Budgie Training Techniques

[svolk]

Since recall training has been a hot topic in other threads recently, let's talk about training techniques for budgies - ideas, what has worked, what has not worked, etc. We all know how quick and stubborn they can be

I am very much interested in beginning recall training in the near future - I ordered some clickers today. I especially want to do this with Jerry (and eventually Lulu as well) for a number of reasons:
1) To focus the large amounts of energy he has.
2) To use as a tool to prevent interactions with Lulu since she doesn't like him.
3) In the event that he would, God Forbid, get out of the house, that he may have at least a better chance of returning to us.

About a month ago I attended a seminar by Barbara Heidenreich, who is a well-known parrot trainer and behavior specialist. She specializes in Positive Reinforcement training and she presented various methods on how to achieve better results as to stopping screaming, learning tricks, and so forth. It all made so much sense, but it hasn't really "clicked" in my world, with my 2 small guys, until now.

When Jerry used to pester Lulu we tried to give him Time-outs in his cage where we would take him back to his cage and shut him in for anywhere from 5-30 minutes - and I don't think this worked one bit. We all got frustrated and I don't think we approached the issue with much thought or got any real results.

I have been using Positive Reinforcement training with him in the past week and I can already see the results. Lately he has been reluctant to Step Up from shoulders, he will nip and dance around and hide on your shoulder blades where you can't reach him

I have been using PR by doing the following and it is working wonders:
I try to always have a small sprig of millet hidden in my hand (my preferred treat as they love it and only get it on special occassions). We started working from the shoulders for about 5-10 minutes per night. I offer my finger and say Step Up - if he hides and/or nips and avoids my hand, I pause and count to 3 or 5 (Barabara Heidenreich recommended that Time Outs be for a maximum of 5 seconds). After the pause I offer my hand and give the verbal command again. When he does Step Up, I immediately give verbal praise and offer the millet (he gets only 1 nibble so that we don't overdo it). And it did take me a few times to get my reaction time with the millet to be quick.

That night he was very hesitant to step up from the shoulder for about the first 5-7 tries, but we kept working til he did it about 5 or 6 times in a row.

He gets rewarded like this when he Steps Up from any other odd or compromised spot (like near Lulu), and he is readily doing it. His stepping up from shoulders is already improving greatly, he has only hesitated a couple times this week.

SO - presumably next week, after I get my clickers and read up on the recall training more, I plan to incorporate the clicker first into our step up training as we're doing now, and then to move on to bigger things like the Recall training itself.

[homebird]

Nicely done.
I have to convince my husband not to give him millet all the time - for some reason he must think the poor bird needs his fix, like he needs his cigs. Until I do I can't think of a treat he'd appreciate so well, or one so easy to hold - maybe a Nutriberry?.
I too have been using positive re-enforcement. Patience is a key to getting them to do something. They don't understand that we want them to do it now! I also look away a little & then when I look at him I say come again, as if it didn't happen before. The positive part is only praise I'm afraid, but I lift him up to eye level & tell him he's my sweetheart & I know he loves that word - silly isn't it?
But at least it's fun & it's working.

Maybe we can help re-enforce this, new to me at least, training. I too want to have Laker better trained. I'm very happy to hear you're going to try as well.

[svolk]

I knew you might be interested in doing some of these things, Jac . I don't really know why training hasn't occurred to me sooner, but this seems like the key to a lot of things - our problems with his interactions with Lulu (which is going well at the moment, but I'd like to stay on top of it), curbing any other undesirable behaviors, etc. I guess when I thought of training I thought of specific trick training (waving, etc.), which I know has its benefits, but I haven't been very motivated to do that sort of thing.

Let's talk through how we do on this Recall training thing. I'm very excited about this.

As for treats, even though my guys eat Avicakes and Nutriberries on a daily basis in their food bowls within their cages, they will still eagerly accept them as treats outside of the cage - so that may work for Laker.

