Planning for warmer weather

[katie_fleming]

Hello


So one thing that I'd really like to do this Summer (if it ever arrives, we literally just got more snow here in Montreal yesterday uhhhh) is get Jasper outside more. Each year I've tried to bring him to a park at least once a week in his birdie bag, but I'd like to give it some more effort. He's stuck in my apartment so many months of the year. In the Summer I can get him in his small cage on my balcony but I'd like to get him out more.


He's harness trained, but two attempts last year outside of my apartment building didn't go well. He was super spooked by the cars/people (I'm downtown) and flew off a couple of times (still attached to me of course with the harness).


There's a park nearby that I could get to on the bus with him in his birdie bag. I'm wondering about putting him in his harness ahead of time, sticking him in his bag and going there.


Concerns:


1. The park is very busy (living downtown = not a lot of green space so everyone goes to all the green spaces lol) with people and a lot walk their dogs there


2. Getting tangled in his bag if he's in his harness


3. Him being very scared of new people, and in a park people are bound to approach to see a parrot. (Happened on the street only a few feet from my apartment and that's when he flew off. I'd love him to get comfy with people).



Any tips or suggestions? I wish I had access to a backyard but I don't, so I'm trying to work with what I have. I wish I was able to socialize him better when he was younger but the harness training + him being sick took such a long time.


Thank you

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Katie! I didn't see this - so sorry.

I'll address how we've tackled your concerns ourselves, out of order.

If Cairo's in his carrier (Birdie GoGo), it's with his harness on. I just make sure to string the extra length on the outside of his bag, but leave just a little slack inside. He knows how to step over the harness and at most he just starts twisting the line as he keeps turning around. I'm sure Jasper can manage - just give it a try walking down to your apartment lobby and back up to your flat to give it a test run to reassure yourself and him.

As for people and new places, what helped us was being in a quiet neighbourhood, so maybe instead of bringing him to the park, try bringing him to a suburb. We'd walk around the neighbourhood, and every 5 minutes or so, a car would drive through or a person would walk on the other side of the street. I'd quietly talk to him as I saw something - the moment a car would come into view, I'd point it out, "Look, Cairo, a car. The car is going to drive by us down. Are you ready? The car is passing us now. Look, it's gone now." And I'd touch his toes to mentally distract him.

Once he got relaxed with that, as in no longer flinching, we brought him in closer contact with people, so instead of crossing the street if I saw someone, I'd just walk past them while verbally reassuring him and distracting him. Or I'd give him a treat to distract him if I was particularly concerned (like crossing a junction).

You know Jasper and his boundaries (he's absolutely fearless with his toys!!), so you know best when to push and when to bide time to get familiar with things.

Hope to see pics or a vid of you and Jasper having fun outside!!

 

[katie_fleming]

Hey! Thanks for your reply.


That's a really good idea about leaving some of the string outside of the bag, never thought of that. I will definitely do a test to and from the lobby, great idea.


I used to bring him to the lobby (in his harness) and sit on the couch. There were always people coming in and out and I wanted him to get used to "traffic". Of course everyone wanted to come up and see him and he was just spooked the whole time. I haven't done that in about a year now :/


The suburb is a great idea. Unfortunately I'm a bit limited because I don't have a car so it's not easy for me to bring him anywhere. When you had Cairo out, was he in his birdie bag or out on your hand in his harness?


Thanks!

 

[ChristaNL]

( I am reading along, same "problem" here with Sunny: very unsocialized despite her stint in a gardencentre and being exposed to many, many people there / or maybe because of it?? So very gratefull for the ideas/ suggestions from charmed )

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Whoops! I typed everything up and lost it. Let me try again

For people who showed interest in approaching, we would give them a treat (an almond for Cairo) and ask that they slowly offer it to him. Of course, for immature children and suspicious people (someone who might ignore our rules of no touching or no sudden movements), we’d back away with him and explain that he’s shy.

We started off with putting him in his Birdie GoGo when it came to crowded areas or areas that might be risky for non-bombproof birds (sidewalks being too close to the busy road). We did always practice to walk him through less crowded and more spacious areas. Then when he seemed to get less nervous after a few practices, we’d get into more dense areas. When he did get spooked, we’d always reassure him and then act like everything was normal. Whenever I thought that he might start feeling anxious (like when we were about to head into a crowd), I’d distract him by touching his toes.

Another thing that helped is chilling at a cafe. I used to bring him to a Starbucks in the early morning when hardly anyone was around (the people around would be those only interested in jogging and chatting with their jogging-buddy), then as the morning got late, the crowd would slowly increase over several hours. But then, Cairo was more and more relaxed with the environment, especially since I was alternating between surfing on my laptop and training him with his tricks (stacking cups, matching shapes, etc). The rolemodeling helped, I think.

I think it was easy for us because we live on the equator, so it’s basically summer all year round, which means we go on walks almost every other day - at minimum twice a week. Now, he only goes into his Birdie GoGo when we’re cycling or in a car or indoors that’s not our house.

Lately, he’s only spooked off by a few things now that we’re working on. Electric scooters spooks him because he can’t hear them before they whiz past, so I just point it out to him and make sure he actually sees it, then we’re ok. Flat moving dollies (that rattling sound) scares him, so I start making our funny sound that he likes to imitate back (rolling your tongue for an “rr” sound) and distract him with his toes. And he’s a bit racist - one of the waitstaff at a restaurant (I can’t translate this concept well into English, so this word will have to work) we used to go to silently approached us from behind and tried to grab him (the guy tried this two separate times we went there), so he used to be very nervous around people that look like the waiter - now he’s just very selective.

I do notice, though, that if we haven’t had the chance to go out for a few weeks, I do have to take the first few minutes of our outing a bit more relaxed, so he can remember how things go.

 

[katie_fleming]

This has been super helpful, thank you! You're so lucky where you live. Right when it felt like I made progress with Jasper, fall hit and then it was too cold to take him out. We have loooooooong Winters here. I think it must have been September the last time he was outside. And it's still too cold right now.


I used to bring him to a coffee shop as well on their patio in his birdie bag. He was getting a bit better, but like I said, Fall happens and then it's ages again.


I will have to be more diligent getting him out bit by bit in his bag. I'll try your suggestion with the harness as well hanging outside.


Thank you very much for all of your suggestions! Greatly appreciated.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Happy to help where I can! I learned a lot when I first came to the forum from reading your journey with Jasper. Glad to hear you guys are doing well