Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / May 2004

I do "buy into" the behavior modification techniques from which clicker
training evolved.  When the desired response isn't gotten from the bird,
there is no reward.  And sometimes birds don't respond in the way that, say,
a golden retriever does.  It's one of those "nature of the beast" things.
Have you watched live bird shows where the birds sometimes simply don't do
what they're asked?  The trainers just go on to the next thing because,
well...they don't really have a choice :).

BUT, that's the bad news.  If your reward is sufficient, the lack of
response should happen less and less.  If your reward isn't more important
to the bird than what she's already doing, you will expect this sort of
response more often.  I had a cockatiel that would turn backflips
(figuratively, not literally <G>) for a piece of cooked rice but I doubt I
could even get him to look up for anything else.  It's all in the "t" part
of the c/t (click/treat) equation.

Hope that helps :).

NEW BOARD!!  http://www.featherforum.com (referrer - chiaowl)

Training birds and training dogs simply cannot be compared. Dogs are pack
animals which have dominant dogs or the head of the pack which *must* be
obeyed for the general survival of the pack. This is not the case with
birds. If you ask a dog to do something it knows how to do, you cannot "let
her be" if it disobeys or is disinclined to obey because this means that you
actually lose your position as pack leader and allow the dog to decide when
it wants to obey . This is very bad in dogs because it can lead to dominant
issues like aggression.
Birds can be trained to act one way and follow simply requests (not
commands) but if they don't feel inclined, that is that. It isn't in their
genetic make up to obey a pack leader without question because in a flock of
birds, there is not one dominant bird who decides where the flock should
fly, what it should eat, when it should eat etc.
Training a bird and respect are not always things which go together. I have
trained some of my birds to do little tricks for my own and their amusement,
however sometimes they might nip me. I have no idea if they 'respect' me and
no idea whether 'respect' is something they would recognise in any case. I
do not demand obedience from my birds as I do from my dogs.
If you want unquestioning, immediate response and 'respect etc, you need to
get a dog or some other creature used to pack heirachy and not an
independant minded parrot who might have some affection towards you but will
not hesitate to bite you if he is feeling grumpy or hormonal. Never forget
that your pet parrot has not got thousands of years domestication behind it.
They are still wild animals of which we understand very little. Trying to
train like a dog and demanding instant blind obedience, will result in your
frustration and the bird's unhappiness as it feels your disapproval for not
performing on command as you expect it to do.
Have you read:
--
'Guide to companion parrot behaviour'
'My parrot my friend'
'Guide to a well behaved parrot'
'Birds for dummies'
'Guide to companion parrot behaviour'

If not, I recommend that you do.

"They?"

Birds are not Dogs. They can be trained to do things to a certain extent,
but at the end of the day, birds are more independant creatures than dogs,
and so if they don't feel like doing something, they won't.
Sounds to me like you wish to have total control of this bird. Respect is a
concept that is beyond the scope of a parrot's psyche. Maybe you should get
a dog.