First 5 Tricks

[forbey]

Just to pick the brains of those more experienced than me, what would be your recommendations for the the Top Five Tricks for Parrots? (based on any of following: the desirability of Parronts, cooperation of parrots, Veterinarian accessibility, fun, ease of???) Feel free to include with your top five, the "why" behind the trick.

Forbey

 

[JerseyWendy]

1. Waving and/or high five
2. Eagle bird (opening wings)
3. Turning around (doing a 360 degree turn)
4. Saying "Hello" on cue
5. Play dead (that one may be a bit advanced)
....
that's all I can think of...

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Not being a "trainer" myself, (as in, i don't really follow any special methods with my pets, just train for desired behavior and give lots of praise and rewards) i found that part of it depends on the bird and the circumstance. Georgie was a bird who seemed to love imitating my movements. She would basically dance any time i told her to. I used to brush my teeth in front of her cage every morning until she started to "brush her teeth" too and eventually i could tell her to do it and she did.
Gilbert is more the type to try to imitate things i SAY rather than do. He still doesn't dance and if i dance in front of him, he makes happy sounds along with it rather than dancing. So with him, i ask him to say things "say hello" or "give kiss" and he makes the kiss sound.
So, maybe the best tricks to teach would depend on certain factors of personality to make it easy for them to learn successfully.....and then motivate them to learn more?

 

[SoCalWendy]

Rio can already do the turn around. Now I am teaching her to wave. I really want to teach her to lay on hr back. But she isn't comfortable enough with me to do that yet.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

i LOVE the lying on the back/playing dead. It is SO CUTE. Georgie liked that one too and once she got it, nail trimming was a breeze.

 

[SoCalWendy]

I'm wondering if teaching her to roll over would actually be easier and then just the back roll.

 

[forbey]

I'm wondering if teaching her to roll over would actually be easier and then just the back roll.

I have no concept of "easier" yet, but therare some excellent videos of Fargo training and doing somersaults.

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/33124-somersaulting-photos-video.html

 

[tab_xo]

Hmmm, in MY opinion, teaching a bird to do a somersault (flip on the floor) is alot easier than teaching them to roll over..

Fargo does both, but he learnt somersaulting ALOT quicker than rolling over!


My five favourite tricks of Fargos are:

1. Somersaulting
2. Sticking his tongue out on command
3. Rolling over
4. Getting shot off my hand, falling back and playing dead
5. Going down a slide


But its fun when people ask to see tricks.. I like to show them

1. Hello on command... That way he seems friendly and talkative
2. Then i ask him to wave, or shake hands
3. Nodding yes... So i will say.. Do you love me? and he will nod his head up and down

I think sticking their wings up is a great help when going to the vets, and maybe even sticking their tongue out

These are most of Fargos tricks, not updated with his somersaulting trick though!
and then hes learnt to ride a skateboard as well
Fargo knows 20 tricks now, and learning a new one at the moment!
I WILL stop being lazy and finally teach him to fetch and start using props soon
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPwvPhBTNAI&feature=youtu.be"]Fargo the most amazing bird! - YouTube[/ame]

But if you are going on which are the first tricks you should teach, as in which are the easiest, it would probably be:

Turn around
Shake hands or hi 5
Wave
Nodding
and going through a tunnel!

and flight recall, if you class that as a trick

 

[henpecked]

Hey Tab, really enjoyed that, thanks. Reminds me of the bond between jakiepoo and myself. Good Job !

 

[lotosha]

I think all the fetching tricks are nice, and all sorts of pazzle games to. They can show how clever your bird is.

 

[djdancer]

Can someone tell me how to teach a bird to play dead. Like a step-by-step thing? Also, how did you all learn how to teach them to do tricks? I have bought numerous video's but they all seem to have birds that are already trained.

 

[Birdman666]

I would teach fetch tricks next, because basically almost all of the other tricks out there are some variation of the fetch trick...

