Clicker Training

[Bhristopher Caldwin]

Hey guys, I've had a lot of success in the last months with Chicken and I wanted to share how I've done it.

 

 

Clicker training is awesome.

 

 

This is literally the one I have, and i only spent 3.00 on it.

 

I'm sorry if there is already another post on this, I didn't search, but I'll make this as easy to understand as possible, and who knows, maybe I'll get a sticky.

 

Here's how it works.

 

Clicker Training relies on Pavlov's training study. Remember the guy who would feed dogs after he hit a tuning fork, and then, after a month or so, when he hit the tuning fork, the dogs became conditioned to hear the sound of the fork and expect food?

 

Clicker training works the same way. Basically, you want your lovely little animal to think that he/she is a GREAT BIRD, a GOOD BIRD and THE BEST BIRD IN THE WORLD and is about to get a treat when he/she hears the clicker.

 

It doesn't take long for the message to set in either. The first few days are easy. Click the clicker when you're near your feathered friend and in a happy, excited voice, say "gooood bird!!!" and hand them their favorite treat.

 

Do this every 20 minutes or so on one of your days off or whenever, your goal here is to condition the bird to think that "click" means "I'm a good bird and I'm going to get a treat"

 

Once you've linked the clicker to the idea that what the bird is doing is good, you can use the clicker to reinforce good behavior and communicate with your bird.

Things NOT to do with a clicker.

1. Do not let children get a hold of it. If the bird hears clicks, it should ALWAYS get treats. Clicking without treats is taboo, as it makes the clicker less important.

2. Don't just hold it when you aren't training. I have a habit of fiddling with things while i'm doing something else. If you click that clicker, the bird gets a treat.

3. NEVER CLICK THE CLICKER UNLESS YOU GIVE THE BIRD PRAISE AND A TREAT. Doing so, as mentioned before, lessens the impact of the clicker.

 

 

The easiest example i can give you is the light switch trick. In the video, you can see chicken turning off a light, hearing a click, getting praise and receiving a reward.

 

 

It only took an hour or so to do.

 

Here's a step by step you can follow at home. (It's best to WAIT UNTIL the bird recognizes the clicker as a good thing, because then it's easier to communicate with him or her what you want)

1. Get your feathered friend.

2. approach a light switch.

3. Give the command you want the bird to recognize.

4. put the bird near the light switches.

a. What you do now is click when the bird TOUCHES the light switch with his beak. Do this about 10 to 15 times, depending on how smart your little friend is. Don't click if they chomp down really hard, you want a gentle touch otherwise all the lights in your house will be chewed to hell, right?

b. After the bird has gotten down the light switch part, don't click when they just touch it with their beak. This is actually kind of cool, because you can see your grey's big brain in action. "Why am I not getting a click?" they seem to wonder. So they go back and fiddle... when they do, they'll eventually FLIP THE SWITCH!.

 

Click. Reward. Reinforce.

 

Your bird now turns on and off lights.

 

You can use the same steps in 4b to change the direction. It's been about two weeks now and Chicken (my bird) knows that if the room is dark, the switch goes up. If the room is light, well, you get the point.

[TWIX]

This is awesome stuff man, thanks for sharing

[kave70]

The bird store that I love to visit clicker train ALL their birds. Right now Sam and I are just practicing targeting, just to get him to like the stick (that accompanies the clicker) and accept treats. It's a real bonding time that he willingly participates in.

It will take a while before we move on, just because I'm more interested in bonding than having him perform lots of tricks. If anyone has facebook, this is the store and there are plenty of clicker training videos posted.

 

http://http://www.facebook.com/#!/theparrotandbirdemporium

[Bhristopher Caldwin]

The bird store that I love to visit clicker train ALL their birds. Right now Sam and I are just practicing targeting, just to get him to like the stick (that accompanies the clicker) and accept treats. It's a real bonding time that he willingly participates in.

It will take a while before we move on, just because I'm more interested in bonding than having him perform lots of tricks. If anyone has facebook, this is the store and there are plenty of clicker training videos posted.

 

http://http://www.facebook.com/#!/theparrotandbirdemporium

 

 

Target training is great, it's the easiest thing to begin with especially because birds stick everything in their mouths!

 

 

I use a chopstick for chicken, but my post was mainly focused on anchoring the clicker in the birds mind as "you've done a good job now you get a treat"

 

 

After you do that, then you can use target training of the bird doesn't like you or the sigh of your hands. It's actually pretty cool!

 

So, for some reason, your parrot hates your hands:

 

What you do is this... Find a stick, one he wont be able to completely demolish and one that won't utterly terrify him (I use he because chicken is a male, and thats how i'm used to referring to parrots, if you have a female bird... I apologize!)

 

Anywho: Get a stick.

 

Then, slowly move it towards him until he nips at it. Click the clicker. Do this over and over (MAKING SURE TO REWARD TO PARROT) until the bird understands that the stick, whatever it is, should be nibbled when presented. Pair it with a command.. like "come on" for optimum effect.

 

Finer points:

 

1. If your bird destroys the stick with his beak, thats ...okay.. in the beginning, but you want to make him gently do it.. So what you do is NOT CLICK, and don't move the stick(or allow him to take it) until he nips it gently.

 

2. NEVER POKE YOUR BIRD WITH THE STICK.

 

3. NEVER POKE YOUR BIRD WITH THE STICK.

 

4. Keep training short. 5-10 minutes max, then an hour or so of bird time.