Quaker Screaming and Behavioral Changes

Hi Laura & Max. It's a difficult situation, especially when the noise is constant. Bonnie does a squawking noise every 2 seconds when she sees my husband outside through the window (e.g., if he takes the rubbish out or does some gardening). When one of us is in the room she is USUALLY not too noisy, just the normal cute 'barking' noises and other sound effects. Sometimes she screeches really loudly but it's only when she sees a dog or cat outside, or people walking past the house.

I remember that when I created the other thread (about squawking driving us nuts) the noise was worse and it took maybe 6 weeks to settle down. It could be just that Max has had a couple of major changes in a relatively short time. If you and your husband can ignore the noise for a couple of weeks longer without reacting to it, hopefully Max will realise that he's still important to both of you...we found that getting mad (my husband was yelling at Bonnie for a couple of weeks) just made it worse. All I did was say 'no' calmly, then didn't respond in any way to the unwanted behaviour after that. I didn't even look in her direction, as she was watching me closely for eye contact! As soon as she was quiet for a minute I told her what a good girl she was, etc. (so, positive reinforcement). Hope this helps - let us know how you go.