Clicker Training

[BridalWreath]

So, I am in the process of clicker training my bird in hopes to have him not as fearful of hands as he is. The reason why I am posting here is that I was wondering if anyone has any tricks or tips to help me out?

Anything will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Julianna]

I love clicker training! (My caique, rabbit, dog, and cat are all clicker trained) If your bird doesn't like the clicker sound or it's difficult to hold treats and the clicker while training you can also just replace the click sound with the word "good." I did this because it frees up a hand. Look up Barbara Heidenriech if you want some training tips. She's amazing. I always recommend this to people, but look up target training and try that if you're looking for a good place to start. It's really helpful with training other tricks as well as moving your bird around. Also, if you're trying to get your bird to not be afraid of your hand, you could start by getting your bird to go on your shoulder or upper arm, and then work your way to getting him onto your hand. I've heard this method works really well for birds with a fear of hands.

Also, welcome to the forum!

 

[BridalWreath]

Thank you, Julianna for the advice. Much appreciated. I started to have Loki get used to the clicker, by clicking it and giving him a treat and repeating. He seemed to have taken that well. I also did it with step ups and he seemed very consistent with them, which is good.

And I will look up Barbara Heidenriech. I am always interested in him learning and interacting.

 

[BridalWreath]

So an update with the stepups: he is now willing to do it without the clicker. Not only that, but he will step up within his cage. This is great news, considering he would never allow me to do it before. Plus, when I say step up, it does it right away, without me having to follow him.

Also, are there any good sites or threads anyone recommends for target training?

 

[dolphin3212]

thanks for posting info on clicker training