Right now Salty is.....

[wrench13]

In honor the 1000'th post to Saltys thread, and him loving the new chop, we are skipping trainingtonight. Salty will just get some treaties and get to just hang out.

 

[wrench13]

Can't wait for Spring and resonaable temperatures, so Salty can get some fresh air. He has become such a champ on putting his harness on (and he gets a treat for doing that) but the real treat will be going outside for a drive and then time in our little, favorite pocket park.

Come on, Spring !

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

If you ever figure out how to bottle that Salty thang, man, I'll take a gallon. No, not for me, for the Bird. lol

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Amy's mansion sits by the living room bay window facing the east side. I have heard him lately saying "outside..in the car" hes getting anxious too! C'mon spring!!!


Jim

 

[wrench13]

Rival when we where considering a new parrot after Max died, we look and checked out several different species. Yellow naped Amazon I like them but 2 big 4 Jerry. We did a lot of research on different species and the yellow shoulder Amazon sounded like and ideal parrot. Salty has lived up 2 everything we red about them. Smaller then the hot 3 and a lot mellower. Just as smart and almost as good a singer and talker as the hot three..

 

[LeaKP]

You all make me want to find an Amazon!!! Salty is the perfect fit for y’all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Scott]

:smile022: Congratulations Al and Salty!!! :smile022:

 

[Tami2]

Can't wait for Spring and resonaable temperatures, so Salty can get some fresh air. He has become such a champ on putting his harness on (and he gets a treat for doing that) but the real treat will be going outside for a drive and then time in our little, favorite pocket park.

Come on, Spring !

Hey Wrench.
Once you got the harness on Salty, how long did he try to remove it from his body?
I'm sure once I get it on Levi he will totally try to bite & struggle to remove it.

 

[wrench13]

Tami we went thru 1 harness fo the first 6 months or so, becsue Salty would chew n one of the straps. But he never struggled once it was on. I got clawed a few times putting it on plus I take blood thinners for medical reaasons, when I get scratched it usually looks worse than it is.

But I read on here on a good way to get Salty to voluntarilly put his head thru the loop. Make the straps long enough to easily go over Levi's wings but not so loose that he trips on the straps. Then, at the edge of a table hold the loop and the rest of the harness open with 2 fingers and present a small bowl full of Levi's favorite treat (Salty's is pine nuts) and Levi will get the message that ignoring the harness lets him get to the treats. Once his head is thru, slide the straps over his wings. The idea is to get him use to the weight and feel of the harness. He gets un restricted treats at first. Once he is OK with doing this, its a small step to leave the straps loose enough to now open them up and slide his wings thru and tighen up the strap. Its a slow process and may take a few months of nightly training, but this method is way less stressful to the parrot. I make Salty walk all over the table, come up on my hand and even shake hands with the harness on, just so he is used to it. Levi is smart , he will pick up on this pretty easily. Good luck.

 

[Tami2]

THANK YOU Wrench!

Yes, I do use a large opening. He is putting his head all the way through. That's basically where we are at. I have considered, that I'll probably need a second harness.
So, thanks for confirming that and for your advice. :smile049:

Have a great day!

 

[wrench13]

I need to make a small video showing exactly what we are doing to get the harness on Salty, as my description may be less than clear for some folks. Once he has it on, we also ask him to walk around the training table (our coffee table) , step up onto my hand, shake hands and giv high five, all tricks and actions he will need to do once the real deal occurs. Also , very important is to have a specific word and hand signal for removing the harness, since that can also scare the parrot if done clumsilly or without warning. Keep the treats flowing at any point where Levi is doing what is requested. We use the buzzer sound ( EEEEHHHHHNNN) when he tries to bite or chew on the harness. As I said, we went thru 1 harness from when we started to the point where we can go outside and enjoy the fresh air without Salty trying to chew his way out of the harness. Now he pretty much ignores it once it is on.

 

[wrench13]

Salty is going thru a phase i guess, as all he wants to do is play play play, and he was always a rough houser. Oh he still wants his scratchies at key points in his day, but he jumps to me and hangs off my shirt into my arms and goes on his back so I can tickle and tease him. He occasionally goes into overload mode and the fun must stop for awhile, but it takes a lot to set him off into that mode.

Also, he has been practicing his piano like a good boy and it is a really funny trick. He walks up and down on the keyboard on this toy babygrand piano I bought online, stamping his feet to trigger the notes. He is a very musical parrot, not surprising with all the time he has spent in our studio downstairs, listening to the band practice. I have to video this too.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Al buddy...spring is in the air! Amy and I would LOVE to come and visit with you and your flock! Amy is dying to go on a road trip Now that the sun light is really coming thru the bay window he's been saying "outside..in the car" pretty frequently lol. I think this weekend it's suppose to be in the 60's...if it is,it'll be a trip to the local Allpets for supplies and a visit to his buddies, the Green Armed BeeBee's



Jim

 

[wrench13]

Just pick the day Jim, you guys are more than welcome to visit.

 

[wrench13]

Can now put Salty's harness on him 2 or 3 times in one training session. He is like"What else ya got?"

 

[wrench13]

Salty and I went outside for our first outing of spring.Put his harness onwith a minimum of fuss ( and blood). I learned that taking him into our bedroom, with the harness already splayed out on the bed is the best wat to start. He is on unfamilar ground there and it helps distract him from putting he harness on. Once it is on, he pretty much ignores it. We went for a short drive to P## Sm### to replenish toys and Avicake. They love him at the store, as do the typical customers. we had a nice chat with a fellow parront who was really interested in Saltys species and comon traits ( he has a YNA now). It was so nice out that we spent some time in our backyard, watching the goldfish in our pool. Taking the harness off Salty was a breeze, as he just stands calmly on my leg as I loosen up the straps. He got plenty of treats and was a good boy the whole time.

 

[wrench13]

Geri has been waking Salty up with a sung "Good Morning" for awhile now. Over the weekend, we heard him practicing the words Good Morning, and he out and out said it yesterday, interspersed with his usual pre-dinner chatter. He also started to say his name, with long trailing, operatic ending, complete with vibrato -"SalteEeEeEe". That really cracked us up.

 

[SailBoat]

So happy to hear that our Salty continues to expand his abilities and especially his harness comfort, which allows all of you out and about time!

Three Cheers Salty!!!

 

[wrench13]

It was so glorious outside yesterday evening that I had to get Salty into his harness and took a walk and then visited the local P** S***t to replenish his toys. He loves the car rides, I swear if I let him he would hang his head out the window, like a dog does. Salty has been so good with the general public this year so far, stepping up, allowing head scratches and softly holding fingers in his beak. This is great, because I plan on bringing him to a lot of pirate gigs this year, and even doing some nursing home visits, so it is very important that he is mellow around strangers.

Spring is finally here!

 

[GaleriaGila]

In the key of E-flat...

"Salteeeeeeeee-EEEEEEEEEEEEE-eeeeeeeee-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeee!!!!!"