Recall Training FAIL!

[MarciaLove]

I was very excited to try recall training with my Blue Crown Conure today. this was the first time trying it and it was awful! I started with just stepping up and then giving a treat all was well but after the fourth step up he stopped taking the treat he would take it and drop it then he stopped stepping up and put his head down so I couldn't get my finger by him and absolutely nothing in the environment or what I was doing changed. I got frustrated after that and had to put him away. I am never doing recall training with him ever again it was not for him, I know he has always been terrified of flying and of anything new he was a rescue so I don't know why this is but he freaks out and only fly when he gets super scared and the after he flies he breaths heavy and just buries himself between my chest and neck. I am very upset right now and cant think of why this went so wrong other than he is so afraid of everything. I really wanted to do this with him maybe one day I will get a bird I can do it with.

 

[WharfRat]

I haven't trained any of mine on that, however, the GW's are a "natural" at it. especially Miri (reaRea prefers walking). I've never had to "teach it to them, they just do it naturally. All I have to do is hold out my arm and they'll come to me no matter where in the house we are. I still don't see how they can fly thru doorways that are way more narrow than what their wingspan is.

 

[MarciaLove]

thats really cool! My bird loves to be with me and will call out to me if I leave him and then crawl right up my arm like I left him forever but he wont come find me.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Why do you want to give up after only one session. I am a year into recall training Rosie and she only just started to fly to me, and only when she really wants to be with me.

Rosie is also a rescue, she had been abused by men and someone was going to kill her, luckily the wife found a new home for her with my friends. They gave Rosie a horrible diet, and no toys(not to be mean, they just didn't know better). When I got Rosie she had learned hopelessness, organ failure, calcium deficiency, she would bite women, didn't physically have the strength to perch on your hand without holding on to your shirt with her beak, was a plucker, and she only had months to live if her life continued in the same way.

When I started recall training Rosie I didn't do it the normal way. I started by exercising her, helping her muscles to gain the strength needed to fly. I was forcing her to fly, which may or may not of been the right choice. Normally Rosie only fluttered to the ground if she was startled by a sudden noise, and she would be gasping so loudly everyone in the room could hear. But lets be honest, if we are out of shape we hate running. If we are in shape running is fun. It's the same with flying for a bird, except that flying is their primary source of transportation.

I thought I was not going to be able to recall train Rosie, she was immovable from a stationary object and seemed to hate flying. And because she had been over clipped when I brought her home(13 feathers off each wing) she had a phobia of taking off because she thought she would fall and hit the ground hard. She now takes off if she feels uncomfortable at all and comes to me.

This is a video I made a year ago when I made her fly to a chair. She could only fly one or two times before she was to tired. Doing this helped her to gain muscle.

[ame="http://youtu.be/-5ks0Ynt2go"]Rosie Flying - YouTube[/ame]

And this is a video I took 2 days ago of her recalling perfectly from my friend. And the day after she recalled from a kitchen chair just because she wanted to be with me, not because something was making her uncomfortable(such as my nephew walking towards her, even though a baby gate separates them). And 30 minutes after the chair recall flew after me when I left for a second to find me.

[ame="http://youtu.be/y-BDQ18_uV0"]Rosie recalling perfectly! - YouTube[/ame]

This is after a YEAR of training. It takes a long time but I'll tell you something, Rosie is so much happier now that she does not fear flight and is actually in shape. At this point she is now improving on recall every week.

 

[MarciaLove]

It was just so stressful for him I could tell I didnt want to make him hate me. Rosie seems to be doing so well Im glad she has you!

 

[gemini84]

don't give up... i have just got prince starting to recall. he was quite easy but he loves flying and is very good at it. oxy on the other hand is not as good ire confident at flying as he has been clipped.
just keep trying, a little each day. he wil soon get there. maybe you should try building his confidence in flying first then try with the recall but just remember little step

 

[MarciaLove]

ok how should I build his confidence in flying though?

 

[WharfRat]

as far as free flight goes, I'd be scared to death to do it with Miri outside, ReaRea not so much cause she rarely wants to leave my side. Miri would just cause she's much more adventurous than Rea. Even then I don't think she'd go far and would come back to me, I just ain't gonna risk it at this point. The Zon's and Lani, no way at all

 

[Featheredsamurai]

ok how should I build his confidence in flying though?

Is he already fully flighted? and do you have a completely bird safe room? You could try setting up chairs around the room with treats and toys on them, and he may be tempted to get to them. make one just out of reach so he would have to jump to it(or start even closer if you have too). Try your hardest to set him up for success.

 

[MarciaLove]

yes he is fully flighted and I do have some very bird safe rooms I mean I wouldnt leave him unattended in any but if Im there its ok and thanks for the tip!

 

[noblemacaw]

Because my mini macaws both had a form of heart disease I am very determined to make sure any parrots I now have will get enough exercise to keep them healthy. Along with a proper diet I believe flying is essential to help keep a parrot healthy.

This is why I asked Valentino's breeder to keep him flighted. This is also why I prepared my home to have a flighted bird in it before he came home. Because Valentino if flighted I had to teach him recall and I had to teach him how to fly down to me. Valentino came to me already with some flying skills so recall training was not that difficult with such a confident parrot. How to go about doing recall training with a parrot who does not have a lot of confidence I have learned to build up the confidence in the parrot along with the bond.

