is a clicker necessary for training?

[alkandery]

is a clicker necessary for training ?
or i can jest say like good and give the treat

[NotEnoughTime]

Short answers... No and Yes.

A few comments:

Clickers are cheap. Easy to carry and easy to have available for training.

Clickers are easier for a bird to hear and you can time the click much better than saying a word (which also may get lost in conversation and/or other noise)... But... There is no major difference between a clicker and a word when doing "clicker training."

One big problem with a word, though, is that we will use it and not remember to give a treat for the word. With clicker training you are trying to get the bird's mind to equate a click with a treat. click=treat. So if you use the word good you want to get the equation in the bird's mind. "good"=treat

This involves a lot of consistancy - it is easy to say "good girl" or "good boy" and not give a treat - but that reduces the effectiveness of the word "good." By clicking we remember much more easily to give a treat for the click.

But... this being said... There is no real difference what thing you combine with the treat to make the equation. Hand signals can work quite well too (it's just the bird must be able to see you to follow the signals)...

[LovelySydney]

My painted conure does well with me saying "good boy!" and giving it a pet on the back (a lot of birds wont let you do this though). I am going to use clicker training once everyone is settled in (i got my parrotlet in quarantine right now). I like clicker training - like the above poster said, its one single noise that they learn rather quickly and its really easy for them to pick up on (most of the time). Good luck!!

[Ashling]

The answer is no, it is not necessary. It may make things faster or easier (then again it may not). I have never used a clicker and I have some very well trained animals that talk and do tricks (my dog also talks and does tricks!)
I think that clickers get great results though, if you can get one I'd say you should. The sound is more consistant than a "good boy" or "good girl" or a "YES!" (Which is what I use).
It is doable, but probably easier for the animal's mind with a clicker.

[failurebydesign]

A clicker is sooooo wonderful trust me you will want it!
Especially if you want to do trick training, like wave, spread wings, etc.

But honestly to me the most important thing to teach a bird is touch, which they will come to touch whatever you designate as a touch tool.

It is a bridge to alot of behaviors a bird can do.

This can help when you need them out of their cage, when you want them to fly to you, and it is a building block for general learning and problem solving.

It will be the best 5$ you have ever spent trust me,
the hardest thing about it is teaching yourself the proper timing to trick, and treat.
It's harder than it sounds to get the right rhythm!

I have trained many dogs with this, and before I knew about the clicker it was so much harder and took so much longer to train the more difficult tasks.

The clicker helps build a strong learning curve because the parrot/dog/other animal knows exactly the point they do right. It's a communication tool that makes it easier for both human and animal alike.

[alkandery]

thanks all
i will get clicker and start training