Moving my macaw to new home/training

[josiesmom]

Hi,
I have two issues I would like some input on. The first is a good training manual/method/book/video to get for my 2 year old Macaw. We adopted her on June 1st and I now feel that we are ready to move on to some more "advanced" training. She talks, alot, and will step up. She also is super easy to get into her harness to "walk the bird", but I would like to work on some other things with her as well. She barks when she doesn't want to do something, but whenever I tell her to "stick em up", so will lift her wings and allow me to rub her belly...even if she was barking about something else moments earlier.

My next issue is that we are moving in the next few weeks and she knows something is happening. She always asks to "walk the bird new house" which I have done a few times already. I know she likes it there because she starts barking when we head home. She also goes on to tell me that "Josie good girl". It seems she thinks she is going back to the "old" house because she was bad even though she wasn't. Is there anything I should do to make the transition to the new place easier for her?

Thanks for any input you may have.

 

[Alisana]

Hi,
I have two issues I would like some input on. The first is a good training manual/method/book/video to get for my 2 year old Macaw. We adopted her on June 1st and I now feel that we are ready to move on to some more "advanced" training. She talks, alot, and will step up. She also is super easy to get into her harness to "walk the bird", but I would like to work on some other things with her as well. She barks when she doesn't want to do something, but whenever I tell her to "stick em up", so will lift her wings and allow me to rub her belly...even if she was barking about something else moments earlier.

My next issue is that we are moving in the next few weeks and she knows something is happening. She always asks to "walk the bird new house" which I have done a few times already. I know she likes it there because she starts barking when we head home. She also goes on to tell me that "Josie good girl". It seems she thinks she is going back to the "old" house because she was bad even though she wasn't. Is there anything I should do to make the transition to the new place easier for her?

Thanks for any input you may have.

Training wise some of the resources at Good Bird Inc are quite good. They have books and DVDs.

For the other thing, work with positive reinforcement at home - so she associates that good things happen there too. If she's arriving home and being placed in the cage, or if play time ends when she gets back to the old house, she may assume old house as "end of fun"; so just keep it up for a while longer before putting her away, or just keep the whole experience positive.

Good luck!