“Spare the rod and then spoil the child!”

Take that saying as the opposite what is meant by most folks, and you’ve got seriously the best advice you can take if you ever want to win the trust of a rehomed parrot… She needs to be a bit spoiled for a bit. 🙂

Spare that rod–no negative reinforcement; praise for what you want, don’t scold for what you don’t. Spoil the child–shower her with treats whenever you need her to associate wonderful things with a person or place!

Check it–when Vi waddled over to see what we were eating, I decided to take her upstairs to the big bird stand again and keep her there longer while I graded to see how she’d tolerate it.

She LOVED it.

Once again, she didn’t want to step up to go home (one hour later…) but I wouldn’t let her bully me into it and insisted she step up (with a closed fist turned towards her so she’d have less to grip if she DID bite hard). Success!

Going on two months without a single chomp. Will wonders never cease?

Positive reinforcement works well with parrots – wait for them to show interest and capitalize on opportunities as they present themselves.