How do u do 'CLICKER TRAINING'? (what is it?)

[ParakeetLover92]

How do u do 'CLICKER TRAINING'? (what is it?). I have herd birds have fun with it.. and i want to try it on my Parakeet. Can some one tell me what it is and how to do it?

[Monica]

You might want to look into Dog Clicker Training to get the idea of what it's all about. Basically, you try to teach your pet to do a specific behavoir. If you see them do that, then you immediately 'click' and reward with a treat. Your budgie will need to accept some treat out of your hand for the full affect of clicker training to work.

You want to make sure that you click right after they do the desired behavoir, and reward, though you don't want to rush it, either. If you wait to long to click then they may not understand what they are suppose to be doing...

[LivingFiction]

The clicker is a very effective way of bridging. You start out by getting your budgies favorite treat, like spray millet (most budgies I know would sell their mothers for that stuff). You take the clicker in your hand and click it, then give them a bite of the millet. Wait until they are finished eating, then click again and give them a bite. What you are doing, is teaching your budgie that whenever it hears the click, it is going to get a treat. Until this is established in the budgie's mind, you can't move forward, but once it is, then your training will often move quickly. Here's why.

The challenge in pet training, especially birds is to get them not only to do the behavior you want them to do, but to get them to understand what exactly it is they have done that is the desired behavior. You can click much faster than you can say "good bird" and you don't need two hands like you do to clap. So you can click at the instant your bird does what you want it to do, and it now knows that it will get a treat. This helps your bird to quickly identify what the desired behavior is. It is also effective because it is an unusual sound, whereas praise and speaking sweetly to our birds is hopefully something we do often.

[Vankarhi]

I have just started clicker training Skye and so far she retrieves the ball, puts a block in a container and targets to a knitting needle (first thing to teach them - apparently). i am now teaching her to turn around then going to try a wave and then a shake hands. I have become a member of "birdclick" on the internet and bought a book and read it. Try birdclick they have fully qualified instructors/trainers. Wendy has trained all animals including dolphins and birds.

[Topher]

Originally Posted by Vankarhi

I have become a member of "birdclick" on the internet and bought a book and read it. Try birdclick they have fully qualified instructors/trainers...

umm, is it www.birdclick.com, birdclick.net, etc...?

[Vankarhi]

It is Bird-Click@yahoogroups.com

[Freedomoflight]

I am clicker training with my caique to- I also belong to the Bird-Click yahoo group. Although I do not train as constistantly as I should, it is very effective, and he has already learned several behaviors.

[Mamamull]

http://www.clickersolutions.com/interviews/pryor.htm
http://www.clickertraining.com/home/

These are two links to the two of the best spots for clicker information that I have found.

Karen Pryor has worked with a plethora of animals from dolphins to elephants -- domestic and zoo animals. Her book "Don't Shoot the Dog" has got to be the best book I have read in years -- not just on training, but about animals their amazing minds.

Clicker training is a precision form of marking behavior -- I have heard it said that it is surgically precise. If you look at marking a behavior for a non-verbal mind, the clicker is actually a better choice than a word. For the animal we are basically taking a snapshot of the behavior -- or step toward a desired behavior. I remember my mentor telling me "the clicker is like a camera" it took this slow a human a little while to process what she meant.

When you really learn that clicker training helps you shape behviors to get what you want and then.... when your bird learns that it can offer behaviors to get a reward life gets even more fun.

Take the chance. It is worthwhile, just a 5-10 minute training time a couple times a day -- depending on your bird's ability to concentrate on the work at hand (I know they can concentrate for longer periods of time when they are hungry, lonely and bored) but work is work and try to always end on a positive note.

My dog never wants training to stop since we stop at a high point and usually with a jackpot reward.

good luck,
Denise

[Vankarhi]

sorry, try this link

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/

the other one I gave is just an email address.