Detailed accounts of teaching an older, larger parrot to step up.
…And I want to rename her “Viola”, even though she knows her name and a chorus of “Hi Louie!” and “Hi Waddles!” is echoing back and forth between my main floor and my basement. We met Samantha (the grey) as well, but the other woman decided to brave her fears and take her home. It’s a coin toss over whether or not the grey will … Continue reading Step Up Training, Day One: Waddles has arrived!
What to do in the early days of new parrot ownership of an older bird. Patience and ambient attention is important. Continue reading Step Up Training, Day Two: Venturing Out of the Cage
Day Three – The Bird Calls the Kitty Okay. How UNBELIEVABLY adorable is this?! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Snowpack Deactivated (@the.snow.pack) We have continued to let her come to us at her own pace; so far, we have left the cage door open and let her come out on her own. Tonight, we had a singing party (just the TWO … Continue reading Early Step-Up Training: Let The Bird Come To You
Today, hubby came a little too fast down the stairs and startled the daylights out of Miss Vi–or, “Viola Valkyrie Waddlesworth”, as we’re now calling her. Pretty sure her being dubbed with three names means we’re keeping her… But I digress. Miss Vi went FLYING across the room (note to self: get wings clipped PRONTO), only to find herself trapped between our washer and dryer, … Continue reading Day Four: Free-Falling, but Forward!
Well, we’ve had Vi for a little over three and a half weeks now–things are going well. Slow, but well. Man oh man, unless your rehomed parrot is super well-socialized (which many aren’t–probably why she’s a rehome), this task is not for the impatient. I’m following my mantra of “every experience a positive one” and it seems to be working, but as a woman who grew up … Continue reading Training Rescued Parrots: Setting Goals
Progress! Eeee! VI LIFTED HER FOOT TO STEP UP TODAY! I MADE MY GOAL! …The reason I am so excited about this is because I didn’t think I was actually making any progress; she was comfortable leaning against my wrist to take a chip from me, but refused, refused to even try to move her foot closer to my wrist. But today was the day of toast. … Continue reading Step Up Progress: Lifting a Foot
We have foot-wrist contact! Consistently! Woohoo! Vi now knows exactly what she needs to do to get her tasty toast, and she did it several times–and she reminded me very clearly that it’s so important to continue going slowly with her. I tried to entice her with a big piece when she repeated the gesture five times in a row, attempting to persuade her to put two feet … Continue reading Step Up Training, Consistent Foot/Wrist Contact: Slow and steady wins the race
A leap of faith takes at LEAST the Holy Grail… of toast! More progress today! …But at what cost? I think this is a mistake that a lot of novice bird trainers (i.e. me) make–we don’t provide a reluctant feathered friend with enough incentive to take a biiiiiig leap of faith. Sure, Wa-Wa-Waddles adores toast… but even Indiana Jones wouldn’t make that leap of faith for … Continue reading Step Up Training: One Full Step Up (The First Time!)
…And then keep going until you match your initial definition! Hit a bit of a road block with Vi (extremely limited progress…) until today. I was headed to my local bird shop (Busy Beaks Bird Shop if you’re interested–I volunteer for them by maintaining their website) and decided to see if I could coax her into her travel cage for a trim, as her nails and … Continue reading Grooming Helps Parrot Training: If at first you don’t succeed, redefine “success”!
Sometimes, just hanging out around your parrots and eating things will tell you all you need to know about what really matters to them. Continue reading Step Up Training: Find a Treat They Love
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