CAG won't get off my shoulder

Hey everybody.. I have a problem with my African Grey, Lulu. She is very cute and cuddly, but the problem is that she won't get off my shoulder. When she steps up on my hand/arm, she run up to my shoulder, and everytime I'm near her, she fly on my shoulder. That can be very frustrating, specially when I want to train with her, cause she always get up on my shoulder. Now my question is how can I teach her to stay on my hand/arm, and not always fly on my shoulder when I am near her? I need a step-for-step guide.. I hope someone will help me. She turns 5 months old the 18th. June

My english is not so good, sorry

CAGLulu,

Your first step is an easy one. Short-sleeved shirts.

That will eliminate the climbing up.

As for the flying to your shoulder, every time she tries, just dodge her by turning your shoulder away. If she should somehow latch on (we've all gotten the flapping wings in the face treatment before), immediately step her up and put her in her cage for a short time out. She will get the message that flying to the shoulder actually keeps me away from Mommy/Daddy. It won't take long.

I have a similar problem with Bob, I will try the second part of your advice, but short sleeves have never prevented him from climbing up my arm, they just make it less pleasant for me.

I was going to say, short sleeves just means more painful. First off, have his wings clipped. A flighted bird is almost impossible to train. Star off with stick training, teach him to step up on your hand and once he tries to climb up your arm, block him with the stick and he will most likely climb onto the stick. Then give him a treat. Also, check out Youtube, where there are numerous training videos of all kinds of discipline training, from stick training to squawking issues. They main not be using a CAG, but the principles remain the same.

@nofearengineer: Unfortunately short sleeves havent worked out for me either. She will still try to climb up, and if she slide down then she will just use her wings.

@mtdoramike: There's different opinions about wing clipping.. I'm against it. I won't clip her wings unless it gets necesarry. I know that it don't hurt her in any way, but birds/parrots are born with wings, so they can fly and I won't take that away from her eventhough it's just for a year or so

I'm against wing clipping also, but sometimes in order to have a good relationship w/your bird you need a head start. Clipping while training will make your bird more dependant on you & more receptive to training. Greys live along time, a few months clipped might positively effect your relationship w/your bird for the next 30-40 years. She is very smart & the time to socialize, start w/a good diet & basic manners training will be easier now than later after she develops problems. Merlin was clipped when I got him & truely I probably couldn't have handled him unclipped. He is more agressive & assertive now that he's fully flighted. I'm so glad that we got the basics out of the way b4 he started flying.

Honestly, a 5 month old grey, delicious!!! Enjoy.

@merlinsmom13: I feel that my relationship with my parrot are very strong. She have never bit me and most of the time she always seek contact to me. She is very cute and not aggressive at all. She know all the basic stuff, but I just got that problem that she won't stay off my shoulder. I got her when she was 2½ months old so my bond with her are pretty good. I'll try to train it away and if that doesn't work I need to think in other ways Thx for your help!

awww pretty hard one, cos thats her choosen spot

you can try holding a treat at arms length so she has to walk down your arm for it, but she'll prob fly/walk back up lol

my man uses a wooden spoon, like i do when we want nut off top of the door etc we never touch her, she is not afraid of it, and has often pulled/pushed it of work tops or table when she see's it! she just seems to instinctively know *its the spoon of dissapline. but i don't think this is a good method for you??

nut is fully flighted and not trained in any way, and generally gets her own way lol

or just hold a toy for her to play on in your hand, in time she will realise you like her there lol they can be stubborn as hell, but once it clicks thats what is expected of them it kinda stays in place

also when nut is on my hand i try not to hold her lower then my chest

Have you tried making your shoulder a very unfriendly place? By this I mean try wearing clothing the bird is not comfortable with and a large hat. You can try blocking your arm with a large object or just your hand as the bird attempts to climb up to shoulder. This is what I saw Ken the bird whisperer do in a class I was lucky enough to see.

@suebee: I've found some sort of a toy that makes her step-up from my shoulder on my hand to get it. So what I now want to do is everytime she climb/fly on my shoulder I will show her the toy then take her on my hand and put her away from me and then ignoring her. She will probably just fly on my shoulder again, but then I will repeat the same thing. If she do not fly on my shoulder within 3-5 min. I will pick her up on my hand/arm and give her a treat. If she stay on my arm for about 5-10 sec. I will give her a treat again and so on..

@Spiritbird: I've never thought about putting something on my shoulder that she's not happy with or taking some clothe on that she's not comfortable with, but I have tried to make my shoulder an unpleasent place by quickly lowering my back so she fly away from my shoulder. I don't do that anymore because maybe the bird may become afraid of ME? I don't know, but I don't wan't to take any chances

Thank you guys for your replies, it helps alot!