She's Flying!!!!!

[Molcan2]

Thats the funny thing about these guys. Their so intelligent that their own personality has to be taken into account when training. When Rome had the capability of flight she only did it at her own will or if she was scared. She only would fly to two specific spots, if in the house she always would land on the stove (which is why I'm so neurotic about not cooking anything if their loose inside) and if shes outside she would fly onto the screen door. Once there she doesnt know how to get down and would stay there until I got home. If i put her on a stand that she is scared of then she would fly to me but I didn't want flight to be associated with fear, so she is difficult when it comes to flight training. Rocco is so food motivated that hes a breeze. I'm hoping that when Rome's feathers come in that the aviary will be done. I'm crossing my fingers that she will start to fly on her own initiative in the aviary and then I can develop the behavior. I don't want her to feel pressured or forced - shes already an emotional basket case. Rocco on the other hand gives me hope, he seems to want to do it which excites me.

 

[MaraWentz]

Once you get Rocco trained down pack use hima s role model. Once he is expert start taking them out together and train Rocco first in front of Rome

 

[Molcan2]

Thats a good idea, I hoping that she would be more encouraged with him around.

 

[MaraWentz]

That helps with training any animal from dogs to birds lol, mainly because they have pack mentality

 

[Mare Miller]

What is "recall", exactly? Is it where when you call to your bird, he comes to you? Does it require a device, like a clicker?

 

[Molcan2]

Yep, or at least that is what you want to happen

 

[MaraWentz]

I used a clicker at first becsue i did clicker training with her so that when I made a click noise she knew she preformed the command correctly and was going to get praise or a treat. Its not required but it clears up the confsion for the birds on what theyre supoosed to be doing

 

[taylor_]

Funny, never thought about teaching any of mine, figured they'd start flying when they were ready, not to mention how many years they be flying as opposed to NOT flying. Oh, and as a side note....having a GW perch on your shoulder and "exercise" it's wings I would expect feels like being attacked by a ceiling fan...:30::32:

crowley is tiny and he's flapped his wings on my shoulder and i've gotten hit in the face and it's NOT comfortable. i can't imagine a bigger bird doing it! lol.

 

[MaraWentz]

much more painful- I'm more scared of getting hit with a wing than being bit

 

[WharfRat]

Taylor, we have an expression in our house for this, I just can't say it on here

 

[Molcan2]

I dont use a clicker but I dont use clickers for anything. They do work well for other people though and I've seen that birds respond well to clicker training. I just use voice command and a treat immediately after I get the response that I want. I try to use something that I can picture myself yelling through the neighborhood should they fly too far.

 

[lene1949]

Unfortunately birds are a lot more difficult to find than dogs, if they don't want to come, when called...

 

[luvmytooo]

I dont use a clicker but I dont use clickers for anything. They do work well for other people though and I've seen that birds respond well to clicker training. I just use voice command and a treat immediately after I get the response that I want. I try to use something that I can picture myself yelling through the neighborhood should they fly too far.

Absolutely ! Some of us the clicker to "mark" he behavior because it's quicker then getting the right word out like "yes" on time.
Molcan2 , your are basically teaching a " reliable recall" which is awesome !
One special , easy to remember word that we will only use when we need them to come "immediately". Which is what we want all the time .
Just make sure that the treat or praise is "worth coming back to" .