When is the right time to start trianing? and...

[MyGrey-Gary]

I'm wondering when is a good time to start training? I've had my Grey for 2 days now and would like to start training after about 2 weeks. Is that enough time to get acclimated? If Gary my African Grey seems to be comfortable with me and is coming out of his cage on a regular basis and making sound effects - (in two weeks)... is that long enough to wait?

 

do I just stick with positive reinforcement alone? do I also do clicker training? I'm going to start reading some books on training since I haven't ever trained a bird before (gee.. bet you couldn't tell) but would like some advice from here.

 

Thanks.

[Barbara2]

Think of him like a child you adopted. You train him as you would a child. Some children acclimate quicker than others. You have to take all the cues from Gary. He might be ready now. He might be ready in two weeks, or two months. The first trick is finding his motivator. Peanuts might be his favorite but it might be something else that the previous owners never tried. (Pine nuts?) For my baby bird right now it's a stick to chew on and petting. He would do anything for me right now if I would just stand there and scratch his head! That might not be the case two years from now so I'm enjoying it while I can!!!

[Spinner]

First recommendation is to not rush anything with a new companion parrot. Take the time to build trust, etc. It's really easy to establish a phobia this early out of the gate.

 

As far as when to start - do it now. You can couple the trust-building with some simple training. For example, you mention Gary is coming out of his cage regularly. Work with him to learn or reinforce step up. Conversely, work with him to learn to return to the cage as a training regimen.

 

You ask about the use of a clicker. I'm not a fan of it, as I usually need two hands to train and I wouldn't always have a clicker on hand. My vocal reinforcements are my method. However, a lot of people here do use clickers and prefer that method. It should be whatever works for you and Gary. Especially Gary.

 

Lots of training sources out there. I recommend Barbara Heidenreich's Goodbird.com. Stay away from birdtricks, please. Join a local cage bird club and team up with someone knowledgeable.

 

Don't push it too hard, though. Remember that training is a discipline of consistency and patience.

[MyGrey-Gary]

First let me start by saying Thank you. Second - we rescued Gary a week and 2 days ago from an abusive family. I'm wondering what would be some great trust building training besides step up? I think we are doing great based on what Gary does. My last post just a few min ago was REALLY long so going to keep this one short! He already has a few words and sayings that he has from us. It's crazy that the previous owner called him "a stupid bird".

 

Thanks again.

[Dave007]

I'm gonna try to send it to you by Email. Let me know if it works, ok? If it does, you'll love it

I'll read her post in a little while

[judygram]

I'm wondering what would be some great trust building training besides step up?

 

Just being there and spending time with him is building trust, not pushing him for more than he wants to give, when you are out of the room where he is and he calls to you then you give an answer call to let him know you are still around, trust is not something you attain in a short period of time it has to be earned.