training ?? age matter?

[dreamin_sqaw]

Is there a certain way to train to do tricks? where do I start? Do I tell him verbally over and over what I want him to do during the attempt at training time?

if anyone could pass directions my way that tells me the steps and what to do, it would be great.

Say for example, lift one foot as if waving to me. I just need a lil help to learn basics on training. I don't know the first thing of what to do...

I don't know how old he is. but is age play a factor?

 

[tab_xo]

So put him on a little training stand, then choose which trick you would like to learn!

Easiest is probably shake hands or turn around..


For shaking-

Hold your finger out.. Say 'shake hands'- usually if your bird knows how to step up, it will automatically put its foot on your finger as it tries to step up!

As soon as the foot hits your finger, you reward with a treat, and say good boy!

Do it again, as soon as that first foot hits your finger, treat, good boy!



After he figures out shaking, then waving will be very easy.. You will ask 'wave' and do a command, i wiggle my finger.. but put it like you would shake, and when the bird tries to shake, remove your finger, so they are left holding their foot in mid air..

Treat, good boy!


Turn around, get the treat, say turn around, and do a visual cue, then get the bird to follow the treat around in a circle, he will figure it out after a few practices !

Here are the tricks my bird knows.. I dont use clicker training unlike most.. I just give a treat and say good boy!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y7hr3ZQojc&feature=youtu.be]Fargo the blue and gold macaw training tricks - YouTube[/ame]


Hope all that makes sense, i just woke up so bit exhausted haha

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

thanks tab. I will sure try your directions. Fargo is beautiful !!!

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

oh my Gosh! the somersault is amazing! you have done a great job. I think I need you here....lol

may I ask, what are you using as a treat? Im still trying to find out what Sammy will like. so far nothing I have bought ( actual bird treats) is not something he wants lol peanuts and banana's is all he eats so far as a "praise" food/treat.

 

[tab_xo]

Hahahaha its all very easy! You can definitely do it!


I use pecans, just in little bite size pieces, Fargo loves other treats, but pecans he goes crazy for! Which makes training very easy

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

Tab ,
I just cant stop watching ya video....lol
What method did you use for the somersault? trying to figure out how you got him to go straight under his body to do the roll. only thing hits my mind is you somehow got him to see the treat from behind him, but I don't see how that is possible either.... Im amazed ..
oh today Sammy starting "nudging" under my hand for a rub ( been doing this but,) today he actually starting turning his head from side to side for me to rub his cheeks. lol

 

[tab_xo]

Hahaha it is alot simpler than you would think! It took Fargo 5 training sessions to completely do it by himself!


What i did was show him the treat and hold it between his legs, so he would hold his head down there, then i would kind of roll him over?

And reward!

I flipped him over for the first 2 training sessions, but by the second he was already knowing when i said 'flip' that he had to stick his head between his legs!

Then i was still helping him put his head between his legs, but he was going over all by himself!!

Then the 5th training session he did it all by himself with no help!

First time:



Further progress without me flipping him over:


Then videos from the beginning:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPzMGUNE70"]Fargo somersault training 1 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SqsZNLv3Os"]Fargo somersault training 2 - YouTube[/ame]

Here are the 2 threads i made about it!
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/32838-another-trick.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/33124-somersaulting-photos-video.html

 

[MonicaMc]

Age doesn't matter when it comes to training birds, but birds who are more food motivated are often easier to train than birds that aren't food motivated. That said, food doesn't have to be the only reward! It could be praise, scritches, a favorite toy, maybe even going somewhere!

 

[Urgula]

My amazon loves human food, so to train 'come here' I just get a bowl of human food (like rice with veggies) and he's interested.
I fed him from the spoon a couple of times each time lowering it, so Tihan would come down from his cage more and more while I was saying 'come here'.
Now when he sees me with food, he walks by himself, so I say 'come here' give him a piece of food and put him back, so he has to walk again.
Tihan is 6 years old and he's used to train people to do what he wants, so I consider that as a progress. I think I can get him to walk on voice command soon.

The easiest training is potty training. You just watch ur bird and when they are 'nervous', get him to your hand while holding above of a trash can and say 'poop' and shake slightly.
The bird will hold it, so you have to say 'poop' until he does go.

After a couple of times he will get it and as soon as you get him off the shoulder above a transhcan while slightly shaking, he will poop.

I don't give food reward for potty training (it's just weird feeding them for pooping)

It's the easiest one because no bird wants to poop on you unless they hate you.


