Quote:
Originally Posted by debelm2
But the other thought is teaching recall. Has anybody had any luck with this? Is it really difficult to do?
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I do recall training with my budgies (only indoors - recalling outdoors is a whole different ballgame) and it is very easy to do! I have a verbal cue of "come here" and I gesture with my hand and then leave my finger outstretched after the gesture. When they fly to me I *immediately* treat them with one nibble from an Avicake and verbal praise. It took me quite a few tries to get the timing down because the timing is important. And you can start from being next to them, even a foot away, showing them the treat so that they know that a reward is involved. Then gradually get further and further back, and I can recall from across the room. I admit that sometimes my training is not consistent and I slack off a lot of the time, so we haven't moved up to recalling from a different room (but they usually follow me anyways). I would try it with my tiel but she is not nearly as food motivated as the budgies are, and I haven't found the perfect treat to train with her yet.
And with flight there usually is a surge in confidence for a few weeks once they realize that they can now come and go as they please, but that does lessen. I read that a lot of people clip during that phase because they believe that their bird will become less tame or not listen as well - it's my opinion that they probably weren't out of the confidence phase.