Has anyone used birdtricks dot com?

[xodanio]

I was thinking about purchasing a training package or two from them because I like their newsletter. I would like to hear what other people think before I make the investment.

 

[Karigan]

I have the books, given to me by the previous owner of my greys. The books are great, but I hear the thing is they send you dozens of emails a month and you can't subscribe.

 

[Sherry]

They do send a lot of emails but you can unsubscribe. I like their products. The videos are kind of cheesy but there is good information in them. I also buy their pellets and toys. My birds (CAG and B&G) love them. Their stuff is kind of expensive but I enjoy their stuff.

 

[xodanio]

I like their emails! Lol. I was looking at the toy program! Looks great, and you think it's worth it? Quality product?

 

[Sherry]

My birds love them. I have only done this for 2 months for my CAG and they really love each one. They have the medium toys, it comes once a month and has three of them. If you have the time and put forth the effort you could probably get a better deal buying or making them yourself. I like the convenience and my birds really go nuts for them. I just started an order for my B&G so I should be getting that this week. I'm kind of excited to get it.

 

[MonicaMc]

Some previous threads...

http://www.parrotforums.com/off-topic/23376-birdtricks.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/24391-bird-tricks-training.html


I say no, simply because you can find the same great advice, if not better, from other trainers for a lot cheaper! Only thing you may not receive is that huge book on training and the long DVD's of them training their birds. Would like to know if they are still selling the flooding techniques or not.

 

[Karigan]

The book I got was HUGE! It was one sided printer paper on a spiral spine. My first thought was of course, "Gee, I wonder how much they wanted for shipping this bad boy?" ;p

 

[Sherry]

Their products are constantly changing, no more flooding, no toweling etc. that's one of the things I like about their products. There are quite a few books on birds but how do you know if the methods are currant. For instance I purchased a book recently about african greys from someone other than birdtricks. They included a whole section on toweling birds. Outdated info. It was also really boring. I will tell you what sold me on birdtricks. I was feeding my african greys 1/2 a large steel bowl of pellets(roudybush), another whole bowl with veggies and another 1/2 bowl of seeds (yep seeds) daily. I read in two books that this is the type of foods they need and like and was also told this by the pet store. My birds were not interested in me what so ever. They would occasionally step up but that was about the extent of our relationship. After I ordered the first video in which they showed me what and how much to feed I was shocked! I mean blown away. I changed their diet and started clicker training and like magic in one day (yep ONE) my birds were happy, involved and wanting to be around me. It completely changed our whole relationship. I guess if I kept on reading other books I probably would have come across this information as well, but who knows. I also shared this information with another bird owner who lives by me. Her bird is/was down right mean and nasty. Within a week her bird changed as well. I have read a few dirogatory comments about birdtricks but I will tell you I feel indebted to them fr really helping me learn a positive way to be a proper parrot parent. On a final note I already mentioned that their vedios are kind of cheesy and I think they are like potheads or something but I like them.

 

[Karigan]

Haha, I couldn't agree more. I have this really cheesy vid of them, it think it's called Undercover Pet Shops or something. They pretend to be secret agents and investigate unsightly pet stores. Not a lot of footage, since it was by hidden camera, but they make some very valid points.

 

[MonicaMc]

I remain skeptical of them (especially with accusations of 'stealing' other training techniques - aka learning newer techniques of training then promoting the training as their own - not to mention birds lost due to their free-flight training course), but I am glad to hear they may be changing most/all of their recommendations!

So, thank you for the post, Sherry! I hope that their techniques only improve as well as their advice!

 

[Mike]

I got two of their courses. They're good, but watch out for the junk mail that follows.

 

[triordan]

Lots of emails~ I have gotten a couple videos the trick/training one and their recent one day miracles. I watch and read anything i can find to further my knowledge of birds/training/body language etc...take from it what you want, you know the saying if you ask 10 people you may get 10 different answers

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I remain skeptical of them (especially with accusations of 'stealing' other training techniques - aka learning newer techniques of training then promoting the training as their own - not to mention birds lost due to their free-flight training course), but I am glad to hear they may be changing most/all of their recommendations!

So, thank you for the post, Sherry! I hope that their techniques only improve as well as their advice!

Where did you find out about birds going missing during their free flight course? They've never lost their own parrots but I've never heard of a costumers bird being lost but would like to find out where that info is.

 

[MonicaMc]

Where did you find out about birds going missing during their free flight course? They've never lost their own parrots but I've never heard of a costumers bird being lost but would like to find out where that info is.

That's correct... Their *own* birds! However, they have a DVD promoting Free-Flight to the average owner! They may mention not to do it without a pro [trainer] around, but it gives people bad ideas.

If I am not mistaken (and I could be), this is one. The owner admits they were an idiot, and lost Tui due to insufficient knowledge. If he did indeed get Birdtricks Free-Flight training DVD, then the DVD may have made it sound so much easier to train a parrot for free-flight than it really is.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKlxjZQUueQ]Tui parrot missing, flew away after bad advice from a birdtrick website - YouTube[/ame]


And a couple of Articles...