I also trained the 'boobs' command with my lovebird.
They naturally love to live under your shirt, so each time, Barankin would run under my shirt, I would say 'boobs'. Now when I pull my shirt and say boobs, Barankin leaves everything he does in the moment and flies into my decolte. It makes everybody laugh, but you may not be interested in this one if you're not a female and have a large bird.
Sorry if this trick is slightly unappropriate. :30:

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

That boobs trick is so funny.....lol Sammy is a little big for that for sure.... But I can only imagine the funny stuff going through your visitors heads lol lol

I was worried about the age in training because I have no idea how old Sammy is. I cant find a breeder that uses the band info on his band. I have googled breeders in WA but still no luck. He is in a new home with me and I didn't want to over burden him with not knowing age or his past history with other owners. On a good note, he is really doing great with me. but only me. He is my first parrot and I am still learning but I am no longer nervous with him at all. maybe he feels this. At first I was, because of not knowing how he would react because I didn't know how he was treated before. He is so comfortable now that he will lay on my lap on command for the most part with a simple "lay down" and let me rub his head and down his back.
He is learning new words, "come here" that I used while on top of his cage, I never try to retrieve him from the very top, that is his space, but I command him to "come here" to the lower side of the cage before picking him up. Now, he yells "come here" and walks on down to my hand. I think we are making great progress together.
Im still nervous about taking him outside. but I do stand and hold him in front of the door for him to look out and hear the outdoor sounds.
We will be a continual work in progress and I love it!!!

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

We did it !!!! Our first trick!!!!

Sammy will now give you a " high five" !!!!

Thanks everyone for the advice and help !

 

[Calace]

Congrats! That's awesome!

Tab, Fargo is amazing! You do such a super job with him!

 

[Urgula]

> That boobs trick is so funny.....lol Sammy is a little big for that for sure.... But I can only imagine the funny stuff going through your visitors heads lol lol

It's funnier at summer when I trow partys by the pool. Barankin tries to get into my swimbra and screams nervously because he can only stick his head in.
That's a killer one. My friends call him a 'true man'.


It looks like you've achieved much more with Sammy, than me with Tihan.

Age does matter, but it does not mean that you can't teach an old parrot a new trick.
I find harder train parrots that I didn't raise. I find they always come spoiled.

I love Tihan, but I do regret not getting a baby amazon or baby macaw.
Someone offered to trade a baby zon for Tihan (for reproduction), but I could not do it. Still, I would not have training difficulties with a baby and the bonding would be better, which directly affects training.

Tihan hates kleenex, but I still managed to get him clean his beak with a paper towel after eating something messy. The trick is to not force him, so he will put his beeack into the paper towel, so you can clean it. He hates it, but still does it.

The top of the cage is another storry. I actially have to grab him with both hands when I want him to go to my shoulder.
If I don't make him step up when he does not want to, he tries to act dominant afterwards and will bite. If I grab him, Mr Tihan realises maybe he's not that dominant.

In my case, I have to break his bubble, because he will only sit in the cage and chew his chest feathers.

Once I've bring him out to my garden in summer. He has jumped of my shoulder to the grass pretending he can fly and marched home while making grumpy sounds

I wounder if tab_xo is Fargos first human or if she got him 'old'. I would love to be able to achieve the same thing with Tihan.

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

Murg,

Im not to experienced with parrots but this may help you with the cage top biting .....
I didn't want to make Sammy cage aggressive, so after all my reading to learn about parrot's I started doing this. And it works like a charm.

I decided I didn't just want him trained for tricks for my entertainment, I also wanted his behavior and trust trained. So when he would start going to the top of the cage Vs coming to me when I approached the cage for "Sammy time" ( cage is taller than me, didn't want him thinking it made him boss by looking down on me) I started the "come here" ( which he now says) and would stand at the side of the cage for him to walk down to me. Then give a peanut. that's working for me great so far. If he flips to go back up the cage, I simply say " ok no treat" and let me see/hear me putting the treat away from his cage but I keep it in his sight, and I walk away. After a few minutes I go back, stand on low side of cage again, and I lay my hand on the cage and with my finger extended for him to step on, not holding it in the air though just laying on the cage. when he starts coming down again, I start saying again, "come here" "come see me "I talk to him the whole time he is coming down the cage. It works, he see's I can walk away at anytime and when I go, the treats go. lol sounds mean, but don't sound as painful as a bite! lol

