Harness or no?

[Greapper1]

Could I get some user experiences from harnesses...



Training.. Pros/Cons... Yeahs/Neighs...


I want my bird to be able to fly in the house.. I bring her often to other people's houses (her wings are currently clipped). I feel like when I let her wings grow out and bring her to other people's homes she would have to be in a cage for a fear of her flying away...


My husband is adamantly against harnessing her. His direct quote is "it's cruel & hurts the bird"

 

[noodles123]

He is wrong! What is his plan? You cannot safely take a bird outside without one! Even a bird with clipped wings can fly, given the proper height/wind etc---not well, but it has happened...and clipping wings is definitely not natural either (Assuming that is what he wants). Without a harness, you are left with caged transport only.....True free-flight is not safe...some of the people who do it on Youtube are proof (many have lost birds this way)...A cage is WAY more restrictive!!!

 

[TiredOldMan]

Noodles nailed it as usual.

I use the Aviator brand. There is a training curve but well worth it.

 

[LordTriggs]

if anything clipping wings is more liable to hurt a bird than a harness regardless of flying off. Psychologically birds need to fly and move around and be able to fly if they feel in danger, a harness when properly acclimatized to gives them that freedom whilst keeping them safe from getting lost.

Why does your husband think they hurt birds? I understand if your forcing a harness on a bird but when they're comfy with it they can enjoy the harness. It's no different than having a harness for a dog

 

[charmedbyekkie]

I can only speak from my personal experience.

Cairo gets so overwhelmingly excited to see his harness (Aviator). He starts dancing and trying to shove his head anywhere he can find a gap in the harness. It took us about 2-3 weeks to train him to accept the entire process.

So long as you work at their pace, it's fine. Cairo is highly food motivated. We worked on two separate parts - touching his wings and putting his head through the loop. I never forced the harness on him.

If he wanted the treat, he had to reach through the loop. It started with the treat close enough so that it was just his beak going through, then I slowly lengthened the distance, observing his comfort level (trigger word was "on"). I would always keep a hold on the harness so he wouldn't get tangled up in his excitement, so whenever he wiggled out, I just say the trigger word of "off". Once he got the picture, he would fly to his harness and try to put it on. And now, when he waits patiently until I say "off" before he wiggles his head out.

For his wings, he's not a touchy-feely bird (like the ekkie stereotype), so we started even before the harness to allow us to touch him for a treat (trigger word was "sayang"). Then when the harness arrived, I practiced holding and lifting his wings for a treat (trigger word was "wing").

The timelines for "on/off" and "wing" ran concurrently, and within 2-3 weeks, we tried the full harness procedure and never looked back. Our process is just a combination of those three words:
- "On" - head through loop
- "Wing" - left wing through
- "Sayang" - adjust the back loop to prepare to his next wing
- "Wing" - right wing through
- "Sayang" - adjust the back loop and tighten
Then reverse for taking it off.

Cairo is an obsessive flyer - his previous family had him free-flight trained (though he got lost a couple of times) - so for me, I felt like there was no choice. Locally, people use S-hooks (which I hear are banned in most Western countries), so he came to us with an S-hook on. But I saw once how he reacted when he got pulled down by his S-hook - he tried to bite his own leg off after being pulled back by the chain on his S-hook. I'm not exaggerating; it was so traumatising to see him attack his leg and attempt to rip of his S-hook and bite people to express his pain (he wasn't biting hard, just a "I'm really upset by this experience" bite, and lucky it didn't break/sprain his leg). So I swore to harness train him and remove it off him as soon as possible.

I would never be able to clip Cairo. I'd feel as guilty as I felt seeing him react to the S-hook. Flying is what he loves, and I could never take that away from him.

We got him the Aviator harness extension (12+ meters), and every weekend, we take him out to different parks to fly with his harness. It's built specific to distribute the weight on their body. He flies and lands just fine with it. He enjoys flying the long distance of his extension between us. Even when he goes the full length of the extension, he is able to control his flight and curve back to us (when he knows how to manage the wind).

With the harness, I have a peace of mind when taking him out. We go on walks almost every other day. He loves perching on our shoulders and looking around at the new scenery. Our shoulders are his safe-haven from strangers. He sometimes still gets spooked if something suddenly appears beside him with no warning, so the harness helps when he flies off, spooked. If it weren't the harness, how could he go for his favourite walks (maybe his Birdie Go-Go) or flight time (inside the apartment only is too small for him).

I realise this is quite long, but I can't express how thankful I am for having a harness. I 110% believe that it helps Cairo be a happier and healthier bird. He gets his mental stimulation outside of the boring apartment, he gets his exercise (hoping to avoid fatty liver disease), he gets his flying ability back. And he loves it.

 

[ChristaNL]

Definete YES here as well, though I am only halfway getting my birds to accept one.

I live the city-life, no garden of my own and my birds need to excerse in the house: so no clipping those wings! I would love to take them outside on a regular basis, but a cage is very confining (and not really an option for the macaw- since I go everywhere by bicycle).

There are of course the pack-o-birds (and likewise produced backpacks) for the smaller ones.
(Still cages, more or less, but at least they travel well when you do not take a car)
Sizewise I do not think I could ride a bike with a macaw-sized POB strapped on my back (and I certainly can not afford one atm to "just try it"/ afaik they are designed for walking)

With birds: safety first!
Yes those harnesses are quite unnatural of course, but so are safety belts...
(well actually cars are as well, but since a house is unnatural to a bird I think I can get away with this one the aviator is a safety-belt for being in and outside houses )


If my bird gets away from me in the city most likely it will either be killed (accidental) or get stolen.

Either way it will be gone from my life - I do not want that.
so: aviator or travelcage it is; outside and in a non-parrot-proof house as well.

 

[EllenD]

You absolutely cannot take your bird outside without a harness on him, clipped or not!!! Many, many parrots that were clipped have caught wind and flown for miles and miles, some found, most never. And if he's not clipped then you'll surely lose him forever if you take him outside anywhere without a harness or in a carrier! It doesn't matter how bonded he is to you, all it takes is one noise outside and he'll be gone forever. The only way you can let your bird outside without a harness or in a carrier/cage is if he is "free-flight" trained, which takes years to accomplish, and even then people lose them all the time. So please, do not EVER even think about taking him outside without him being on a harness or in a carrier...not even for a second, because that's all it takes!!!

All 4 of my parrots are harness-trained (Aviator Harness), and though it does take time to train them (you can't just put it on them and expect them to not chew it off), it certainly doesn't "hurt them", nor is it "cruel"...It's necessary and the responsible thing to do, and your husband simply needs to educate himself on the Aviator Harness, which is the harness that is most-recommended.

It's doesn't hurt to put a dog on a harness, nor does it hurt them, and the Aviator Harness for birds is no different...They can actually fly on the Aviator Harness if you either run with them, or you buy a long extension lead for it...Nothing cruel about it at all, if there was, none of us would use them on our birds. They can glide easily to the ground, it doesn't "yank" them or anything, and it allows you to safely take your bird with you outside without losing them, which you will if you carry him outside with you on your shoulder.

Please heed our warnings; I know many people who were certain their birds were either so bonded with them that they would never fly-off, and they were certain if they did they would come back, as well as many, many, many people who thought their birds couldn't fly away because they were clipped...and they've lost their birds forever. So either put him in a carrier/cage whenever you take him outside, or buy an Aviator Harness and start the training process with him, as it does take quite a while to accomplish...or just don't ever take him outside.

 

[MonicaMc]

Greapper1, share this with your husband


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13XmlniLKd4"]Charlie Flying Outside - YouTube[/ame]