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Post by farseeker on Apr 28, 2008 21:37:49 GMT 10
I know this is probably going to sound really odd, but I pretty much have no idea how to train a bird. Tame, yes, but train? Not so much. With Squee and Jedi I was always teaching them how to be happy and somewhat approaching normal.
With Trouble though - well, he's already a happy chappy (apart from that moulting thing) so I don't need to teach him that.
I have a clicker and he knows targeting, but I think both he and I are too new to this to try and shape object-based tricks yet, if that makes sense.
Over the past couple of days I've been trying to teach him to wave. Everything I've read on it says to have the bird on a perch, offer a finger to step up onto as you say 'wave', remove it once they lift a foot and give praise/click then a treat.
The trouble with Trouble is, he does not step up without holding onto something with his beak. In fact, his first step with anything is to explore or grab hold of it with his beak. He doesn't bite - just holds. If I press my finger in against his belly he grabs hold of it and moves it back to where he wants it and then steps up, haha.
So, any advice on how to go about this, or perhaps another trick that might be more suited to us novices?
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Post by just4birds on Apr 28, 2008 21:43:36 GMT 10
when i teach my eckies to wave ... i hold the treat in one hand ... and make sure they have there head up watching it ... then i rub there foot and after a bit they'll lift it up ... then saying the target word wave ... after a little bit i start to not rub my finger on there foot as much and just wave my finger or hand and use the target word wave ... all the time rewarding with the treat ... even if they left there foot up to scratch ... hope that helps some  |
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Post by courtzrocks on Apr 29, 2008 12:16:31 GMT 10
I found shake easier to teach than wave...wave was learnt from that. Pretty much the same thing, just put your finger out to step up but only one foot, when one foot is grasp then treat. Eventually he will learn that he wont be stepping up and be looking at the treat instead of putting his beak on you. Then wave is when he is about to shake but put your finger out of reach and wave your hand. After you have that then you put your hand in so he goes to grasp but misses so he opens and closes his foot...its really cute. After that high 5 is easy too. Will take a while for some birds...took Matches a while to get spin...she just had no idea lol but she gets it now. Beetle is actually good with spin too. None of this probably made any sense but i just said it all out at once lol, each step takes time though. Remember to treat each step.
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Post by vankarhi on Apr 29, 2008 18:20:43 GMT 10
I just taught Takoda to wave. I just held my hand up and said wave and moved my hand (fingers in and out) ..... but I would firstly put my hand up to his body as if to make him step up...and as he lifted his foot I would lavish praise on him. Then I would encourage him to lift his foot higher and he wouldn't get the praise or the sip of my cup of tea (yes I used that as his reward because he just about goes nuts for sip of it). Then I made my fingers move exaggeratedly in a wave with me saying "wave" and he quickly got the idea of what I wanted and as he started to move his claws I would lavish praise and give him a sip of my cup of tea. The main thing is to remember small improvements then gradually leading to entire behaviour.
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Post by bickitrainer on Apr 30, 2008 19:59:21 GMT 10
Yes, if he does hold your finger with his beak in order to step up, distract him with a treat. You should also hold your finger at a place where he will feel comfortable stepping up without the need to hold on with his beak.  Shake is easier, I admit. Teach wave for one foot and shake with the other foot. |
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Post by farseeker on Apr 30, 2008 21:07:25 GMT 10
Yeah we've been working a bit more the last day or two and he's starting to get it - he lifts his foot now, just have to figure out how to get him to either move it up and down or open and close it. The beak thing is something he's always done, even with perches and moving around with his cage. It's like every time he sees something it's a new perch and he has to test it first.  Oh, he's also done the 'wave' we have at the moment for my brother and my Mum - pretty big because he's still somewhat nervous around them. |
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Post by bickitrainer on Apr 30, 2008 21:10:33 GMT 10
That's really great! Thanks for keeping us updated! Some birds learn faster than others, they say this is a really easy trick and should only take at a maximum of 30 min. But my alexandrian parakeet took a couple of days.  Is he still doing the beak thing? Did you try to distract him? |
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Post by farseeker on Apr 30, 2008 21:36:40 GMT 10
It depends on what's around him - if I try to film him he will because he's not entirely sure of the camera yet. If I'm by myself not usually, unless he wants a cuddle. I stopped trying to use the step up method though - I'd waggle my finger at him and then once he shifted the weight onto one foot reward him, then wait for him to lift it and so on. The step up method just confused him I think but we got around that. Here's a video of what he was doing yesterday - you can see how distracted he is by the camera. He's gotten better at it since then, and the last one is what he usually ends up doing for me. Edit: Since then I've dropped saying 'wave' since he doesn't respond to it - it's the finger waggling that he recognises. Although considering how much I talked at him in that clip I've probably been confusing the poor bird as to what I'm actually meaning when I talk.  Trouble and I have a lot to learn haha. |
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Post by courtzrocks on May 1, 2008 15:00:32 GMT 10
Yeah I dont have to say wave anymore but i still have to wave myself. Matches took probably 10 mins to learn shake and maybe 20 to learn wave, but she found spin alot harder???
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Post by bickitrainer on May 1, 2008 16:16:03 GMT 10
Spin was easiest for me to teach, as I said, birds learn at different rates. I have to admit, wave takes the longest out of all of the tricks I teach.. maybe its just my method...? Birds learn much better with visual commands than verbal commands, a combination of the two just helps with recognition abit easier. That's why your birds respond greater at the 'waving' then saying wave. farseeker, I don't really think you have much trouble teaching wave, your bird seems to have learnt it pretty good in the video. |
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Post by farseeker on May 1, 2008 16:57:07 GMT 10
I just taught him spin - took about five minutes and he has it down pat haha. I'll put a video up in a bit, have to copy it off the camera.
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Post by farseeker on May 1, 2008 18:25:48 GMT 10
Here's Trouble showing off his new trick (the spin) and how much better he is at his first one (the wave).
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Post by courtzrocks on May 4, 2008 12:16:18 GMT 10
Beetle learnt spin in about 2 minutes but Matches took days for that one lol. Your doing great!!
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Post by purdey on Aug 25, 2008 21:54:15 GMT 10
it took Elmo ages to learn how to wave - he leads with his beak too - stepping up, reaching for a treat - i had to wait for him to lift his foot up and then cue & reward him quickly...
now i can't get him to stand on one foot he's so happy waving one around !!
he also does a 'turn around and wave' which never fails to melt my heart - he always looks so proud of himself!
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Post by vankarhi on Aug 31, 2008 11:05:01 GMT 10
sounds so cute Purdey ;D
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Post by farseeker on Aug 31, 2008 11:48:14 GMT 10
Yeah it does. ;D I'm hoping to work on some new tricks soon - just got to get this assignment out of the way first. Poor Trouble, he's a bit cranky with me haha - I've been sick and working on assignments all week so he's feeling a little neglected. |
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Trouble and I have a lot to learn haha.