Making snarling dog sounds as a way to say BEHAVE?

[crazyforfeathers]

Ok before anyone gets mad at me, I know it sounds bad. I’ve only really tried it maybe 4 or 5 times to my conure. He is a good conure, but sometimes gets carried away with his playful bites. He would bite so hard without knowing it. He also likes to fly to places that is supposed to be off limits to hit due to safety issues. I’ve tried saying NO or distracted him, but those only work for a millisecond and then he’s at it again. I’ve tried time out in his cage but I don’t want to do that unless I really have to. I don’t want him to associate his cage as a place of punishment.

So one day, by accident, he bit me really hard on the neck and I made a noise similar to a dog’s growl or a cartoony version of a dog snarling. He stopped and hid under my shirt. He was well behaved after that. Still played but was more gentle.

So when he repeatedly kept trying to fly to my keyboard and chewing the keys and wires, saying NO did not work. I did the snarl and he flew to my shoulder, all well behaved.

My question is... Do you think this will affect him negatively? Will he think he was being hunted by a predator (me) and lose trust in me? Maybe it will make him nervous in general? So far I have not noticed any fear or repulsion towards me, he acts like his normal self. Obviously I don’t want to keep doing if it has a bad effect on him, but it seems to work really well so I thought I’d ask what people think, maybe someone else have tried this.

PS. I don't own dogs

 

[JerseyWendy]

Your post made me laugh pretty hard! In a good way!

Hey, perhaps you found the birdy word for "NO" which he understands perfectly.

I don't foresee your growling to cause any negative residues, other than that maybe one day it won't deter him any longer....but that's just a guess on my part.

 

[josiesmom]

I think it's cute but I wonder if one day he will make the sound back at you went you want him to do something he doesn't want to do. Let us know if that happens...lol

 

[ann]

Lol i can relate to the nonstop on the go conure attitude, they definately get carried away. Anyway, That's a tricky one...even though you made the noise, he sought safety in you (under your shirt and on your shoulder). It seems OK because he is behaving as usual and is still friendly towards you, however I don't think using fear is a good way to control him. I understand how frustrating birds can be, especially adolescent conues but there are other ways. Think of what he wants most or is trying to get at the time he bites you. When he bites, take it away. If he is playing and gets too rough stop playing with him and firmly say "no". Good luck!

 

[chippy]

I make an unpleasant noise when my dog or any of the birds acts up and, when you think about it, it's what Mama dogs, Mama birds etc do...they give them a cuff and/or growl/ squawk at them... none of my pets have ever been in fear, just a healthy respect.

 

[BillsBirds]

To birds, our languages are just sounds and noise that they learn to associate with actions. Good and bad. They don't speak English, so, "NO!" is just a sound, like "BAM!", or "YELLOW!" would be. They learn what you teach them. I don't think he's reacting to the noise itself, as much as your emotional input into the sound. I doubt that he knows a growl is really any different than a strong "NO!".

 

[aliray]

I may have to try that, snarl, growl

 

[Tonia]

I think it's cute but I wonder if one day he will make the sound back at you went you want him to do something he doesn't want to do. Let us know if that happens...lol

...hahahahaha!!! That's funny!! Always a work in progress with these feather-butts

~~Tonia & Annelise

 

[LoriBabies]

Glad I'm not the only one that makes strange noises to dissuade bad behaviour. For me its a sharp ah-ah-ah. It is seemingly the only thing that works, but it works well for both, whether its stopping them chewing on my jewellery or landing on the television.

Pistachio (my oldest bird) has started doing it back to me when I take his food bowl out of his cage to clean lol.

 

[MikeyTN]

If I make strange noises my birds just look at me funny, some would say What, one would coo, one looks at me straight in the face, one starts dancing, one would look at my side ways and go grrrrrrr....lol

 

[goalerjones]

I will hiss at Hahnzel when he gets too beaky and my hands are full.