Basketball - fetch trick.
Place object in a grocery cart. - Fetch trick.
Wishing well/treat in a bucket trick - fetch trick.
Pick up ring, put it on a peg. - fetch trick.
Stacking cups - Fetch trick.
Puzzle toy - fetch trick.

You get the idea.

Same trick, a million different uses. Once he learns the one, he can learn all the others in no time...

PLUS as a bonus, they start making up their own, BRINGING YOU THINGS THEY WANT TO PLAY WITH. So, for interaction factor alone this one is worth teaching them...

 

[djdancer]

I don't know how to teach them any of these things. That's why I asked. Obviously you all know how to do them so I kind of need a step-by-step idea or even some videos of you all training your birds. Might not help seeing your birds are already trained... I spent too much money on dvd's already. I am disabled and can't work and my husband's been battling cancer for the last 2 years so he doesn't have much of an income. I love my birds, all three of them and want to make the most out of their lives instead of letting them be bored all day.

 

[Birdman666]

Fetch tricks are easy. And once you get them to do one, you've taught them to do all of them.

I have to get back to work, but I'll post more on this topic later tonight after work.

 

[Birdman666]

I think all the fetching tricks are nice, and all sorts of pazzle games to. They can show how clever your bird is.

Puzzle games ARE fetch tricks. That's why this is the biggie...

Teach them one fetch trick, you can mix it up a thousand different ways, and neither you nor your bird will ever get bored with it.

You're just switching out the props at that point.

And these all become bird toys, and it's playtime...

And like I said, from an interaction standpoint, it goes up exponentially. That's the value of it. Gets their mind working. Makes you the teacher. It's fun for them. And it makes them more interactive.

I have no interest in "performing" parrots.
I don't make them do stuff.
We play games.

 

[Birdman666]

Rio can already do the turn around. Now I am teaching her to wave. I really want to teach her to lay on hr back. But she isn't comfortable enough with me to do that yet.

That's a trust thing.

Cradle the bird in your hand next to your chest. Bend at the waist. Stand up.

Do this 5-10 times until the bird gets used to it. Reward and praise.

Once the bird gets used to it, perched on your hand, put your other hand on the back, lean the bird back.

Do that 5-10 times until the bird gets used to it. Reward and praise.

Then when the bird is comfortable with that, work on taking your perch hand away.

Ta Da! The bird now lies in the palm of your hand...

This is one of those things I used to do as a trust building exercise on rehabs...
not so much for the trick part of it, as to get the bird to accept being handled by you in unusual ways.

 

[djdancer]

birdman666 I can't thank you enough. When you post later can you tell me how to do the fetch thing? You are so awesome!! You can tell you put your heart into it.

 

[Birdman666]

birdman666 I can't thank you enough. When you post later can you tell me how to do the fetch thing? You are so awesome!! You can tell you put your heart into it.

I've just been doing this for a long time... 20 years or so.

Most of this stuff is second nature to me now. This one was off the top of my head, cuz I've done it so many times.

My version of "station training" tends to be different than the classical way they tell you to teach them. (BUT MY BIRDS TEND TO STAY PUT, SO IT STILL WORKS.)

I WISH MORE PARROT OWNERS WOULD WORK WITH THEIR BIRDS, BECAUSE THAT INCREASES THAT BONDING THING... AND THEN... THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT.

YOU'RE NOT GONNA HAVE AS MUCH OF A HOMELESS PARROT PROBLEM IF EVERYONE HAS BONDED BIRDS.

 

[djdancer]

I would love to know how you taught the fetch game but mostly how you taught the station training. Maybe I can buy them the station training pads for Christmas and hopefully it comes with a step-by-step dvd instead of just showing already trained animals. I do like Barbara but most of the animals in her dvd's are already trained.

 

[Birdman666]

To me this is the best trick training video series on the market, and you can pick these up dirt cheap on amazon.

Fantastic Performing Parrots on DVD | Pet Media Plus

That's where I learned it.

Fosters and Smith has the fetch training posted.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=1550