My guys like training. Barney is a lot quicker and more focussed than Madge, but she likes to learn too: just at her own pace.
I got one of those little whiffle balls with a bell inside (NB. Don't leave it in the cage - metal danger from the bell!) Anyway, I'd say 'play ball' and put it right next to Barn. If he touched it with his bill, he got a treat. As time went on, he began pecking at the ball and knocking it along. This got a treat too. I had to put a hula hoop on the table to save myself having to pick up the darned ball every five seconds!
Next, I held my hand out and said 'fetch'. I put my hand right under Barn's beak so that when he dropped the ball, it'd fall into my hand. He got a treat for that, even if it was an accident. No treat for dropping the ball out of my hand. So now, he does 'play ball' and 'fetch'.
Using the same technique as I did for 'fetch', I taught Barn to put ten big plastic beads 'in the bin'. I just handed him the bead and said 'in the bin' while holding it (the bin) under his beak. Treat for dropping it in, no treat for missing. Barney learned all these tricks in less than five minutes. Madge has taken much longer, but she can do them all now too.
When we built our porthole in the kitchen wall, I had to teach the Beaks to 'tunnel' so they could come in and out of the house. That took just one session and the Beaks have been using their tunnel every day with not a single hitch (touch wood). You just hold your treat in the tunnel, say 'tunnel' and wait for the bird to come for the treat. Once he gets the idea, you only need put the treat at the end of the tunnel where he can see it and he'll learn very quickly what 'tunnel' means.
Probably the most important trick you can teach your bird is to fly to you when you call him. If he knows that, then it might help if he ever gets out! You hold your hand close to the bird, but too far away for an ordinary 'step up' and call his name. You wave a treat as an inducement and if your bird's as greedy as mine are, he'll come to your arm for the treat. You simply keep doing this and increase the distance the bird has to come for the treat. I do this exercise at the beginning and the end of every training session with my Beaks. They're very headstrong and only come when there's a treat in view. My hope is that eventually they'll habituate enough to come simply when I call their names.
I'd be interested in learning other tricks to teach my Beaks and would like to know how other owners train. Hopefully, there'll be a lot of replies!
