First of all, you shouldn't EVER use any type of harness/leash/tether/chain that attaches to a parrot's legs or feet!!! As already mentioned above, Parrots are not anatomically at all the same as Raptors and other bird's of prey are, they don't have the muscle or bone structure that the Raptors do, and when they are tethered by anything around their feet/ankles/legs, they almost always end-up yanking their hip, knee, or ankle joints apart!!! So with any Parrot you always want to use a harness that goes around their body, and the Aviator Harnesses seem to be the safest and the most efficient harnesses available by-far. I've yet to see a harness that is more secure or that is safer for the bird than the Aviator Harnesses are...I know that a lot of people get impatient and frustrated because of the amount of time it takes to harness-train a parrot with a harness that goes around their body, so they just give-up and buy a leash/lead/tether that they can just put around their ankles or legs and go 'Wow, that was easy!", but I guarantee that if you do that it's going to end badly for one reason or another...
Now, as far as the harness-training goes, obviously it's more difficult to train an adult parrot to accept one than it is a young, baby parrot who starts harness-training while they are still being hand-fed...But it's absolutely possible to harness-train an adult bird, regardless of their age, and it happens all the time. I cannot tell you how many people who have adopted an adult bird from the Rescue I work at that has never, every been harness-trained or even worn a harness, bring them back in to the Rescue for a visit months later, and they bring the bird back in sitting on their shoulders and wearing an Aviator Harness!!! And I'm talking about abused, neglected birds like Cockatoos, Macaws, Amazons, etc. with huge beaks and who can snap a broomstick in half if they want to...It just takes time and a LOT of patience on yoru part...
***Sometimes I find that a lot of people skip the step of allowing the Aviator Harness to first sit near or on their bird's cage or playstand/T-stand for a few weeks before they ever start actually trying to get the bird's head through the loop. Instead they just start-out the harness-training by working every day to get their head through the loop. I really think most of the time you'll be much more successful if you start-out by allowing your bird to become accustom to their Aviator Harness being near them and actually having it sitting in/on their "territory" for a few weeks before you ever start the actual training. That way they know what it is, they know it's not going to hurt them, and their fear of the Aviator Harness is usually either completely gone, or is at least much less than it is if you just show it to them for the first time and then start touching them with it. I know I've had people who actually hang their bird's Aviator Harness inside of their cages, like it's a toy or something, and they allow them to chew on it (sometimes having to buy a second, duplicate Aviator Harness the same color as the first one to actually start training with). Not only does this help with eliminating their fear of the Harness itself, but it also helps with the other major issue with harness-training them, and that is them chewing on it constantly once you actually get them to accept putting it on the entire way...Since they've been chewing on the thing in their cages for weeks or even just looking at it and living with it inside of their cages, they don't really feel the need to start ripping it apart...
I have never had issues getting my guys to accept putting the Aviator Harnesses on, that happens pretty quickly, usually over the span of a month or two...But once they get the Harness on them, both Kane and Bowie don't even pay attention to the fact that they're outside or in the pet store or riding in the car, etc., instead they don't EVER lift their heads from chewing on the damn things...Bowie drives me insane every single time we go out, he willingly puts the Harness on, no issues at all, and he loves to go out and have people make a fuss over him, and he loves to go hiking out in the woods by the stream...HOWEVER, that little jerk is on a mission to chew through his Harness, I swear he cares more about that than anything else when he has it on...Kane has gotten over that and has no issues with wearing it at all, and he takes full-advantage of being out and about and he loves it..And Lita, my Quaker, is the same way, she will chew on it or fuss with it a bit when we're still inside of the house, but as soon as we go outside she forgets all about the Harness being on her...But Bowie just won't let it go!!! I swear I'm going to sew the thing on him...
