sandra902 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 so i am thinking this is normal, the strong will? other merlin has been home about 3 weeks now and i am very happy with his progress. he comes out of his cage and happily climbs around all over it chattering all the while. plays with his toys, eats his food, all the things a good birdy should do... except! step up on The Hand. he will step up on a piece of sandy perch but not without a big fuss and bother and lots of noise. so the other evening he was clambering all over his cage and i needed to leave the office to go do some other things. for safety's sake i decided he should go back in the cage and thought (yeah right) that a try with the sandy perch would be a good idea. NOT. young blockhead threw himself to the floor as only a three year old can do and he and i proceeded to go round the room like wimpy chasing the duck with the meat grinder. and you would think i had a meat grinder in my hand too the way he went on and on. finally with a lot of squawking and fuss he stepped up on to the sandy perch and with lots of praise i put him back in his cage. and for a peace offering i gave him a grape which PUI! went to the floor of the cage. and he didn't even go and get it after lights-out so i knew i was in trouble. well maybe this is the Dog Person in me, but i will not be gotten over on by the animals so the next day merl and i had i nice little chat and i told him he'd better make friends with the sandy perch one way or another so i put it on the upper hatch and told him if he wanted to come out of the cage he'd just have to figure it out. since he is smart and brave (which i remind him of often) i figured it'd be no big deal. day one: sulked in cage. stood in kibble dish and threw kibble to the floor. gave mamma the silent treatment. day two: sulking in cage. threw tantrum hanging upside down from rope perch. currently sulking with both main door and upper hatch open. giving the odd hoot and PEEP. maybe we are getting somewhere? i do get a little beak-grinding and a little reptile beak in response to my voice so maybe he is coming along? or maybe lulling me into a false sense of security... so that is the news from the monkey house. we shall see what day 3 brings. now don't think i'm as big a knucklehead as merlin, i got a nice ladder for him that he decided Eats Little Birdys and on day one i figured get everything contended with in One Day so i hung that Bird Eating Ladder on the cage as well as the sandy perch on the upper hatch. but today i relented and took the Bird Eating Ladder off the cage. perhaps that was a moment of weakness or i hope compassion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookyhurst Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 :laugh: What a character! He sounds a lot like a stubborn little monkey I know *I'm looking at you Nikko*. I bought her a new playgym around last March, and yesterday was the first day she sat on it...for a whole minute :silly:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Hi Sandra, If after 3 weeks of time with your Merlin and he still hasn't wanted to step up on your hand and now not the perch. It is probably time to start letting him know that you expect things from him. If he doesn't want to step up on your hand to get out of the cage, he doesn't get out of the cage. It sounds tough, but really your dealing with a child that is having behaviour imprinted that will be harder to break as he matures and just figures thats how it is. I would stop opening cage doors and letting him decide if and when he wants to come out. You open the door and he steps up or the deal is off. It will take some patience, but it must be done or this vicious cycle and behaviour will not get better, in fact it will get worse since he is pretty much convinced he rules the roost rather than you. Others will chime in and may not agree, but thats my 2 cents :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tycos_mom Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 I agree don't let him be the one that dictates what happens try putting a towel or a small facecloth over your hand and ask him to stepup he may just be hand shy a little if that doesn't work I give him the choice to step up on to the towel or the perch or he stay where he is but do keep trying every 1/2 hour or so offer again. He will step up sooner of later and try playing with his toys and look make it look like your haveing fun so he wants to come out and play or eat something he really loves in front of him and make a fuss on how good it taste but don't give him any until he steps up and comes out tell he can have some when he steps up. when he does praise praise praise and evetully cut the food and just give the praise he will learn that your the boss and he get all things when you decide. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra902 Posted November 12, 2007 Author Share Posted November 12, 2007 oh my gosh you guys thank you for the good advice! i will try the towel on the hand, a glove definitely did not work. but yes i will try a towel. i did take away the sandy perch after finding 5 feathers in the bottom of the cage today. i left the hatches open but he did not come out. that was before reading your good advice. thank you so much for letting me expect things from him, i was afraid i was being too much a dog person ("NILIF": Nothing In Life Is Free is a big philosophy out here in GSD-land) and not accepting his "sensitivity" that The Book goes on at length about. today i fed him scrambled eggs from my hand, his ultimate uber-favorite treat so i am hoping to get a little ground re-gained and with your good advice i am much more confident about expecting things from him. i want him to learn that all good things come from mamma and daddy and The Hand holds good things. I do place my open hand in the cage for a time and increase the time each time and praise him so i am hoping that is a step in the right direction. he is fretful when i do it but he hasn't growled at me since that first episode early on. i will give my report tomorrow and i am hoping for a good one! thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 It sounds like you are on the right track now Sandra. :-) Feeding from the hand is a great way to gain his trust and as you said, learn that all good things come from you or your hubby. We'll look forward to hearing more on how things a going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra902 Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 oh brother what a day! neither of us is getting along. the squawking and the hurling of oneself to the cage floor is becoming very tiresome. we have both retreated to neutral corners til the next round. <sigh> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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