Harness training making him nervous

[MeganMango]

Hello everyone, a quick question on training:
Ive been working with Mango with the harness, and he only has a couple of cut flight feathers left. He was doing incredibly well, putting his head into the hole for a sunflower seed, and he didnt seem nervous at all. Suddenly though, he is scared of the harness, and wont let me bring it near him. There is no reason for this that I can think of, I didnt change my method, I didnt force him to do anything, and he has been really laid back about it before now. In addition to this, he has become a little aggressive with me. He doesnt seek my attention and seems wary of me. Ive stopped all harness training, but Im curious whether I should try again or just leave it alone. He is going through his first molt and he has an incredible number of pin feathers. I bath him lots and he has lots of protein in his diet, but this must be making him uncomfortable. He loves to have them scritched, but even then seems wary. Im concerned about the seemingly random fear response, and his decrease in affection towards me. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[MeganMango]

I just want to bump this to see if anyone responds. I guess Id like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience, and what your opinion would be about continuing to try to harness train? Also, any ideas on how this might have happened?

 

[tab_xo]

Aww sorry to hear about your step back in progress I am not sure why he would suddenly be scared! Maybe he just realized he finds it uncomfortable around his neck especially if he has a lot of pin feathers ?

When i got Fargo he was 7 months old, and the breeders had tried harness training him but he was petrified of it, so they didnt bother.. I have no idea why he was so scared of it, i thought they should only fear something if they are given a reason to fear it !

It took 2 months to get it on Fargo, that was slowly getting him to go even close to it, and then making a big loop to get his head through, then rubbing it under his wings! But even now he still isnt 100% sure of it, but we do a little every now and then (need to stop being lazy and do it more often! ) with lots of treats and rewards so he lifts his wings happily and sticks his head through the loop !
He has had it on twice fully, we tried to put it on a few weeks ago, but i stuffed up with the loops so he panicked!

But he hasn't feared me at all because of the harness

You could wait until he has finished molting, or you could just start by getting him to walk over the harness, or holding up a big loop that he has to walk through, thats how i started with Fargo

Good luck!

 

[MeganMango]

Thanks Tab, I think I will wait until he is done molting and just leave the harness around so he sees it. I dont think Ill do any more training for a while, and we can go back to it when he is more relaxed. He was much better with me last night, but I think the pin feathers have made him grouchy. He has replaced all his flight feathers and all his tail feathers in a matter of about 2 weeks. I get him into the shower, and he will take a bath sometimes, but I think he is uncomfortable. My research has indicated that there is no real definition of a normal molt, but this is his first and its been going on for a couple of months. He has replaced easily 65-70% of his feathers, and I find new pins every day. I think he has just had enough of being itchy. I really hope he doesnt stay terrified of the harness, we want to take him outside this summer.

 

[tab_xo]

Thats ok

Yes good idea!

I think Fargo molted 300+ feathers for the first few months when i got him september, then about november/december he lost wing and tail feathers... So his body was getting better then, but he had no tail But now his tail has grown alot through, and now in march hes getting all pin feathers on his head!

It never ends! hahaha

Also here is a video of Fargo with the harness after one month of training, so this was back in october ! But we just did this for a while, and then moved onto smaller loops You can see he was wary of it!
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxF-HyopwRY"]Fargo harness training - YouTube[/ame]