How important is training?

[CowardMan]

So I just wanted to get an idea for how important it is to be training birds. I know stepping up is an important thing to teach but generally how important is training to a bird? I'm not fussed about pets knowing tricks, it's just something that I've never been fussed by over the years with family dogs and cats, the only ones I know have been important are calling them to you and how to take food gently from the hand. Would you guys say that those basics are all that is needed or do birds need to have lots of training to know how to perform different things like rolling on their back or waving and similar things?

 

[corkscr.ew]

Trick training isn’t too important in my opinion, although the mental enrichment that it provides is hard to overlook. The only aspect of training that I find absolutely necessary is communication between owner and bird. Your bird should have at least a basic level of trust in you. Desensitization and recall training are also important for safety reasons, but they come second to building a trust bond IMO.

 

[CowardMan]

Trick training isn’t too important in my opinion, although the mental enrichment that it provides is hard to overlook. The only aspect of training that I find absolutely necessary is communication between owner and bird. Your bird should have at least a basic level of trust in you. Desensitization and recall training are also important for safety reasons, but they come second to building a trust bond IMO.

that's good sounds like how I think it should be, stepping up and recalling are the things they need to learn just to be happy and safe, similar to dogs with recalling and sitting. Anything else is secondary but for bonding I much prefer play and general interacting

 

[wrench13]

Sorr, I disagree. Trick training is a great way to build bonds and communication with your parrot. Check out some of my videos with Salty, below. He is so eager for trick training time, every nite, and has been for many years!

 

[corkscr.ew]

Sorr, I disagree. Trick training is a great way to build bonds and communication with your parrot. Check out some of my videos with Salty, below. He is so eager for trick training time, every nite, and has been for many years!

I agree with that. It definitely has great benefits; I just don’t personally make it a priority.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Sorr, I disagree. Trick training is a great way to build bonds and communication with your parrot. Check out some of my videos with Salty, below. He is so eager for trick training time, every nite, and has been for many years!

But Salty is a professional with a pro for a parront! Most of our birds are mere mortals and so are their parrots.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

My favorite budgie trainer is the great Norman Barrett and his Zippo Circus trained budgie circus show! He has the most amazing troupe of performing trained budgies in the UK. Gotta watch on YouTube! They make my charming budgies look . . . less than smart.

 

[rheashard2]

Basic training,; step up, come here, inside (for cage and carrier), riding in carrier, wearing a avian harness, (optional but recommended), not fearful of towel for vet and necessary things are the musts. I also have mine tolerant of car rides, being gawked at (but no touch) of strangers. Trick training takes a lot of patience and dependent upon bird and your mentality. My CAG trained me to hate the clicker. She'd click, tell me to step up and laugh. I threw clicker in junk drawer. I am envious of those who can train their feathered friends.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Wellllllllllllllllllllllll... pay attention to the PF adults, above, or be like me. I have spoiled, indulged and rewarded bad behavior in The Rckeybird. For 40 years. Consequently, he is an unpredictable terror. But I loved him. Why stop now?
Actually, now that he's old, he's a better pet. He can no longer fly around the room, illusive and our of reach. He's not as fast or agile (neither ami I!) in abusing me. He naps more. He seems to take less offense at former adversaries... phones, small gadgets, the grandfather clock, my husband)...

 

[CowardMan]

Basic training,; step up, come here, inside (for cage and carrier), riding in carrier, wearing a avian harness, (optional but recommended), not fearful of towel for vet and necessary things are the musts. I also have mine tolerant of car rides, being gawked at (but no touch) of strangers. Trick training takes a lot of patience and dependent upon bird and your mentality. My CAG trained me to hate the clicker. She'd click, tell me to step up and laugh. I threw clicker in junk drawer. I am envious of those who can train their feathered friends.

yep all those basics sound good to me, I do have a harness and a carrier in my amazon basket as there's some lovely walks round me which I'm sure any fid I get would enjoy coming with

 

[Macawdamia Nut]

When I got my macaw in the 1970s, harness training was not a thing. I seem to recall trying to put one of these novel contraptions on the 1990s. Needless to say, it was a failure. I remember ordering roller skates for my bird in the early 1980s from an ad in the back of Bird Talk magazine. That experiment did not go well, either.

My bird steps up like a champion and comes when called. As he was a wild-caught adult when he came into my care, no way, no how would he willingly lie on his back. I can cradle him like a baby sometimes, but he is not a fan. Toweling? Only the vet does it for nail trims and it is a highly stressful situation! I am afraid my 50-ish bird will have a heart attack at the vet’s office. He has already had 2 dislocated toes. I have started trimming one toenail per day or week with nail clippers just to take off the sharp tips. My bird never tries to bite me, but he wrestles with the nail clippers! I have a Dremel tool just like the vet has, but he hates it as well.

If I could teach my bird one trick, it would be to calmly hold out his foot for a proper, relaxing pedicure!!! We are working on it.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I've seen videos of cockatoos that allow that but in general birds don't like people messing with their feet! But it's so necessary sometimes. When my budgies' toenails get too long and sharp they get snagged in most fabrics and then flap like mad trying to fly off with their foot stuck in the cloth. And when I try to get the trapped toenail loose they bite me like I'm trying to rip their leg off! Off to the vet for a 5 minute nail trim and all is well for another few months. At about $20 it's a bargain but when you have 5 or 6 that need pedicures i's hard to pack up all those budgies at once into carriers for a group nail trim!

 

[rheashard2]

Avian pedicures is a vet cost, I don't begrudge him. Let him/her earn the irritation, growling, dislike and so on. I am the heroine who rescues, gives cuddles, sympathy etc. I do have her trained to let me look at and handle her toes. I want her used to that in case I need a close look.