Barking

[andy107]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and I'm hoping someone can give me some advice.

 

I have 6 year old male African Grey Congo named Sam. He is a real comedian, doing all kinds of sound effects and saying various words at the right times. Some of the sounds effects include barking like our dog.

 

In the last few weeks he's developed a problem however. For whatever reason he has started barking non stop for long periods of time. Especially in the morning, but also at other times of the day. Alot of time while barking, he will be on the side of the cage with his wings being held slightly away from his body. Almost like he's ready to take off, or nervous of something.

 

The barking has been driving my wife nuts, so I definitely want to solve the problem. Unfortunately i have covered the cage in the past, which works to calm and quiet him down. But I realize that I may be merely prolonging and increasing the problem.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Andrew

[siobha9]

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to the grey forums. It sounds like you have quite a character in Sam! It is so funny when they get phrases and use them in context;)

 

Unfortunately the only way to stop an unwanted noise is to completely ignore it. But this can take some time to achieve. Even going to the cage to cover it is giving him some attention. When he starts barking, you should leave the room and only come back when he is quiet or making a noise you do like. The same will apply to your wife;)

 

Why don't you visit our Welcome room and tell us a little more about Sam?

Siobhan

[judygram]

siobha9 wrote:

Why don't you visit our Welcome room and tell us a little more about Sam?

Siobhan

 

You beat me to it Siobhan, good job, thanks.

[andy107]

Thanks for the quick reply Siobhan.

 

We'll give leaving the room and completely ignoring him a shot.

 

Andrew

[BMustee]

Remember, it will get worse before it gets better so once you start doing this do not stop. If he barks for, lets say 15min, he will start to bark for 20-25 to try to get the attention it normally gets him. If you go and tell him to be quiet when he has done it for 25 minutes you have just taught him that barking for 25 minutes strait will get him what he wants. Then it will progress to 30-40 minutes at a time. So basicly you need to leave the room and ignore it and not re-enter the room till he stops the noise. If he starts right back up when you come back you need to turn right back around and leave again. When I have used this method for screaming it seems to take about a week or two to get it to start to work, so don't give up after just a day or two.

 

Good luck

[TinyTimneh]

well... first i might check environment juust in case, he could be bored or hungry or afraid of something you've added to the room. doesn't sound like it but it never hurts to make sure. mostly for attention i think, or he could just particularly like this noise.

I might go as far as to say don't leave the room because technically you getting up and leaving is a reaction and thus he's getting a reaction, even though it is not what he wants. Instead, invest in earplugs. It is not possible to completely remove a sound from a greys repetoire, but you can get them to forget it/stop using it. if he's learned to bark, he'll always have the capacity to do so. just depends on if he gets stimulus/rewards from doing so. My TAG barks too (inside dog and outside dog), so I know what you mean (however jacko's obnoxious noise was someone hammering on a roof instead of barking) but look on the bright side... all the barking deterrent of a dog and none of the fur !