Afraid of aviator harness

[Mm6393]

Hi everyone. I have some sad news today. I was harness training my sun conure, Mari, and she was doing GREAT! She was finally putting her head inside the harness to eat her treat but quickly retreats when she wants to. Today, when she tried to take her head out, the harness slipped from my hand and she felt stuck and she FREAKED OUT. I know I’m supposed to remain calm during these situations but I was terrified for her. I tried to calm her down but she flew and I thought she was going to calm down but she didn’t. I finally went to grab her to remove the harness and by then she was heavy breathing and was almost not responsive. She was in shock and didn’t react anymore. I removed the harness and tried to calm her down but she was just still in shock that she didn’t respond to her favorite toys or anything. Even her grip was not as strong when she perched on my finger. An hour later, I’m happy to say that she is acting normal again. She is eating and talking and screaming, thank goodness. I was so scared and I’m finally calming down. I was hysterical. I felt guilty and so bad for her. I was literally sobbing because I felt so helpless. But now that we’re BOTH calm lol, I guess my question is where do I go from here? I’m almost traumatized and feel too afraid to reintroduce her to it. I want her to go out with me and to experience the sunshine but I don’t want to do that to her anymore. So should I just stop and accept the fact that she will never be harness trained. My heart broke when I saw her so defenseless and I tear up at the thought of making her go thru that again.

 

[wrench13]

You were moving too fast. It took me almost a year, doing training sessions every night, to get Salty used to the harness. Say 350 nights of training. You tried to do it in what? A week or 2? Give the harness a rest for a 2 weeks, and then start over, and DONT try to rush things. Face the fact that it might be next spring before Mari is ready.

 

[Mm6393]

You’re right. I was trying to go at her pace but I think I misjudged it and I learned the hard way.

 

[Sunnyclover]

I have this method I like to use where instead of let the bird decide what to do with a harness...you simply put it on them asgently and calmly as you can. They will recover, have a great outing and dislike the harness less each time you put it on. Here is a thread I make yesterday!

http://www.parrotforums.com/trainin...-your-bird-method-harness-training-video.html

 

[MonicaMc]

I agree with Mr Wrench. If necessary, you might even need to get another color of harness.

 

[Mm6393]

Another color? Why?

 

[MonicaMc]

If your conure has decided to hate the harness, it could associate that color with danger... but if you get a harness of a different color, then it could potentially be an entirely new item and less scary.

I wouldn't recommend getting one now of course, but something to consider for in the future if you have issues getting your conure to wear the harness.

 

[Mm6393]

Ohhh okay I get it, thanks! I think for now, we’ll jjst forget about the harness for a few weeks. And then we’ll start from square one haha