A reminder who's boss!

[neoow]

Things have been going really well with Alfie for months. We went through a spell where Alfie didn't really tolerate me much any more and my confidence was knocked so I was super wary of him for a time. We have worked on that through lots of training and times spent together and I feel we now have a much better understanding and mutual respect of each other. On top of this- Alfie now flies to me to sit with me for loooaaads of head scritches - just like his does with my mum when we go visit my parents. Plus I can scritch his head through the cage bars again without worrying about him lunging at me.

Buuut every so often I have to be reminded of who exactly is boss round here! 😂

Yesterday it was getting late so I wanted to put Alfie back in his cage so I could go to bed. He was sitting on a basket which is part of the cats' scratching tree (I should note: the cats are kept out of the way in the upper half of the house when Alfie is out of his cage). I offered my arm and asked Alfie to step up. He didn't move- but he didn't turn away or walk away from my arm. So I left it there, waited a moment and asked him to step up again. He doesn't always step up on my arm/hand but will usually always step up on a spare dowel perch I have kicking around. So I was debating about grabbing that instead of using my arm as that's usually more successful. Before I could move, Alfie decided I'd obviously pushed my luck, put one foot on my arm then grabbed my wrist as hard as get could. As he was half on/half off I just had to ride it out. He loosened off then grabbed again even harder. It hurt like heck but again I just had to ride it out cos he wasn't fully on my arm. He then let go and put the second foot on my arm. So I didn't say anything, moved over to his cage, waited for him to step up on to the perch in his cage then closed the door. Didn't say a word, just went about tidying up the lounge area. The little bugger sat there waiting patiently for his pine nuts that he normally gets for a good step up and for going back into his cage 😂 Needless to say, he did not get rewarded for that behaviour!

Amazingly he didn't break the skin but I have quite a big welt on my wrist and it's very sore to touch. I haven't received a bite like that for a long time, so I almost forgot how painful it can be... to both the bite location and my ego!! 😂

It was my own fault- I should have removed the arm sooner and offered the perch instead. Apparently his lord highness Alfie prefers the perch! That's me told! 😁

[SRSeedBurners]

I'm sure they are just amazed at how stupid and inept we can be.  That combined with their complete lack of patience  🤣

[Talon]

Oh my!  Isn't it amazing how they remind us who is in charge when we least expect it?  I am glad your ok..we have all been in a power struggle at times. My Rikki lets me put her into her cage every night very nicely, but she will grab onto my hand or fingers as I put her in her cage to go on her perch  and squeeze as hard as she can..I try not to make a sound as she is digging her claws into me...but some nights it's justtoo much, & I say okay Rikki let goooo....your squeezing too tight!  Once she hears that. she's satisfied &  immediately let's go & steps onto her perch !   Grrrrrrr....

[neoow]

On 9/27/2022 at 7:23 PM, SRSeedBurners said:

I'm sure they are just amazed at how stupid and inept we can be.  That combined with their complete lack of patience  🤣

Yeah absolutely! 😂 Normally if I offer an arm and he doesn't want to step up he'll turn his head or walk away. This time he just sat still and stared at it. I should have known better and fetched the dowel at that point instead of asking a second time. I won't make that mistake again!

On 9/27/2022 at 7:51 PM, Talon said:

Oh my!  Isn't it amazing how they remind us who is in charge when we least expect it?  I am glad your ok..we have all been in a power struggle at times. My Rikki lets me put her into her cage every night very nicely, but she will grab onto my hand or fingers as I put her in her cage to go on her perch  and squeeze as hard as she can..I try not to make a sound as she is digging her claws into me...but some nights it's justtoo much, & I say okay Rikki let goooo....your squeezing too tight!  Once she hears that. she's satisfied &  immediately let's go & steps onto her perch !   Grrrrrrr....

Yes indeed- I was obviously getting too comfortable around him to anticipate the bite. We've been getting on so well recently and I honestly can't remember the last time he bit me like that. So it caught me by surprise! He didn't break the skin thankfully but I've got a lovely big bruise appearing. I tried to remain quiet but did let out an 'ouch!' when he grabbed the second time, as he got me in the same place twice and put so much pressure on. After that I said absolutely nothing to him until he was back in his cage and I'd tidied up the lounge. Then I wandered over and had a chat with him about my 'mistake' of daring to ask him to step up on my arm when he wanted to step up on the perch and how he didn't need to bite- could have just turned away instead like normal.  If any non-bird owners ever heard me I'm sure they'd think I'd lost the plot! 😂

[Timbersmom]

Boy, do I know that feeling. Months will pass without "the bite" then seemingly out of the blue I fail to perform in some fashion and get the latch and grind. I'm sure he has his reasons. You would think after 10 years I could read his body language better, but apparently not. Obviously, I'm not trying hard enough. I just returned from a week of vacation, with "dad" (hubby) home serving his highness. Needless to say, I'm getting the cold shoulder as I do after any absence.  He forgot himself for a few minutes when I first came in and lowered his head for a scritch complete with his baby bird cheeps. He quickly came to his senses and is now punishing me appropriately for my neglect by turning his back to me and giving me the occasional stink-eye over his shoulder. I'm alert for the bite tonight, based on past experience. He doesn't care that I choose Ft. Myers Beach for my vacation and survived the hurricane. I'm sure if he could verbalize he would tell me "that's what you get."

[neoow]

On 10/3/2022 at 12:50 AM, Timbersmom said:

Boy, do I know that feeling. Months will pass without "the bite" then seemingly out of the blue I fail to perform in some fashion and get the latch and grind. I'm sure he has his reasons. You would think after 10 years I could read his body language better, but apparently not. Obviously, I'm not trying hard enough. I just returned from a week of vacation, with "dad" (hubby) home serving his highness. Needless to say, I'm getting the cold shoulder as I do after any absence.  He forgot himself for a few minutes when I first came in and lowered his head for a scritch complete with his baby bird cheeps. He quickly came to his senses and is now punishing me appropriately for my neglect by turning his back to me and giving me the occasional stink-eye over his shoulder. I'm alert for the bite tonight, based on past experience. He doesn't care that I choose Ft. Myers Beach for my vacation and survived the hurricane. I'm sure if he could verbalize he would tell me "that's what you get."

Yep, that's it exactly!
Oof, sorry to hear about the holiday/hurricane. I saw a few videos and read some stories about it. Having never experienced a hurricane myself, it looked absolutely terrifying.