Is it possible to train them to stay put?

[Doris48]

Im such problems with training..I think Im too ADD for this.
I have no problem training dogs why are birds so difficult for me.

Anyway Paco is a great bird but he has a few issues we need to deal with.
First is, he harrasses my hubby to death.He will not stay off of him when he is home.Hubby doesnt mind some of it but doesnt like PAco on him constantly, especially in the bathroom and when he is eating.Paco bites when my dh tries to get him off of his shoulder.I hate to keep him up in the evening but will if I have too..

Another issue is he lands on our heads and it hurts.I need to make heads off limits but dont know how.If he is on the back of hubbys chair he will climb up on his bald head and it hurts..

And of course the evening battle of getting him in his cage.I have been giving him one peanut every time he goes in his cage.


BTW Clipping wings is not an option unless its a last resort...Even my hubby agrees with this too.

 

[roxynoodle]

It is possible but it seems to me amazons are stubborn sometimes. At least Pete is. Once he gets it in his head he wants something, or wants to go somewhere I often have to tell him no more than once and put him back. And once he can fly I suspect I will have to do several training sessions a day on "stay".

 

[Doris48]

I really dont want to clip his wings.The only exercise he gets is flying from his cage to the kitchen and back again.If he were doing something really bad I might consider clipping but really its just annoying behavior..

 

[roxynoodle]

I don't want to clip Pete again either, but he does get awfully stubborn about stuff. I will just have to see how it goes. Right now he wants this vase of mine, I don't know why But, it's tall and narrow and I don't think heavy enough to hold him without crashing over onto it's side. So I suspect if I let him perch on it, it's going to go falling over and I don't want him to get hurt, and I don't want a broken vase either. So I think when he can fly I'm going to have to work on him for staying put when I tell him to.

 

[roxynoodle]

I'll let you know how it goes as he starts flying more and more. So far he's tried twice. Once about 1.5 feet to try to get to that vase. And once he got about 6 feet and I'm not sure where he was planning to go. It scared him and he got a bit of a bump on a wing, which he then proceeded to hold up for me over and over for the next hour to kiss it for him.

And if you find the solution, be sure to let me know

 

[BillsBirds]

To answer the original question, No! These creatures are bundles of OCD behavior combined with almost unlimited energy. STAY! is not something they can understand.

 

[stephend]

Bob will usually stay if told to, but sometimes she will ignore the command.

 

[Remy]

Puck's previous owner did a good job of training him to stay put. He likes his designated perches most of the time. I can leave the room, and he won't follow me, even if he calls for me. I asked her how she did it, and she told me that every time he'd leave his perch, she'd pick him up, tell him "No", and put him back. I don't know how long it took to train him to do this, but he was 4 when I got him.

He's pretty stubborn about almost everything else, but if he has a perch he likes, he'll stay there all day.

 

[roxynoodle]

Puck's previous owner did a good job of training him to stay put. He likes his designated perches most of the time. I can leave the room, and he won't follow me, even if he calls for me. I asked her how she did it, and she told me that every time he'd leave his perch, she'd pick him up, tell him "No", and put him back. I don't know how long it took to train him to do this, but he was 4 when I got him.

He's pretty stubborn about almost everything else, but if he has a perch he likes, he'll stay there all day.

I did do the same with Rowdy, but she also seems to really enjoy her play gym and there is a lot to entertain her. And I change things around every day so she finds things to do that are different than the day before.

Pete though seems a LOT more determined to get to things that he suddenly decides interest him. I keep putting him back, and he waits a few minutes and then tries for it again. And he's not really thrilled with the parrot play gyms here. I am thinking of buying or making a big net for him to climb, but then my house is going to look like a fishing boat.

 

[Doris48]

Id love to buy new stuff but Paco is scared of anything new so I dont see the point in wasting the money.When I first got him I made this lame perch with a two x four and a branch, he loved it.Well I recently made a nice PVC one and he hates it, so lands on the refrigerator instead..He does like his rope perch on the outside of his cage and spends time on that.The only "toys" he will touch so far is branches and he loves chewing up pinecones, but forget the expensive store bought stuff, he wont touch it.

.I would love him to be trained to only land on certain places in the house..My son freaks when he lands on his expensive guitar and I cant blame him.
So I need designated perches in each room that are just for Paco and somehow train him to only land on those.

 

[roxynoodle]

Same with Pete. It takes him forever to not be afraid of something new. I STILL don't have that rope perch in his cage because he is terrified of it. Funny though how he can be so afraid of a bird toy, but he sure isn't afraid of the remote controls or keyboard. Or that vase he wants.

 

[lizardsmells]

Puck's previous owner did a good job of training him to stay put. He likes his designated perches most of the time. I can leave the room, and he won't follow me, even if he calls for me. I asked her how she did it, and she told me that every time he'd leave his perch, she'd pick him up, tell him "No", and put him back. I don't know how long it took to train him to do this, but he was 4 when I got him.

He's pretty stubborn about almost everything else, but if he has a perch he likes, he'll stay there all day.

I've been doing this with Kazi and it seems to be working. I have to be very consistent though and put him where I want him repeatedly before he'll stay put. You can tell he doesn't like it, but he knows if he gets down I'm just going to make him step up and put him back.

This said, Kazi isn't flighted. I wouldn't mind if he were, but he's a feather chewer so it's unlikely he ever will be. But if he wasn't a chewer I doubt I could leave him flighted anyway (much as it wouldn't bother me and I'd prefer it) because he really hates my husband and tries to fly at his face now. He just can't get the distance with his chewed up primaries.

And for exercise I just make Kazi climb a lot, which he does because he likes to go on walkabout and have a wander through the house, which means climbing down off his gym or cage and then over baby gates (to keep the dogs out of areas) and back up his cage or gym when he's done.