training?

[greencinacheeks]

So i bought a training DVD by Barbara Heidenreich. Anyone else watched it? It's called Parrot Behavior & Training (introduction to training part 1).

And my Green Cheek (Tyreal) has been having 20 min. training sessions daily. he has grasped "targets" and just today has grasped the "wave"!!! i shake my finger a few (5-6)inches in front of him and he picks up his claw and kinda shakes it a bit!!!! now here is my question. how long do i keep training this behavior before moving to something new? 2-3 session perhaps? any advice or training techniques that have worked for you i would to here about!!!thanks
Nate &Tyreal

[PowerBBS]

Well I don't know that DVD but I can say what works for us.

First we setup a staging area for training. An area away from the sight of the cage and other attractions with a perch and a small bowl of treats that can be quickly consumed by your fid (we use rice crispies).

We spend 15 to 20 mins daily working with training our birds and then let them be for the day as birds can get bored of an activity fast. This routine keeps our birds interested and actually has a couple of them get excited when we get them to the "traiing area" as they think of it as treat time - even though it's really learn "trick" time.

We get our birds to learn tricks in the staging area and typically don't move onto another trick until they perform them willingly outside the staging area. Basically when they can do it all amongst distraction like the cage or the tv or other people.

We continually work on a trick until it's perfected as well. Basically we can say "shake" and he'll bring up his foot and await our finger, rather than us putting up our finger first. We try hard to get our birds to respond to just voice commands rather than a physical one. It's just so entertaining to hear the guy on TV say, "Am I too good to shake your hand..." and see our fid(s) raise their their foot to be shaken, or hear "Bye, bye" on the tv and have them pick up a foot and waive it. Or my favorite is "We've got to turn around and go back..." and see our fids do turns on their playgym.

Some people use clickers as well. Where a certain type of trick is performed and acknowledge with the clicker. The clicker scares our fids so we couldn't/don't use it.

Sorry I couldn't give you a time, but I did suggest a sign for you to look for before moving onto another trick. Get them to perform it on command without treat away from the training area amongst distraction. Typically this is only about 3 to 4 days after you've got them perfecting it inside the staging area.

Hope that helps. I'm sure others have even better/more suggestions as well.