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Post by pidgesmum on Jan 2, 2018 20:27:17 GMT -5
I've just had to trim my Pidge's feathers and he has changed from a cheeky, noisy, talkative bird to almost dead silence. It's been a fortnight now and I hope he gets his confidence back but not his aggression.
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Post by PaScuba on Jan 8, 2018 15:28:23 GMT -5
A lot of great advise here. Here is one thing to keep in mind when working/playing/training your QP (does she have a name?) Three rules of training:
1. You/people can't get hurt. 2. The animal can't get hurt. 3. Leave the animal in a calmer state then when you started. When I read that you were happy that you got bit - I was shocked (refer to rule 1)
Getting you new fid (feathered/furred kid) to include you in her flock requires trust. Remember - you are a giant predator - who eats birds. (Assuming that your not a vegetarian). But most humans do. So it is natural for birds to be afraid of predators, of which you are one. To overcome this fear the fid needs to learn that she can trust you. It's also true for humans working with fids - we must trust that the fid will not hurt us. I admit I have too many scars on my fingers, hands, feet, and ears. But I have had to work with some very abused animals in a short period of time - and it was always my fault when I get hurt.
Patience is your best friend when it comes to training. And you are ALWAYS training. QP's have exceptional hearing, so don't talk bad about your fid in your house - because she'll know. Kidding aside - always think of your bird with love in your heart. She will eventually catch on. I also suggest clicker training as one tool to help speed up the process. It allows you to use baby steps to learn even the most complicated of behaviors. And it also makes it fun for the animal.
When you treat your QP for good behavior (ie. stepping up on your finger - is a behavior) She will enjoy getting the treat. But treats can also be in the form of happy, uplifting praise (Wow - good girl!!!); giving a scritch; or things that you two will develop over time. (Lola (QP) loves to put her beak between my thumb and index finger and have me shake her head back and forth while growling. That emulates my playing tug-of-war with Cookie (Cocker Spaniel). She jumps around and calls cookies name while cookie and I play. To me, that behavior tells me that Lola likes to watch and then to play tug-of-war with me.
Hope this helped a little. Have a Great day today and a better one tomorrow. Remember that 10 minutes of training today will bring hours of joy later.
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Post by amande on Jan 10, 2018 19:12:40 GMT -5
A lot of great advise here. Here is one thing to keep in mind when working/playing/training your QP (does she have a name?) Three rules of training: 1. You/people can't get hurt. 2. The animal can't get hurt. 3. Leave the animal in a calmer state then when you started. When I read that you were happy that you got bit - I was shocked (refer to rule 1) Getting you new fid (feathered/furred kid) to include you in her flock requires trust. Remember - you are a giant predator - who eats birds. (Assuming that your not a vegetarian). But most humans do. So it is natural for birds to be afraid of predators, of which you are one. To overcome this fear the fid needs to learn that she can trust you. It's also true for humans working with fids - we must trust that the fid will not hurt us. I admit I have too many scars on my fingers, hands, feet, and ears. But I have had to work with some very abused animals in a short period of time - and it was always my fault when I get hurt. Patience is your best friend when it comes to training. And you are ALWAYS training. QP's have exceptional hearing, so don't talk bad about your fid in your house - because she'll know. Kidding aside - always think of your bird with love in your heart. She will eventually catch on. I also suggest clicker training as one tool to help speed up the process. It allows you to use baby steps to learn even the most complicated of behaviors. And it also makes it fun for the animal. When you treat your QP for good behavior (ie. stepping up on your finger - is a behavior) She will enjoy getting the treat. But treats can also be in the form of happy, uplifting praise (Wow - good girl!!!); giving a scritch; or things that you two will develop over time. (Lola (QP) loves to put her beak between my thumb and index finger and have me shake her head back and forth while growling. That emulates my playing tug-of-war with Cookie (Cocker Spaniel). She jumps around and calls cookies name while cookie and I play. To me, that behavior tells me that Lola likes to watch and then to play tug-of-war with me. Hope this helped a little. Have a Great day today and a better one tomorrow. Remember that 10 minutes of training today will bring hours of joy later. Hi! This advice is amazing, thank you! The only reason I was 'happy' to get bitten was because I was very apprehensive before hand and didn't know what to expect. Now I do IF it were to happen again. I would just rather know what it's like if that makes sense. Funny that your QP is called lola. That's my jack Russell's name 😊😊 my QP is called Baby. (Not the best name I know but we all couldn't really agree lol). I would love to try clicker training as I have heard people mention this before but I wouldn't know where to start as i've never tried it before... is there somewhere I can read up on how it works etc? Is so, that would be a sooo helpful! The thing that's slowing me down is that she really doesn't like my dad... He's the one that got her, put her in the cage, clipped her wings etc so she really sees him as a threat and whenever he is in the room she just freezes really and he is in a lot so this is quite difficult as he actually bought her but I've become her friend as she trusts me a lot more. Thank you so much for your help though and any other advice is always greatly appreciated! She's not my first parrot, I had an African Grey for years but she is my first QP. |
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Post by PaScuba on Jan 10, 2018 21:30:28 GMT -5
No problem with the advice -- that's why I studied from so many people. I love to watch the fids learn. They are all so amazing. Especially birds - they are better than the best comedy shows on tv. At least they keep me intertained. I'm not sure how the copyright laws work on YouTube, so I won't post any videos here. But I will say that Karen Pryor is one of the best, one of if not the first clicker trainer. Now - she talks mostly about dogs, but the principles are the same. The reason the clicker is, IMHO, the best tool for training is that you click at the instant the bird does the behavior and you can reword after. That lets your fid know the exact moment you were looking for. It takes practice to get really good at it - but the end justifies the hard work. Most all of the fids I've worked with are very tollerant with my mistakes.
Once you've got some training time under your belt, if your dad wants, you can clicker train Baby to not be afraid of him. We have all had to do things that stresses our fids and sometimes it feels like a complete set back. My fid will never forgive me, I'll be hated for the rest of my life. Believe me when I say that almost all fids forgive us much faster then we forgive them for a blood drawn bite, or cracking a bone, a bite to the face, neck, or ear. Remember that TRUST is at the top of the list for things to have. It takes patience and a lot of it, to get over some of these set backs. Trust is earned - it doesn't just happen.
Just remember to keep the sessions to not more than 10 - 15 minutes. Give 'em a break and then start again. Watch your fids behavior, if they look like they are no longer interested then stop. Just always stop with a CT for a behavior they know how to do, so the end of the session is on a happy note.
There are many good videos on the internet and there are some bad ones too. If you watch many - you'll soon notice which ones are good and which are bad.
Hope this helped a little. Have a Great day today and a better one tomorrow. Remember that 10 minutes of training today will bring hours of joy later.
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