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...

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.

Coco was holding out, so I upped the anti and it worked!

Coco, 6 years old

Coco has been "holding out" on the training.  I've got him on a training diet (no seeds) and he's been getting grumpy.  Still, he has refused taking his favorite sunflower seed from my hand to eat it.  He does occasionally take it and throw it down in disgust.  ):  The first stage is getting him to figure out that the click from the clicker means "treat."  So, I try to give him a seed and then click when he takes it.   In dog training, they called it "loading the clicker."  You just build an association of treat=click.  The next stage is "target" where you get the bird to touch a target... you click (good bird!) and then, treat.  For 3 days Coco won't even take the treat!!!  So, after another failure this morning, I upped the anti:  Nutriberry!!!  It worked!  He took it.  I clicked and walked away.  I can't repeat it for a while because it takes a little time to "eat the treat."

Bobby:  He is too scared to stand on my hand all the way to the bird stand, but he only flew off once on the way there and not at all on the way back to his cage.  I've decided to "talk to Bobby" more, telling him where I'm taking him.  It seems to work.  Small breakthrough:  I was able to get Bobby to focus through his fear long enough (on the stand!) to target-click-treat three times before he freaked out.  You have to understand that Bobby is too nervous on the stand to even eat his warm lovely breakfast, so taking any food at all on the stand is a step in the right direction.  Go Bobby!

Gracie:  Gets it!  Target/click/treat is very straight forward for her!  Go grey girl!  She's a foodie and no seeds in her cage is motivation enough to target/click/treat!  :D


Lucy (CAG):  Jealous.  Angry.  Irritated...  Targeted once, click, took the seed... threw it on the floor and threw a hissy fit!  Hahaha!  I continued to work with the other two greys and Lucy got more jealous.

Birds back in cages.  Gave Lucy a peck on the head and a washed out yogurt carton to work out her frustrations on.  She just told me she was a "good girl" in my husband's voice, complete with Swedish accent.  How can you not love 'em.

PS  Cindy, the little doggie got her target behavior-click-treat lessons too.  She went through Pet Smart's entire 3-tier program, but I've been too lazy to keep her on her "paws."  We're all in  training!

Teaching old parrots new tricks or teaching old pet owner new tricks.

Lucy, 5 years old

    I have 4 parrots.   They are spoiled and often act like spoiled children, throwing small tantrums when they don't get what they want and refusing to give me what I want... loving pets that interact joyfully with me and with my husband.

Timneh African Grey (Bobby) is 6 years old.  He's been with us from the "pre-feather" stage.  He knows a few tricks like, giving kisses, waving, turning around, flapping his wings, and the best... meowing when I ask him what a kitty says.  He has gone "phobic" on us and is frightened of everything.  He still does his tricks for treats.  He whistles, but doesn't talk.

Timneh African Grey (Gracie) is about 10 or 11.  She talks a little, makes awful squeaky sounds, bites men, and makes blowing your nose sound when you reach for a tissue.  She flaps her wings on command and gives kisses.  We adopted her about 18 months ago.  We adore Gracie.

Lucy (shown above) is a 5 year old Congo African Grey.  She whistles, talks, and (reluctantly) does the same tricks like wave, flap, kiss, turn around, (used to) sound like a chicken when you asked her to.  She is stubborn, smart, funny, and bites when she is frustrated... which is often if she doesn't get her own way.  She can whistle part of the Adams' Family tune, 76 trombones, the Marine Corps Hymn, and more I can't remember.  She talks a lot, but could really improve her interaction.  Her favorite word of late, "water."

Lastly, there is Coco.  He is a 6 year old lesser sulfur crested cockatoo that we adopted 4 years ago.  He says some small things, but has become very stubborn with age and sometimes refuses to step up.  He bit me the other day... and he bit his bird sitter that he loves.  He was upset and we both cried.  ):  It just isn't like Coco to be like that.  He doesn't want to eat anything except sunflower seeds and gets really grumpy when they aren't provided.

Bottom line:  My birds get the best cages, light, water (filtered) and best bird food.  They get out of their cages every day onto a huge stand I built.  I cook warm food for their breakfast and have given them loads of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds in addition to their "bird food."  The "bird food" usually ends up on the floor.  It's time my spoiled birdie-children went to school and learned some manners.  I've been weaning them off the "treats" and getting them used to "bird food" and fresh foods.  I've ordered some bird training guides and I've already started.  This blog is about the progress.

9/27/11  The Timnehs (TAG) both took well to target training.  I "loaded" the clicker with good vibrations by giving the bird a sunflower seen and simultaneously clicking the clicker.  The morning lesson included only this:  Treat/click.... treat/click.... treat click.   In the afternoon, I added a little wooden stick.  The TAGs easily, curiously, touched the stick.  When they did, CLICK, and they got a seed.  Three seeds and they were veterans!  Coco refused the sunflower seed all morning.  He was hungry, but refused to take it.  (He is like that!)  Lucy (CAG) got mad, grabbed the seed and threw it on the floor.  I walked away and continued training on the TAGs.

9/28/11  The TAG's both consider themselves veteran target trainees!  :D  Although Bobby is scared of his own shadow, he seems to understand touch-the-stick-get-a-seed quite well.  I stretch him a little bit by having him outside of his cage and he did target/treat 3 times before freaking out... at which point, I just let him alone.  BREAKTHROUGH with Lucy this afternoon.  She allowed me to present-the-seed with a click in her cage this morning without throwing a tantrum, so I put her on the bird stand and UPPED the anti on the treat.  PEANUT BUTTER on a spoon!  OMG!  First I did treat/click at the same time a couple of times and then I present the stick.  She daintily reached out with that big beak and only just touched the stick (she broke on end yesterday!) and then got her peanut butter bite.  We repeated this 5 or 6 times.  She is so darn smart and so darn stubborn!  She knew exactly what I wanted.  COCO is holding out.  He's drowning "bird food" and trying to get filled up.  I know he wants a sunflower seed... but he twists his head away from my hand and refuses to take it.  I have yet to give him a seed with a click... I won't give up.  Cockatoos are ultra smart.  Tomorrow is a new day.

Ordered training materials.  Must set aside an hour or so every day just for training.  This is gonna be fun!