Flight training...

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Keep it up Jimmy boy! Try working between perches. Dumb question: have you target trained any? You saw my video I believe. Target training is going to be key to your success here

No Chris...never did target training. I'll probably be watching Parkerdoodles vid's quite a few times.
I'm actually looking forward to trying to get her say,from her play top to her perch stick. I have had her harness hanging on her outside-of-house multi-colored ropey perch thingie and have draped it over her back and head a few times..she has picked it up and chewed on it also so its not frightening her.

Looks like the up coming winter months will prove to be busy.



Jim

 

[Anansi]

Just a side note..I ask her if "she is ready"...then I say "ok,ready? one...two...three" and I drop her.
She actually looks at me as I count down lol...I think she is anticipating the drop and is preparing herself..what a smart girl (guy)!

This is a great technique, Jim! Doing this takes away any element of potentially unpleasant surprise from the training. When teaching my birds certain tricks where I'll be doing something to them, like dipping them backward or flipping them forward to hang upside down from my hand, I always give a countdown as well. They definitely appreciate the heads up.

And I agree with Chris. Target training will be key, here. And they're never too old to start learning.

 

[chris-md]

You know? How about I make a video for you? I’ll show you how to BEGIN target training. Let me know if she is clicker trained. If not, I’ll start there, I have some refreshing I need to do with Parker on this anyways. Note: I don’t use a clicker, rather a word in lieu of it. But the principles are the same, you just don’t have to actually buy a clicker, which you won’t always have when Amy does something you need to reward.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

You know? How about I make a video for you? I’ll show you how to BEGIN target training. Let me know if she is clicker trained. If not, I’ll start there, I have some refreshing I need to do with Parker on this anyways. Note: I don’t use a clicker, rather a word in lieu of it. But the principles are the same, you just don’t have to actually buy a clicker, which you won’t always have when Amy does something you need to reward.

Chris...a video would be awesome! No she is not clicker or target trained...I really don't know where to start with that.
I do know she is intelligent and does pay attention to what I say to her.
I also discovered a very good treatie she seems to enjoy..cashews...so I think I have a motivational tool to use.


Jim

 

[chris-md]

Jim, I'm thrilled to be able to help I'll be honest though, it'll be a couple weeks. I'm leaving for the Spain/Canary Islands today and won't be back until late next week, and plans galore soon thereafter. But this will be a priority once things settle down. You get 2 videos (or one, depending on if I learn to concatenate iphone videos): one to start clicker training using words, then the beginnings of target training using this new word-clicker training.

This will be the utter beginnings too, not the "beginnings" with a bird who already is trained - can I tell you how much I dislike those types of videos?

Parker is clicker and target trained, but for various reasons I need to start over. I need a new clicker word (I used "good", but that word gets abused to the point its probably meaningless to him now), and he refuses to target to anything other than a chopstick. SO I can use a pen or something and the target training will be from square one So these videos will actually show the *true* beginnings of this entire process, and you'll be seeing actual training sessions.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Jim, I'm thrilled to be able to help I'll be honest though, it'll be a couple weeks. I'm leaving for the Spain/Canary Islands today and won't be back until late next week, and plans galore soon thereafter. But this will be a priority once things settle down. You get 2 videos (or one, depending on if I learn to concatenate iphone videos): one to start clicker training using words, then the beginnings of target training using this new word-clicker training.

This will be the utter beginnings too, not the "beginnings" with a bird who already is trained - can I tell you how much I dislike those types of videos?

Parker is clicker and target trained, but for various reasons I need to start over. I need a new clicker word (I used "good", but that word gets abused to the point its probably meaningless to him now), and he refuses to target to anything other than a chopstick. SO I can use a pen or something and the target training will be from square one So these videos will actually show the *true* beginnings of this entire process, and you'll be seeing actual training sessions.

Chris...take your time my friend I/we appreciate your willingness to assist in a new beginning for Amy..I'll have plenty to do anyway to get Amy prepared with more arm waving to build up those muscles.
And enjoy your trip and please be safe!


Jim

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

You really don't need to use a clicker for training. I have taught my birds a huge variety of tricks with no clicker at all. I say "good bird" but I never taught them to respond to it so I doubt it really helps to "mark" when they did something right.

 

[chris-md]

The click/word is a bridge, an indicator a treat is coming. When you don’t have much basis in training to begin with it’s a fantastic starting point for all involved. .

But you are right, clicker isn’t necessary. Like I say above, I don’t use clickers. Like you I use a key word. We’ve all taught our dogs to sit or lay down without it.

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

Chris, I think there are many of us that would very much appreciate a "from square one" training video. Especially from someone like you who has shown how well it has worked for you and Parker. I'm eagerly awaiting your video!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I am taking it easy with this,as I really don't have a clue on what I'm doing really So its just been just a few minutes at a time a few times a day.
I am impressed really with her understanding on what is going to happen.
A few times now,when I open her front door and sit on the couch,waiting for her to come out of her house,I wave her perch stick and ask her if she is ready to go flap,and a few times she has actually climbed down the side of her house and walked over to me..and Beebers wasn't even with me lol.

As I have previously mentioned,when she is on the perch,she is intently looking at me and mumbling Amazon stuff. Seems like she is just waiting for the "ok?are you ready?" words

At the very beginning,I don't think she understood what the new "game" was all about,and Amy wouldn't wave as I dropped her. Now I think she is getting the picture,and 96% of the time she is waving from the initial drop until I stop,then praise her with "That's it! good girl!"
I'm about 5 foot 11 inches,so I raise her just above my head,and drop her just below the waist.
When she does things properly,she gets about five or six complete waves in for about eight to twelve times.


For whatever reason,Amy has jumped off the perch three times from about waist high,doesn't wave frantically and has softly/gracefully landed on the carpet about two or three feet in front of me.
Wish I had three hands,so I could video this lol.

Amy and I Thank-You all for your encouragement!


Jim

 

[Anansi]

And thank you for sharing this journey with us, Jim! Not only Amy's initial forays into flight, but also target training as well. There is something special about the kind of interaction that comes of training. It's a form of communication where, once learned, parrot and parront can be on the exact same page. It's awesome!

And Chris, I'm looking forward to your videos as well. I love threads where we get to see how other people do certain things with their birds. Like the harness thread videos where we got to see several people's take on harness training (yours included). Just nice to see different approaches.

 

[chris-md]

The eagle has landed in Valencia

I’m happy to do it. I’ve said it before, I enjoy doing these kinds of videos. I’m really motivated to help people from a place of “I wish I knew that early on”. It’s one thing to see a training session with a bird that’s already trained. It’s another to actually see the training s it progresses. There are so few free videos of this out there. I’ll blow the top off birdtricks and parrotwizard all day with the basics.

The only thing Parker will have a leg up on is the fact that he overall format is familiar to him. He KNOWS what “target” means. So he will pick up on targeting something other than a chopstick pretty quickly.

Not sure if it’s just a Parker thing, hating anything other than a chopstick, but when you start, after he learns what target means, mix up the targeting object constantly. That way if you need to target her and don’t gave a chopstick handy (!) you can still get her to do what you need her to do.