[svolk]

I wanted to add that in this past week that we have been doing the positive reinforcement training, this is the first time I've incorporated treats. I've given verbal praise for a lot of things in the past and I can REALLY see that the food is a huge motivator for him. He seems very eager in general, and sometimes when he's on my hand I find him searching my palm to see if he can find any millet So if you can find a good treat to aid with the training, I recommend it based on what I have witnessed with Jerry

[Hayabusa]

Originally Posted by svolk

... after I get my clickers and read up on the recall training more, I plan to incorporate the clicker first into our step up training as we're doing now, and then to move on to bigger things like the Recall training itself.

Just two days ago I taught Pogo to come and land on my finger. He learned to do it in a very short time - probably less than 30 minutes. I would hold my finger out about head high and say "Pogo, come, come ... come here" while ringing a little bell next to my finger that he likes a lot. Well, the first time I did this he looked and looked for about 15 seconds then flew across the room and landed right on my finger. I let him play with the bell for a minute, then put him back on his cage and repeated the exercise. After he did it a few more times with the bell I later tried it without the bell and he came to me! I was really pleased with him. This kind of sounds like recall training to some degree.

I really need to read up on trick training because Pogo seems so interested in trying anything I try to make him do ... I think he'd be easy to train because he's so young and very bonded with me. I almost have him trained to "shake" too. My old Budgie Topaz use to do that really well.

Thanks for the info!

[homebird]

Sarah - I imagine that the training will improve with more than praise as a motivator - kind of like money energizes a teenager I am going to try & get Matthew to lay off the millet - Laker loves it so, that it will help in his 'changed' diet as well.

Hayabusa - Now the bell thing is very interesting! When I first got Laker we tried out all sorts of stuff - to get him to interact with us - he was so standoffish and hand shy. We have a Wild Bird Caller that gets his attention - maybe I could use that as a clicker of sorts - but I'll see if I can find one at one of the stores around here. Laker learned to come pretty quickly - but it was over days & weeks as I recall. He had a lot of issues about hands.

Someone needs a fly time - how appropriate!
May be back - have to share computer time with a 15 year old ...

[svolk]

Hayabusa, that sounds exactly like recall training with positive reinforcement The sound of the bell is a sound that he can associate with a desired behavior and his treat is to play with the bell - a well known budgie favorite Pogo is so bonded to you that I bet he would pick up on new things like that easily.

Jac, Jerry loves millet as well - way back when I first joined this board someone warned me against feeding too much millet because it was very fatty, but then someone else said not to worry that it was a natural "good" fat. I've never really gotten a straight answer as to which it is, so we've just stuck to giving it only as a treat. I believe that seed mixes do tend to have millet in them too.

[homebird]

I've looked into it some more - thanks for the reply Sarah to the food issue - & apparently you have to cut out the food in between breakfast & dinner. I guess you want the extra interest to encourage the training.

As Laker is a mature bird with a history of all seed all the time - I will change this over the next week - every day I'll see if he can do without for longer periods. Today was the first day for this & already he's more responsive - poor guy he probably is confused (& hungry).

For now I let him have more than a few Millet seeds. He is used to having it around to snack on during the day. Of course the Nutriberries are full of Millet.

[svolk]

With my work schedule I don't think I can take food away even more before dinner - but it pretty much is taken away for 2-3 hours before dinner when they come out. But I could slightly cut down the portion that I feed in the morning that is left in their cages throughout the day. I read all the food management posts in the Recall thread and have been thinking about this more and more too.

I'm not going to change feeding the Nutriberries daily, my AV recommends that those and Avicakes be the daily base of their diet in addition to the fresh foods. It is the millet in sprig form that Jerry flips for, but of course we have already established that millet in sprig form is strictly a treat. Before this past week with our training started, I would say Jerry and Lulu only got about an inch of millet total once or twice a week - I would usually feed them a few bites through the bars if I was on my way in or out. And when they see me opening the bag they plaster themselves on the side of the cage

What I do now when I get Jerry out I first get him out and then we go to the millet bag together and he sees me take a small sprig out so he's well aware that it's there But he only gets it as a reward now, of course.

[AbbeyNMommy]

I have always used positive re-inforcement!
It works!
You guys would not believe how easy it is for me to get Abbey in his cage when I need him to go in.

My sister could not believe her eyes!

I just say" Abbey go in your little house, Mommy has to go bye-bye.
Whalla.....He just flies in!

I find the best reward for Mister Abbey is Mommy saying GOOD BOY!