie non-panic!)

Coco, the spoiled one:  He has never bitten me again and doesn't show any aggression toward the chop stick anymore.  He won't step up in the morning without a treat (husband says he's not a morning-person-bird) and refuses to step out almost all day long...without treating him.  I go in, offer my hand, and when he refuses I simply withdraw.  Occasionally he will step up and when he does, he gets to come to the living room, sit in the window perch, and eat a nutriberry seed ball.  He's a space-case-cockatoo about turn around, loves "mama touch," and we have gotten him to (more than accidentally) say "hello" in response to my "hello!" 

Conclusion of training so far:

-Aggression has disappeared from Coco.
-Lucy is improving steadily in her trust of the touch. 
-Bobby understands that "10" means he gets a treat. 
-Gracie is blossoming and eats almost as much bird food as she throws down to the floor.

New update next week.

Working on Bobby, the super-scared bird!

The birds are all doing about the same.  We're going through the routine a minimum of once a day just before bedtime.   Coco is stubborn, but doing better with the food business.  He doesn't throw away the food like he did and he rushes to see what's in his breakfast "wet" bowl.  The girls are about the same, positive and responsive.  And then, there is Bobby, the timneh African grey with phobic behavior, that we have to help.

Bobby strategy is to have him step  up and simply stay on my hand (without flying away in fear) for the count of 10.  He steps up.  I bring him out of the cage, give him a kiss and count to ten.  On ten, I click and treat.  I feel that if I do this every day for a while he can "put off" being frightened because he will know that when "10" comes he can return to his perch.

Why do I think this strategy will be a good starting place; I believe it because it works with me.  If I know that my "challenge" is limited, I can calm myself and focus on getting through the "challenge."  I went to a water park with my husband some years ago.  I was very frightened and didn't like it, however I told him that I could get through every ride ONE TIME and then I would never set foot in a water park again.  It worked.  I overcame my BIG fear and I've never gone to a water park again, and I won't.  (:  This strategy has worked for me at the dentist and doctor's office when I've had small, but painful, procedures.  When I know the "challenge" is finite, I can make it through without panic.

So.  We work with Bobby and I hope to report significant progress in a positive direction in a few weeks.   Baby steps! 

Positive Feedback and Getting Back on Track!

Bobby waves "hi!"

My husband and I were on a wee vacation for a week to celebrate a big birthday!  What fun!  However, there was a lot of work to do to prepare for leaving the birds (and dog) behind and we had to give some thought to the training diet and routine. 

First of all, the cockatoo (Coco) goes to the neighbors.  They love him and take good care of him. Coco bit Connie last time she watched him... bit her hard.  Just after that, Coco bit me too!  That was the reason we needed to re-think Coco-culture and attitude.  Connie was given a list of Coco's allowed food and instructed in the very basic command to target-click-treat when Coco wanted a sunflower seed.  She fed him only the bird kibble and birdie bread and only gave seeds and treats after a successful target-click-treat sequence:  RESULT:  Positive Feedback!!!  The whole family told me Coco was a changed bird!  His attitude went from defiant and throwing his food all over the place to sweet, attentive, and much better mannered.  What a difference a little human leadership can make in a bird's life!  He didn't bite anyone and he is welcome back to their house! 

Gracie and Bobby (TAGs) and Lucy (CAG) were cared for by a real bird person who came in daily to feed them and take care of them.  She happily provided bird kibble and a "wet" dish of fruits and vegetables every day AND continued modified training for all the birds in order to give them the coveted treats.  Upon returning, I noticed that all three grey parrots were much more effective in eating their birdie kibble (not so much food thrown to the bottom of the cage and more in their crops!) and, of course, they were glad to see me.

We have been home now 3 days (this is the 4th).  I've slowly re-introduced a twice-a-day training regime as their attention was poor the first days (more interested in mama than food)!  This morning all 4 birds did all their stuff even after a big helping of scrambled eggs blended with winter squash and some fruits.  (All four birds have been cycled through the shower already and that made them happy!)

Coco remembered the turn around and stepped right up for his seeds.  He got 2 seeds when he answered "hello" to my "hello!"   No aggression.  All positive.

Gracie "woofs" a lot, hoping she'll get food for that.  She is struggling with "mama touch," much to my surprise.  She allows me to touch her normally, but this "trick" worries her a little bit.  More training  needed here.  She feigned a "bite" when I tried to touch her, so I upped the treat to a cashew before I said "mama touch," and she managed to bend her head down for a quick "touch" to get the treat!  <%

Bobby, the scared boy, can't target yet.  He's scared.  He knows what to do, but is too scared of the stick.  We treat for "meow," "wave," and "step up."  I need to keep him in the loop of training without scaring him.  I ask for step up, bring him to me to kiss, and return to the perch before clicking when I feel he can tolerate it.  Then I give him praise (bridge) and click (another bridge) and give him a BIG treat when he's been very brave.

LUCY has shown no aggression at all for the training stick.  This is the whole goal for Lucy... to get her to feel confident and not to feel that aggression is necessary.  She's doing everything perfectly like a real Texas lady and daintily taking the treats from my hand.  YAY!  She is becoming, obviously, more open to being touched... more relaxed.

I'm pleased with the results of a few weeks of diet change and training on my part.  It takes time on my part to train them, but it is time I should have spent earlier.  They sometimes want "me" more than the treats, which pleases me.  I am not strict on the "training diet," as we don't have a deadline to train everyone to do everything in a brief period.  I want my birds to be successful, healthy, and happy.  I've been giving them each a spoonful of their favorite seeds every evening at bedtime.  Snacks are relaxing and I have assigned "human emotions" to them, whether that is correct or not.  They seem to like it and it doesn't interfere with their eating of the birdie kibble.