Parrot
Training
Parrot training is based on the same methods
used for other pets - reward, ignore and punish
- but specific training strategies must be
applied, strategies that are proven to be
effective for parrots. Parrot training should be
attempted at a young age, because otherwise they
can develop habits that will require harder work
to adapt. Next, you'll read some tips that will
help you with your parrot training, shaping the
feathered friend the way you want it:
Reward your parrot for doing it right
When you get a positive reaction from your
parrot on something you are teaching, make sure
you give him a reward in the form of his
favorite food treat, congratulate him, give a
pat on the head or reward him with what you know
he likes. As most pets do, he won't know what's
happening at first but he'll adapt soon enough
and he'll make the connection between the action
and the reward. The food treats that are
provided as rewards should not be provided on
other occasions, this way they'll be special.
Also, you shouldn't exaggerate with the
rewards.
Instead of punishing, ignore him
Parrot training by using punishment is not a
good ideea since they are not very susceptible
as other pets are and they don't take it to
lightly. With a dog, a slap on the back for
something bad he does might be ok, but with a
parrot there is going to be a problem. With a
parrot, the best punishment is to ignore him if
he does something wrong but allways make sure
you reward the good things he does. He'll notice
the rewards are given for certain actions only
and he will stop doing the things that get him
ignored.
Short and frequent training sessions
Parrots dont have the attention span of cats
and dogs that have the ability to stay focused
on training for a long period of time. So, short
training sessions are preffered, because the
parrot are distractible or they get bored after
performing the same action for a long period of
time. Parrot training sessions are best at 10-20
minutes and performed 2-3 times per day.
Parrot Care - Teaching your Bird to
Talk
Say you’re the
proud owner of a parrot, purchased it as a baby
and finished feeding it by hand for some time.
You may not grasp at first that your parrot can
talk, as many authors mention only few species
that can. But this is old gossip!
How can you teach
your pet to talk? There are many ways to do it,
starting with playing training tapes or CDs.
This is preety much the same as you yourself
talking to the parrot or at the parrot, but it’s
not the same thing, as it can become rather
confusing for your pet. Some say that playing a
training tape to parrots that have already begun
talking might actually shut them down! So, don’t
leave them alone with the tape…they might learn
a few phrases, but the better way , for both you
and your parrot, is for you to interact with
them.
Not all parrots
are natural talkers, but training them might be
a real revelation to you.
Let’s get it
started! Keep in mind the fact that a parrot
associates actions with words or actions. So try
saying something to the bird every time you feed
it something. Say “MMMMM. I like it!" or “This
is good!” and make kissing sounds and nuzzle
your parrot. This is better than simply saying
“Hello!” when you want to interact with your
bird, as this plain word may not have any
meaning to it just now. Be creative, don’t work
by the handbook! It’s more fun this way, I’m
telling you!
My parrots loved
to play, and after I repeated to them these
three sentences: "You want to come out? I want
to come out. I want to play!", they even put
them in the correct order. At first one of my
parrots had some trouble learning the word “to”
and it repeated the sentence "I want to play."
over and over again so I would correct it until
it got it right. I also teached my parrots that
."Now!" Now!" Now!" means cage cleaning time.
Ins’t it nice to know that your pets can
understand what you are saying? I can tell you
that I love it!
Some old books say
that you must never whistle to your parrots, as
they might find it more easier than talking, but
this is not at all true. My parrots can both
whistle and talk, and sometimes combine these
two together. One of my parrots actually does
this: it whistles themes from "The Man With No
Name," and "Close Encounters of The Third Kind."
I have to now dial the phone away from my
parrots, as they whistle the beeps of the phone
when I dial the number. Nevertheless, I don’t
mind it. The other parrot I own had learned 32
phrases in the course of one year and a half,
and had learned two more sentences just before
it suddenly died.
As an example,
African Greys start talking late in their life.
It takes about a year before saying anything,
but they can quickly catch up. They use to
mumble before speaking the first clear word.
African Greysare natural wolf whistlers. But if
you train them well, they will be able to talk
very much and very well. You must also know that
parrots may sometimes like some words better
than others. Imagine that I have seen a parrot
which lived most of its life in a florist's shop
and could say "Hello, or "Hi," in a variety of
voices. It also produced a smoker's cough, but
only for men. Other parrots love to repeat their
own names over and over again, asking What are
you doing?" and they also practice different
kinds of laughs!
Should you be a
poor whistler, your parrot will be a poor
whistler too. You must speak clearly to them, as
many words may seem blurred to them. So, if you
talk clearly to the parrots, so will they. When
your birds finds it difficult to pronounce some
of the consonants, emphasize these letters, or
substitute a harder sound to make a softer one
appear clearer. For example they could say
"you're cud," if you don’t make a clear "t"
sound. The "D" sound in "you're a good bird" may
sound like "Brr" to your pet. So emphasize the
correct sounds by making up a word like "pert"
or "bert" if your parrot cannot say this
sentence correctly.
When you want to
start teaching your parrot talking, be patient,
calm, and even enthusiastic about it. Just by
looking at your bird, you’ll know when the right
moment has come. It will stare intently at you
and its pupils will change once you speak or
whistle. You should not start with a bored
“Hello!”, as your parrot mat not react to it at
all! You should be excited as you say it! Don’t
be surprised if your parrot will not even want
to learn “Hello!”, but rather say for example,
"come here," instead. Some parrot can’t say "I
want to come out!" but he surely understand its
meaning! Writing a list of words, sentences or
sounds that you want your parrot to learn would
be quite a good idea.
Consider the fact
that some species of parrots live for up to 70
years with proper care and diet, so be very
careful with what you teach your bird…you may
hear it for the next 70 years! It might not be
so exciting to hear for seventy years a song
that might be out of style by then. So if you
don't like opera, don't teach it to your
birds.
Fortunately,
nowadays a great variety of books and magazines
are a big deal of help to a new bird owner. Now
there are many local bird clubs which parrot
lovers can join and exchange opinions on how to
help birds have longer and better quality lives.
A happy and healthy bird makes its owner happy
too. And if a problem of any kind comes up, the
club members can recommend you what is to be
done, even a behaviorist! The aim is to keep a
good relationship between a parrot and its
owner. Let’s make a brighter future for us and
our birds! And as a science fiction book once
stated: “If we can't communicate with our own
planet's intelligent species, how can we hope to
speak to any others?”
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