If your BBC is tolerant of wearing a harness take him with you on small errands to help expose him to new situations with you being the constant. He will learn to trust you more and will trust you to keep him safe. Doing things little by little should help build his confidence in himself. Once he has more confidence recall training will be much less stressful and he will experience more desire to be with you. Start with short distance like standing right in front of him and have him hop on to you. In time increasing the distance will force him to fly a little bit and with flying practice he will get stronger. I had to do this with my Eclectus because he came to me with no confidence and he was frightened all the time.

I hope you will not give up on your BCC's training. I understand you don't want to stress him out. Just take tiny baby steps and eventually it will get better.

 

[MarciaLove]

thank you! He doesnt mind the harness at all I worked with him for a while so he would allow me to put that on him and I take him outside with me all the time.

 

[sodakat]

I've found that it does depend on what is rewarding to the bird. The birds of mine who want to be with me are easy to teach recall because they want to fly onto me regardless. Teaching them to stay or to leave is harder.

Those who do not care to be on me can learn to fly from one spot to another by placing something of value to them on the spot where you want them to go.

But regardless of what the plan is, the very most important thing, IMO, is to get very, very excited when they do any part of what you ask of them. Praise them over and over. They do understand and are proud when they receive praise.

I don't always want my birds who willingly come to me to be on me. Especially when they are all out and have the same idea. So I will tap on a rope or set up a step stool and tap on that so they will fly there. They "get it" and are tickled when I make a big deal out of it.

 

[WharfRat]

Teaching them to stay or to leave is harder.

Sometimes ReaRea is really hard to get her off of me, she is so clingy it's almost funny. Also why I feel I could take her most anywhere without fear, the one thing that stops me are those sudden noises and idiots that think they can pet her. I love all the birds but it would kill me to lose ReaRea, she is my Godsend that helps keep me sane. I guess it goes without saying that I don't have to use a "reward" to get them to fly to me, they do it regardless.

 

[MonicaMc]

What reward did you try using? And how big or small was it? How long did it take for him to eat it? Is it his favorite reward that he'd do absolutely anything for? Or is it just something he likes?


Rather than trying to teach a flighted recall, perhaps you should work on a regular recall instead? I.E. have him walk to you for a reward rather than stepping up/flying. Once you get the walking part down, you could then work on the walk to and step up? In that way, at least he'd have the idea of it, and from there you could try building up his confidence to flying.

 

[MarciaLove]

I used almond pieces he would do anything for them!!!! Its his favorite he goes crazy for them!! It took him a long time to eat it so I made them smaller and then he didnt want them and I tried bigger ones again and he just dropped them and right after that was when he stopped responding to me.

 

[MonicaMc]

Guess you need to hunt for some new things he loves! I hope you are able to find another treat he loves, since it sounds like he may be a difficult one!


Have you also tried at different times of the day? This may help as well.

 

[Helpthisgrey]

Why do you want to give up after only one session. I am a year into recall training Rosie and she only just started to fly to me, and only when she really wants to be with me.

Rosie is also a rescue, she had been abused by men and someone was going to kill her, luckily the wife found a new home for her with my friends. They gave Rosie a horrible diet, and no toys(not to be mean, they just didn't know better). When I got Rosie she had learned hopelessness, organ failure, calcium deficiency, she would bite women, didn't physically have the strength to perch on your hand without holding on to your shirt with her beak, was a plucker, and she only had months to live if her life continued in the same way.

When I started recall training Rosie I didn't do it the normal way. I started by exercising her, helping her muscles to gain the strength needed to fly. I was forcing her to fly, which may or may not of been the right choice. Normally Rosie only fluttered to the ground if she was startled by a sudden noise, and she would be gasping so loudly everyone in the room could hear. But lets be honest, if we are out of shape we hate running. If we are in shape running is fun. It's the same with flying for a bird, except that flying is their primary source of transportation.

I thought I was not going to be able to recall train Rosie, she was immovable from a stationary object and seemed to hate flying. And because she had been over clipped when I brought her home(13 feathers off each wing) she had a phobia of taking off because she thought she would fall and hit the ground hard. She now takes off if she feels uncomfortable at all and comes to me.

This is a video I made a year ago when I made her fly to a chair. She could only fly one or two times before she was to tired. Doing this helped her to gain muscle.

Rosie Flying - YouTube

And this is a video I took 2 days ago of her recalling perfectly from my friend. And the day after she recalled from a kitchen chair just because she wanted to be with me, not because something was making her uncomfortable(such as my nephew walking towards her, even though a baby gate separates them). And 30 minutes after the chair recall flew after me when I left for a second to find me.

Rosie recalling perfectly! - YouTube

This is after a YEAR of training. It takes a long time but I'll tell you something, Rosie is so much happier now that she does not fear flight and is actually in shape. At this point she is now improving on recall every week.

rosie is so lucky to have you, you guys were destined to meet, and your awesome at training also, good job

 

[Featheredsamurai]

@helpthisgray
Thankyou, for a long time I felt she would never recall but now she has been flying to me so much.

I think we were destined to meet too and training is simple, once you get the basics down it's very easy, all you need is paitence and take every small step as a achievement.

 

[Helpthisgrey]

@helpthisgray
Thankyou, for a long time I felt she would never recall but now she has been flying to me so much.

I think we were destined to meet too and training is simple, once you get the basics down it's very easy, all you need is paitence and take every small step as a achievement.

yeah I went on birdtricks and seen how he tooken care of that abused grey, I learned that small steps make a big difference especially when dealing with birds who have been abused before!