Clark is getting a harness

clark_conure · Apr 22, 2018

I finally broke down and bought Clark a harness. For my birthday coming up, and it's ALMOST spring but still snow on the ground.

(Pause for collective sigh of relief from members that know me)

I actually bought two to see if he will pick one over the other or what not...

I bought the aviator, in green so it blends, but it won't arrive for a month, later this week the other will show up which is for of a vest in front....I got the one with fireworks on it. It also comes with bird diapers but I'll have to figure out how the crap thats supposed to work.

He's very used to being handled...lay him on his back ..he don't care, but sometimes he's reluctant to objects....so we will just have to see how it goes.

Any advice other then the "slow and steady"; or the "hold food out on the other side of the loop"?

:gcc:

chris-md · Apr 22, 2018

Eek good luck! If Clark is target trained you can actually use targeting to get him to put his head through the hole.

Other than that I’ve got nothing. I gave up on harnessing Parker. I didn’t have the fortitude to deal with the panicking, and the ensuing tangling and further panicking that came with it.

DiscoDuck · Apr 22, 2018

clark_conure said:
Any advice other then the "slow and steady"; or the "hold food out on the other side of the loop"?

chris-md said:
Eek good luck! If Clark is target trained you can actually use targeting to get him to put his head through the hole.
.

Rudy has been "adapted" to the Aviator Harness.. for anyone with very young birds. It is my opinion to expose them to the harness. It really is the equivalent to teaching humans... Imagine teaching an adult how to ride a bike who has never ridden one..

FWIW. Now, Rudy accepted a harness easily however something changed. I think it happened while I was hospitalized for 2 months. Rudy was in the care of someone else. I use a different method that will be shown late next week when my new phone arrives. My current one doesnt do Videos...

perseverance pays off... dont give up.. try everything once, the things you like, try them twice! Good luck! :red1:

clark_conure · Apr 23, 2018

thanks, we will see how it goes maybe wednesday, actually more like thursday morning.

reeb · Apr 24, 2018

Oh yay! We are both busy with starting harness train our birbies. Hopefully we can learn and progress together!

clark_conure · Apr 27, 2018

Ok so the aviator harnes actually came first, amazon was way off on the shipment.

So I got clark to put his head in a few times but like with all new "objects" he is very tentative.

So....I decided I'd wear the harness. Show him it's fine.

Yes I know the mirror is dirty I'll clean it later....

So far he's getting used to it like my sunglasses. I hope he'll get on board pretty quick, I'm thinking either Orange juice or apples for the put you head in award.

:gcc:

chris-md · Apr 27, 2018

you can charge the harness like you do a clicker. I do this with some new things for Parker like the aviator harness where I want to create an instant positive association.

Walk up to him with it behind my back or in my pocket, pull my hand out and show Him the harness and immediately give him a treat, then hide it again.

Show, treat, hide, show treat hide. This speeds things up, getting acclimation down to just a couple days if you do it three sessions a day, Fifteen times per session for two or three days and he won’t be tentative about it’s presence.

clark_conure · Apr 27, 2018

meh you just don't like my natural fashion sense....

No, good advice, this is the first time he's seen it, sounds like good strategy when I go to get him in it.

chris-md · Apr 27, 2018

HA! Actually it’s quite becoming

wrench13 · Apr 27, 2018

Even tho Salty and I train with putting his head thru the loop, when it comes time to actually puting the whole thing on, I hold his head, put the loop on, lay him on his back and do the 2 wings. Like an infant changing his diapers. Only real issue his he keeps tangling the straps with is feet. If you already rough house with Clark, your 80% of the way there.

Jen5200 · Apr 27, 2018

The picture above is a great look for you lol. I will remember this strategy when I get brave enough to try putting my conures into the harnesses that I bought for them last year

Sunnyclover · Apr 27, 2018

wrench13 said:
Even tho Salty and I train with putting his head thru the loop, when it comes time to actually puting the whole thing on, I hold his head, put the loop on, lay him on his back and do the 2 wings. Like an infant changing his diapers. Only real issue his he keeps tangling the straps with is feet. If you already rough house with Clark, your 80% of the way there.

Ollie does the exact same thing with his feet lol. Finley need to be trained... I'll get right on that as soon as his foot is better

God luck to you and Clark!

clark_conure · Apr 27, 2018

so wait wrench.....is it ok to just put him in it...I know I can....It was like plan 1, but all the literature was all....then I was like um lets do it slow...

But i could get him in it in like 30 seconds if I wanted to without really any stress to him, it just wouldn't be his decision.

I figure if I put it on for like 20 minutes he'd get accustomed to it, like I said all the literature was pointed to go slow. But yeah we rough house and play all the time, sometimes I wrestle him on his back other times I put a wing and my mouth and tell him how I love the taste of wings....(I do).

If just putting it on him is ok....(I mean I'd stop if he freaked out) then is there any reason I shouldn't just do that?

Sunnyclover · Apr 27, 2018

I just put Ollie in it. He fussed a bit but he didn't really care that much after a few times. The 1st day I put him in it was our 1st outing.

clark_conure · May 1, 2018

So I went ahead and put him in his harness Sunday. Took more than 30 seconds but everything was stiff. And he did ok. He wasn't mad at me, no bites, but he spent the entire time outside and in the car biting the harness seeing if he could chew it off.

I have another style I'm going to try next time it's good enough to go outside (today it's not). I'll see if he reacts to it better, it's the flightsuit type.

All in all it was no big deal, so long as he gets bored by it. I kind of wish it used a clasp instead but I suppose a bird could open tat. And the leash is a little un-weildy I had to keep worrying about it getting caught.

:gcc:

Clark is getting a harness

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