Best place to talk about harnesses?

[WideO]

For a Senegal (they aren't all the same, are they...)


I do not want to cut his feathers, but I would like him to safely hang out with us in the garden on sunny days etc. He surely would too!



Is it possible to teach him to accept one at this late a stage? (6 years) I'm ready to spend a lot of time (and blood) to calmly get there. But I don't want to spook the little guy. He trusts me a lot, but there are strict limits/boundaries that I'll need to push.



If other forum is better, let me know. Or link to discussion would be appreciated.

 

[noodles123]

Sure it's possible- it's just going to take longer. I really need to get back to training mine because the process is slow and it's easy to give up, but I have absolute certainty that if I stuck with a desensitization/ reward program every day that I could have my bird (11) in a harness within a year to 6 months. It's just hard because it feels discouraging/stressful during those early weeks and I end up stopping.

I get what you mean about not wanting to rock the boat, so I would do it very slowly.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Yep! Any age is a good age we've parrots on the forum that started older than yours.

It's all about positive reinforcement for even the tiniest of steps.

Let me find the various threads and attach them. Am currently on my commute, so it's a bit tricky on mobile

 

[WideO]

Thanks, that sounds promising.


If it won't work, it won't be the bird's fault - I'm just very "bad" at making animals do something they don't really want to.


Even with our dogs: sure, they need the basics, they need to be SAFE for themselves and others. So we did go to school, read all the books, etc. But we gave or female Labrador Patsy - who had a bit of a naughty character - a bit of leash too. Because she was intelligent, and hilarious when she had 100% confidence, but so sensitive that even a gentle telling off had a big impact on her.



I'll probably need to desensitize myself first as he would LOVE the end result. He is slowly turning into a performer. You know, at first "new" people asked "does he talk?" (sigh), now he greats them or tells them off for not bringing a treat. (mostly the second to be honest). He accompanies that with a strange head turn I've only seen in Jurrasic Park.



Now Oscar is even more sensitive when you really start paying attention. He is a bit mad at me for hiding the cat (passed away 3 weeks ago), so he often gives me the 3rd degree "WHERE'S BENJAMIN?" and won't let go.


Anyway, that's off topic: will look for the topics, but yes, if you could point out some good threads that would be great.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

No doubt you've found this thread under Training: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/59374-harness-training-videos.html

I'd also like to add this thread http://www.parrotforums.com/training/80199-how-we-did-harness-training-touch-phobic-bird.html.

You should also check out Al's video with Salty: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/79733-harness-training-salty.html

I would also encourage you to start your own thread as well (or keep this one active). If you have any questions or concerns, members who have trained or in the middle of training are always more than happy to chime in with advice (just like this thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/74740-berry-s-harness-training-thread.html)

 

[WideO]

Thank you, I had found a few but not the first (too busy with other stuff).


That makes so much sense to me: you have them walking through it themselves... that's who Oscar is, he wants to show off, and as much as he likes treats, he likes compliments even more. When he's in a good mood, just whispering "what a beaufiful bird!" makes him grind his beak for a minute, eyes fluttering... Then of course, there is cheese...



I'm sure it will be a slow process, but I can now at least "vision" it in my head with him, and I guess that's crucial.



I will document it here. May take a while as things are hectic.

 

[wrench13]

It took me a year, of training every night, 365 times, to get Salty to the point where it is no big deal to put it on. We still do it every night as a part of his nightly training sesssions. The trick is to find out his very most fav treat - thats the ticket. Gota run to get an x-ray, but i will be back ..........

 

[WideO]

Pasta...any kind. Cheese is a distant second.

He only asks for “spaggy spaggy” about 50 to 200 times a day. :25:

We even have a video where he has one side of the strand in his beak, and my wife the other, eating towards her...