I have gotten so much advise and help from the great folks here at the forum and I hope this may help you and I can give back a little.

now from my understanding from the hours of studying, if you are having to grab him from the cage it will make him more aggressive with you while he is on the cage. Coax him first with treat and talking to him. give it a few days to see if he will work this out for you. I never push Sammy to leave his cage, its his HOME after all, I just try to find the right "tools" to bribe him into listening to me and climbing down and leaving the attitude on top. lol

also, I would keep holding him for a minute then place him on a perch on the outside of the cage that is lower than your height, then treat. keep doing this for a few days and do it a lot. He will see you are only gonna give a treat then return him, he should want to come see you a lot easier that way. That's what has been working with me and I cant complain, only had him two weeks and he was cage bound for the past 16 months, and he is trying his best to do what I ask.
hope this helps you

 

[Urgula]

dreamin_sqaw,

Thats exactly what I'm doing, but he comes only to get food and does not want to step up.
As soon as he does not see food, he gets 'bossy'

I actially plan to get on floor perch and simply remove the cage from Tihans sight on the weekends. Maybe it will help unbound from the cage.
If Tihan tries to fly an falls, he will just stan there waiting to be picke up.
He won't walk. Tihan does not seem to realise he can use the wold around the cage.

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

Urgula,

have you tried getting him on ya hand and then offer the treat? I would try that in this way.....

Get him on your hand , praise him, give treat that he likes, then place him back on cage. Keep repeating this. Just be sure he is able to see the treat everytime. this way he can see the reward is there ONLY AFTER he gets to your hand. May be helpful to give me one when you return him to the cage top as well. but after he is doing good with this , back off of the treat on the cage top. Just reward on ya hand. give him a little time to get used to it, a couple of days anyways.

I have learned so much from the all night reads and the help him on this forum. So far, I have not been steered wrong either. Another thing I wanted to ask, Do you pick him up to put in the cage at bedtime? He may think that if he is picked up it is only to put him to bed and he is being locked in the cage. Sammy used to hate "bedtime" and would get grumpy. So I started picking him up and just talked to him a minute, put him back onto the top of the cage. Then pick up again, and walk him around the house and then put him to bed. The whole time I just kept repeating," Now, moma is the boss, you have to be good and listen to get treats " lol (My husband laughed the whole time too. lol But hey, momma won the battle.. lol ) I didn't want him thinking that I only pick him up for "lock down" ....I hope this will help.

Now the best treat for Sammy is a lil sweet water. I drink Mountain dew, when he see's me green bottle he goes crazy.....(whoever had him before must have allowed him to drink soda) so I used that in my favor.... I put a lil sweet water into the drink cap, Wahhh-Lahhhh! instant success !



I have learned so much and I hope I can help someone back in return.

We are now doing the "potty training" and he is doing great. He lets me know he has gotta go by lifting wings and looking to the cage. He is doing so good. This will make two accomplishment this week alone. Yippee !!!

Bout forgot to ask, But is his cage taller that you? From what I have learned so far, if they can look down at you from the cage they use that as power to be boss. My cage top slants on either side, so I stand at one side of the cage and just lay my hand on it repeating " come here" he will now walk down to be to be lifted from the cage. Get him to at least eye level if you can. the whole time be very cheerful and happy with ya tone. ( as if talking to a baby)

 

[MonicaMc]

Fargo was an "unwanted" macaw... but he was a *young* "unwanted" macaw. Two people were going to buy him and both backed out. Fargo was 7 months old and a "hassle" when Tab got him.

Tab wanted him. Tab has done wonders with him. She trained him. Those "stupid little tricks" aren't just for human entertainment! They are to keep the birds entertained as well! And it gives the bird something to *DO* other than sitting on your shoulder or hand looking pretty... it can help to create trust, therefore creating a bond.

What two people missed out on, Tab got in return a hidden treasure.

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/26716-macaw-stories-2.html#post222624

Height dominance doesn't exist in parrots. This means that parrots aren't trying to be your boss when they are above you. If a parrot finds it more rewarding to be up high than be down low, then you have not given them a big enough reward to come down.

I can place both of my conures above my head - in fact, using a step ladder I can place them on top of the cabinets in the kitchen where I otherwise could not reach! And both will fly down off the counters to me! This was not trained.

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

Awesome. Thanks to all. I learn something here everyday.