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I'm sure this will seem hard to believe but my CAG learned the wolf and "you who" whistle when he was only four months old. He learned them a week apart. I then began teaching him to whistle the Colonel Boogie and he picked up the first eight notes over a couple weeks more. We just listened to it on YouTube a couple times a day while I whistled along. He really enjoys whistling.
The first word he uttered was "What" at five months. He didn't speak his second word until six weeks later and from there he has been non stop. His vocabulary is very, very unusual for a young CAG. He now learns at the pace of a couple new words or phrases per week. Here is a list of his vocabulary so far (in the order he learned them):
What?
Step Up
JoJo (name of one of my Senegals)
What are you doin'?
Hello birdie
Lolly (name of my other Senegal)
Oh little birdie
You're OK
Be nice
Be quiet
Come here
Get over here
Hey! Don't Bite!
No Biting!
He's working on something else now, but I can't make it out yet. He usually does mumbling of something new for a couple days before he spits it out. I think he practices until it sounds right to him. The first day or two that he gets it right he does nothing else that day but repeat that word and throw in one or two of the others he knows. It seems like he is so proud of himself that he wants to hear himself say the new thing over and over and over. It is quite fun actually.
I have never "taught" him to talk in the traditional sense of teaching. He just picks up the things we say to him and the things we say to the other birds. I think he just likes those with the most emphasis and what appeals to him. He has just begun to put things together and make little sentences. He'll say, "Step-up JoJo" and "Be nice little birdie" and a few other things like that. Funny that he still hasn't learned to say his name. Maybe he doesn't like it. lol He is a riot to listen to.
He is such a joy and a really smart bird too. It has been a delightful surprise. I wasn't expecting him to talk until he was around a year old, if he ever talked at all. In fact, I didn't get him because I thought he would talk. I just got him because I loved him so much.
I got Ozzy when he was just six weeks old, but I didn't bring him home until he was weaned. I did visit him every day or so during that time just to build a relationship with him. It was great because he didn't have any trauma or fear during the transition phase into my home because of all the time I spent with him. I think that was a key element. Also, you should know that I am home all the time, so he has LOTS of time with me and is only caged an average of four hours a day (if that). Well, other than sleeping of course. I don't know if that makes much difference, but I'm sure the extra time he spends with me and the other birds helps too.
Anyway, that was a very long answer to the question and if you stuck with my story then I appreciate your patience.
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