Wednesday 9/29/10 Clicker training

Last post I was hopping Dundee, my redfronted macaw, would step up on my hand.... one last session at the end of the day and !JACKPOT! ... he actually stepped onto my arm! Yes!  To really understand the magnitude of this milestone you have to know that Dundee is a parent raised bird and came to me almost two years ago. I am so pleased with his progress... ecstatic! Here is a picture of a much younger apprentice who is now weaned and ready for training.

Monday Morning 9/27/2010 Clicker training

Didn't have much time to train on saturday as the tire store was very busy.  Heard an all to familiar comment from a customer though. "hey, how come your birds outside don't fly away" "Well, I said, the birds are clipped but they are content to stay in and around the tree." "Wow I have a Blue and Gold but he's in his cage most of the time"....."I'm afraid he'll fly away"..... " Im thinking great... poor macaw probably never gets out of the cage."  Too many birds are purchased and forgotten, stuck to live their lives out in a damn cage.

Today I spent about fifteen minutes with Dundee.... he has the target training down and knows if he touches the tip of the target stick... bam he gets a treat. He's very content to stay right by me and play his vending machine game and that's progress but I was hopping I could get him to step onto my hand if I put my hand between him and the target. So far not even a lift of the foot but I'm going to keep at it.... more later

More Clicker Training

Dundee with some pear on this hot afternoon

Came in to work early today... anxious to try some more. Ok the tire shop is open and running and finished with my paperwork. My 6 macaws are on their runnabout and eating breakfast. Dundee (my two year old red-fronted) is dodging the bigger guys grabbing at the food tray when no one else is looking.... he's gotten good at sneaking his share... I get a break and go outside with my clicker in hand along with some treats. Dundee spots me and eyes me up and down with his cocked head .... I love how birds do that, the one eyed look... this time instead of my pen I have a real stick and I'm hopping I can get him to step on it, lol right? Things are already different with him cause he's all of a sudden interested in my presence. I show him the almond pieces and get my stick and clicker ready... he comes over and nibbles the tip of the stick so I "click" and give him a piece of nut. Ok good we're back to the vending machine thing... so I'm thinking "lets try a little more" ... I put the stick at chest level to see if he'll step up... this spooks him and he runs. Ok I think I'm going to fast....also I'm not sure if I should be using the target stick to be stepped up on. Let me read some more to figure this out... ok new plan, I grabbed a larger perch that he's familiar with and went back over to try again. He sees the familiar perch and I put it between him and my hand full of almond pieces.... head cocks and he eyes the nuts in my hand... like a little machanical robot he ratchets his head upwards and eyes me. Im really having a hard time not to laugh out loud.... he's not going for it...hmmm... so i start to pull the nuts away an he puts one foot on the perch! I almost forgot to click! Yes! Meanwhile, Larger macaws get interested and start to move in.... Dundee's gone, up to a higher branch with a big piece of almond. Will try more later...

Clicker Training! my attempts at this new (to me) training method

Rehome Busters

Huge way to keep your bird interested and entertained
Play "clicker" with your bird!

Clicker training! It's been around for a long time and used frequently in places like zoos or animal parks where professional training is done. I always associated this type of training with tricks and accrobatic circus stuff so I never really paid much attention to it's use with parrots. I met a nice lady from Germany on a bird forum and she got me just interested enough to give it a go. Here is a copy of an e-mail I sent her after my first attempt with the clicker thing.

My first attempt

Ok Ann,

I'm a believer! I got your E-book and started reading...... I had to try this so I went over to a petsmart grabbed a clicker and said to myself "I'm going to try this right now." I have a 2 year old red fronted that I've casually been working with over the past year. He's been coming along pretty good and hangs with the rest of the flock so no hurry right.... I take some ground nuts over to him and he eyes me.... he loves em but will very cautiously come over grab one and hurry back to his spot. I take the clicker out and just before he grabs another I click-it.... he eyes me again like "whats up?" then I reach to him with my writing pen which I have done in the past to kinda play with his beak.... he touches it with his upper beak and immediately I "click" and hand him a nut.... We did this for a couple minutes and he's not running away anymore... hmmm.... the phone rings so I go into the office. I come back out show him the pen and he runs over to touch it! "click" and he's now in control of his own little vending machine! Ha! Ha! I'm laughing now right.... hell he's gained more ground in those few min. than in a whole year and I am deffinately not a clicker trainer. Im fascinated and anxious to try more. Im looking forward to reading the rest of the book cause I have a number of birds with different problems that need some tweaking. More later.... gotta go...

   

                                                                       

Second in a series of why parrots are surrendered

Why Parrots are surrendered

People with good intentions are still set-up for failure by traditional parrot keeping here in the U.S. What is most surprising is that the bird keeping public are by example maintaining these traditions. I am speaking in general of course because there are many exceptional owners, but they are not the majority. Too many people are under the assumption that you house your parrot in a cage, add a few toys, hopefully a nutritious diet and out of cage time when convenient. Sound familiar?  Unfortunately this is considered above average care. I have been there with my pets in the past and I have evolved. Not enough freedom, not enough stimulation, not enough variety, too lonely, and not any fun. Bring on the screaming!, feather plucking!, biting!, chainsaw chewing of everything and eventually most people just get sick and tired of the noise, the mess, and the bandaids. Parrot For Sale- to good home only :)

Why parrots are commonly surrendered. (rehomed)

Pre-Wild Bird Conservation Act

Lest we forget parrots are exotic animals. Up untill the past 25 years or so, and things continue to get worse, people generally respected the word "exotic." Exotics were left to the experts or to few people who really dedicated a portion of their lives to the care and up-keep of animals normally found in zoo's. Speaking as an American, we typically consume whatever is in our path and at our disposal. Exotic birds started comming in by the thousands in the seventees and eightees fueled by American and European interest in a more colorful and gregarious bird species that could talk!, unlike the more common canaries and parakeets found in the pet trade at that time. Parrots came in a steady stream saturating our borders and filling quaranteen stations. Parrots retained their "exotic" stigma however since having come straight out of the jungles they fiercely clawed and gnashed at anyone interested. Only the most skilled animal keepers/trainers could refine these wild parrots or "broncos" into companion animals. People who obtained such a bird were generally more prepared for special accomodations that these "exotics" required.

Post-Wild Bird Conservation Act

On October 23 1992 congress passed a new law that would change bird keeping in the U.S. forever. This new law prohibited the importation of most exotic parrots into the U.S. from other countries. Many bird traders became bird breeders and began setting up pairs to hopefully produce offspring that could begin to supply a growing market for pet parrots. Gradually as breeders became successful a new type of parrot became available.... the hand-fed version of the prior claw clenching beak nashing wild caughts. These new little gems were exceptionally tame and seemed to gush a gentle loving disposition. Exageration ? yes, but compared to the wild parents even a less social, shy, hand-fed seemed amazingly tame.

The first in a series of reasons parrots become homeless

Once hand-fed babies started becoming available the exotic stigma began to wear off and more and more people wanted a "talking" parrot for a pet. The first in a series of problems to come was the sugar coated baby parrot being purchased by the untrained and unprepared public. These hand-fed babies were and many still are one generation from the wild. What happens when these babies grow-up is similar to a baby lion cub that is so sweet and lovable untill instinctual behavior kicks in. How many lions would last in our homes after about a year? Parrots are obviously more trainable but still very Exotic.