Freeflight as Enrichment | Carly Lu's Flight Blog

Don’t Be Bird-Tricked | Carly Lu's Flight Blog


I'm all for flighted parrots! But I am against free-flight by ignorant owners. I don't have free-flighted parrots, but I do have birds that fly. Anyone who has the time, knowledge and patience to properly teach a parrot to be free-flighted, I'm all for it!

I haven't watched the DVD myself, and considering Birdtricks previous DVD's and their marketing techniques (*NOT* a fan of!), I simply can't promote them. It is a learning experience and I do know that they are trying to become better than they were before. I'm sure they want what's best for every ones birds, but it could be one of those cases when the information may be more harmful than good, even when the best of intentions are meant.


I do love to hear success stories of people who have used their products, though! That, at least, sounds promising! Likewise, some people thought it was a waste of money or their birds only became worse, not better. (based on their old DVD's - not new ones)

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

I have been following Birdtricks.com (Dave, Jamieleigh & Chet for well over a year. I get zero emails from them even though I have ordered one product from them. I follow them on Facebook and they always post their newest blog updates which are fantastic. I have only seen good things from them. In fact, one time I was reading a forum where several people were slandering them, making their accusations sound legit but without providing any validation. Anyway, I contacted Birdtricks informed them about it and provided them a link so they could at least have the opportunity to defend themselves. In a show of gratitude, they send me a free DVD.

I've see many posts from people who have "seen this or heard that" but no one ever provided a link or other information to provide verification of any wrong doings. As for stealing techniques, anyone who has ever been successful has always been accused of stealing something by someone who was envious of them and then word spreads. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I don't know! Bill Gates was accused of stealing tech to build Microsoft but that didn't stop me from using Windows.

Birdtricks is in no way responsible for someone losing their bird in free flight unless Birdtricks was on site, providing first hand guidance when the escape occurs. Earlier tonight someone posted a video of wild parrots eating avocado. I fear that someone on the forum will see this and try feeding avocado to their bird. The irresponsibility of the bird owner would in no way be the fault of the person who posted the video. That's the same concept for anyone who is inspired to try free flight after watching a Birdtricks video.

Lastly, I got one of the first ParrotFX DVD's from their shows at Silverwood Theme Park and it's so awesome!

 

[Kiwibird]

I grew up with parrots, so when my husband and I adopted Kiwi, my husband just followed my lead with him. However, a few of his relatives had never been around a parrot before and were as scared of him as he was of them. Since they come over frequently, they wanted Kiwi not to fear them and be able to hold him too. We had them watch some of the birtricks.com free YouTube videos, and it seemed to be good, reasonable information from what I saw. The couples birds seemed to all be well trained and looked healthy/happy. I never actually purchased the course, since Kiwi responded to the techniques I already knew, but just their free videos helped my inlaws overcome their initial fear of the "mighty beak". Basically, I think a good training course lead by professionals would be a good idea for someone new and a bit timid around their bird. Use common sense if your unfamiliar with birds in what things you want to focus on teaching them (for example, teaching them to step up or a simple trick would be good, attempting to teach them free flight when your inexperienced wouldn't). There's nothing wrong with getting a little, reasonable help, when you have a new kind of animal. Before our bird, we had taken in a younger bearded dragon from a neighbor who was moving. You don't teach lizards tricks, but I did do a lot of research the first few weeks we had her into what all she needed from us because she wasn't a kind of creature I was familiar with. Because we took the time to learn about her needs, care, dangers, to avoid, hand/harness taming her ect.... she lived to the upper end of her life expectancy, and was a truly lovely animal (I still miss our sweet Tiffany, RIP). I can't see the harm in an inexperienced bird owner learning about how to properly care for their bird (and with birds, they need training and social interaction). Best of luck!

 

[JerseyWendy]

I would only like to add that I believe this to be the perfect example of there being more than one way to skin a chicken.

What works for some, may not work for others. If the program works for you, I would most DEFINITELY stick with it.

Training methods have come and gone, but that doesn't mean all the old ones were necessarily bad.

Parrot guardianship is a continued and ongoing learning experience - for each and every one of us.

 

[superKya]

I purchased the trick training course and the teach your bird to talk on cue course. Mom was skeptical of letting me spend that much money but I only am allowed to spend a small portion of my earnings and I tend to be choosy how I spend it. I enjoy the course and have taught our birds several tricks so far. My agent was amazed to see the tricks I taught Ruby and Marshmallow, and Marshmallow may get to perform on the runway of the bridal show with me this year if she does well in rehearsals. She doesnt always want to hand the ring to my escort though, sometimes she wants to chew on it instead, so I have more work to go.

 

[MonicaMc]

Anyone know their credentials?

Some trainers are self taught, some take training and behavior courses (and have the credentials to prove it) and others go out, watch a trainer without actually learning everything in-depth, then promote said training.

It would be quite interesting to put all the great trainers "head to head" to see what their credentials are and where they learned what they know.

 

[Karigan]

According to their vids and books, the one brother needed money so he thought he'd train the family bird. He did research, thought "I can do that too!" and through trial and error came up with a program that he demonstrates on his brothers magic show birds.

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