Is this a good or bad way to curb stubbornness?

[ivysaur]

Ivy screams a lot when I leave the room, so I try to take her around with me--why not make us both happy? Love my little shoulder buddy!

Sometimes, she doesn't want to step up to come with me, but if I leave her she'll be mad. So to remind her why she should step up, I act like I'm going to leave. She chases after me looking all dejected and then steps up with gusto.

Is this a good idea, or am I reinforcing something or being mean? Any input would be great.

 

[paulhanlon]

If she's screaming when you leave the room and you go back to get her your encouraging this behaviour and she will keep doing it when you leave the room and she starts screaming just ignore her and she will start to learn oh well my screaming is getting me no attention and eventually she will stop

 

[MaraWentz]

I cant say I agree. That works with things they do like biting to get immediate results, but screaming when some one isn't there doesnt necessarily apply. I went whole week ignoring my goffin when she screamed and she never stopped bu got worst. WE started checking litle things like water, and food. TEH screaming stopped, then it'd start, so we'd open her cage door, then itd stop for a nother few days, then itd start, so we played with hre for a bit, then it stopped, then started again while playing with her, so we put her back and she continued to scream fro HOURS (we fig. she'd get sore or tired- not the case) and the longer we ignored the less hours in between her yellign fits there were to the point we had to rehome her because our new landlord couldnt take it

 

[friedsoup]

Ignoring just doesn't work if most of the time let her know that if she screams and you come back it won't be to let her out look around say whats wrong your ok and walk away again if she starts tell her ok Nite Nite and cover her until she is quiet for 3 minutes then uncover and walk away again if she start say Nite Nite? and start for the cage cover she will learn if she screams you'll come back and cover her not her favorite past time.

 

[Parrotmamma]

I think it's fine .....I kinda do that with my GCC. She does not scream for me, but if I need her to step up and go to a different room with me and if for some reason she is in one of her " I'm happy where I'm at" kinda moods then I act like I'm leaving the room and in about 2 seconds she is flying to my shoulder all ready to go...lol

 

[ivysaur]

I think it's fine .....I kinda do that with my GCC. She does not scream for me, but if I need her to step up and go to a different room with me and if for some reason she is in one of her " I'm happy where I'm at" kinda moods then I act like I'm leaving the room and in about 2 seconds she is flying to my shoulder all ready to go...lol

Thanks! Yes, I was talking about getting her to step up, not the screaming. Just making sure pretending to leave her behind wouldn't scar her for life or something haha.

 

[greycloud]

If you want her to not scream it is best to reward good behavior before the scream occurs. So work on step ups with positive reinforcement to help control the screaming. On that note, it is always important to teach your parrot that it will be fine without being on and with you 100% of the time. She needs to learn to play on her own so reward her for any positive behavior along these lines. It will eventually kick in!

 

[dishgal1]

I think it's fine .....I kinda do that with my GCC. She does not scream for me, but if I need her to step up and go to a different room with me and if for some reason she is in one of her " I'm happy where I'm at" kinda moods then I act like I'm leaving the room and in about 2 seconds she is flying to my shoulder all ready to go...lol

Thanks! Yes, I was talking about getting her to step up, not the screaming. Just making sure pretending to leave her behind wouldn't scar her for life or something haha.

You aren't scarring her. Mine does the same thing. They are like 2 year olds. They want to be with you but want to be begged. LOL Everything is on their terms it seems.

 

[IgnisSol]

I cant say I agree. That works with things they do like biting to get immediate results, but screaming when some one isn't there doesnt necessarily apply. I went whole week ignoring my goffin when she screamed and she never stopped bu got worst. WE started checking litle things like water, and food. TEH screaming stopped, then it'd start, so we'd open her cage door, then itd stop for a nother few days, then itd start, so we played with hre for a bit, then it stopped, then started again while playing with her, so we put her back and she continued to scream fro HOURS (we fig. she'd get sore or tired- not the case) and the longer we ignored the less hours in between her yellign fits there were to the point we had to rehome her because our new landlord couldnt take it

This situation is common... We you decided to use this method it requires you to comit 100% ! And always remember it always gets worse before it gets better.

So during that time they are acting worst than ever is called the extinction burst, this is the part that will either resolve the whole problem, they run their fit get nothing from it so they stop and are rewarded for stoping... Or they throw their fit, the owner or trainer say this isn't working so they give into what the bird wants to stop the fit and the bird learns that the harder and longer the fight for it the human gives in, and the next time you try this it will 10,000 times harder

 

[MaraWentz]

If it's screaming for attention ignoring works but sometimes it goes beyond attention. We went through a mini screaming fit with our rtfm and it was for attention and we ignored it and it went away. Blossom our goffin could be ignored and scream for 3 to 4 hours straight only taking a break to eat before starting again. So we fixed all the problems we saw- water, fed, light, containment, attention, and had no result.

 

[MaraWentz]

It stopped immediately upon moving to a new home.

 

[CathnPoe]

Best "Stop Screaming" articles:
How Do I Stop My Bird Screaming Problem? | Tracie Irvine
Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Stop your Parrot from Screaming for Attention
Stop The Squawk

Hope they help.