Shoulder attachment

[Bastian]

Hey everyone!

So I have a young GCC named Samson and we've been working on our relationship and building trust with each other. These past couple days he's made some breakthroughs and will let me scritch his neck and head and he gets super into it.

I've really been trying to work on step up, and he's definitely improving. But this is only when he is going from cage to me or floor / perch to me. Getting him off of my shoulder is impossible. I don't want to grab him up because I'm worried about how he will associate my hands-- we already had some trouble because Ive been needing to towel him in order to administer some meds. But he will not come from my shoulder to my hand. I often back up towards the entrance of his cage or the perch that I'm trying to get him to sit on so we can practice step up and step down and it's a really big hassle of me almost needing to kind of push / nudge him off.

When we're working on step up training he's gotten better with it, but I can't really do a good session of training because once he's up he won't come down unless I wipe him off like I've kind of described before. When he's finally on my finger he doesn't accept any treat and is really focused on getting to my shoulder. Often he will fly from my finger to my shoulder before I can do anything.

So I've been trying to block his way to my shoulder, but this just turns into a wrestling match basically and we both get frustrated.

Does anyone have any suggestions or hopeful stories? He spends lots of time sitting on my shoulder, so maybe I've done some damage there? But I don't know how else I can spend time with him right now, and he really loves to be there.

 

[CherylCali]

I would try taking step up training back to the very beginning, and use perches to re-train stepping up, rather than your hand. I would at the same time work on stepping down.

Once those are mastered you should be able to get Samson to step up or down from your shoulder. It will take time and disciple on both of your parts


CherylCali

 

[Scott]

The granting of shoulder privileges is a sign of complete trust by you, and it ought be met by a willingness for him to dismount. Easier said than done! Most of mine will always step-up willingly, though will often climb down to the center of my back when unwilling. Fortunately I can reach behind with the magical hand and remove them.

Totally agree with the advice of CherylCali.

 

[Notdumasilook]

Personally I wouldn't have an issue just wrapping my hands around him and taking him off my shoulder. My birds learn that quick and they darn sure are not hand scared. I can pick up my Amazon like a football, no biggie, and my lil Booger (SConure) .. I pick him up like a coke bottle and he gives me sugar. He also gets meds twice a day and I get no protest from him at all. Its a matter of trust being established. They know Im not gonna hurt em so handling them is no big deal.
I understand you are having to towel him to give him meds..?? You can make it easier and not such a battle by making being "toweled" a pleasant time for him. ive managed to get Booger to where I think he actually looks forward to it. Not sure what kind of med you are giving but if you top off the dose with just a lil Karo syrup they regard the meds as more of a treat . Also... if you use your lil dishrag/towel when playing with your bird they will get to where they are not scared of that.. so you kill 2 birds (pardon the pun) with one stone. Be patient but trust me it works... The bird loses fear of the "towel"... has no fear of your hands.... PLUS looks at the med as a "goodie". It wont happens in one or 2 sessions but it wont take long...they learn quick!! The key is establishing trust. You already have a great start cuz he WANTS to be on your shoulder.... good luck

 

[Tammie]

I wish I can Oliver to STAY on my shoulder. It seems he has a hard time holding on. Maybe he just have it down yet. He is only just going on 5 months. It's like he doesn't grasp onto me, just kinda slides around, and slips. I would love to have him on harness and tote him around the house on my shoulder not worrying about him flying off into dog territory. Lol! He loves to be in other parts of the house, but I need to teach him to stay on my shoulder somehow, and NOT on top of my head! He loves that too, however, I do not. Not too fond of poop in my hair. Lol! Any suggestions on this?

 

[DRB]

I wonder how much of the handling of a bird with the hands has to do with the breed?

I can pet my Perjo down her back all day long, I can rub her face and head all day long. But there are days when she tries to prevent me from doing so, I'll try again a minute later and same thing. She's a young CAG and is a one person bird, so I contribute her occasional insistence on those two factors, b/c we are well bonded in general.

She loves my shoulder, and will come down when enticed or wants down, but sometimes she runs to the other shoulder when I say "get down?". It can be a minute long discussion to convince her when she's in the mood to be up there.

 

[wrench13]

I wish I can Oliver to STAY on my shoulder. It seems he has a hard time holding on. Maybe he just have it down yet. He is only just going on 5 months. It's like he doesn't grasp onto me, just kinda slides around, and slips. I would love to have him on harness and tote him around the house on my shoulder not worrying about him flying off into dog territory. Lol! He loves to be in other parts of the house, but I need to teach him to stay on my shoulder somehow, and NOT on top of my head! He loves that too, however, I do not. Not too fond of poop in my hair. Lol! Any suggestions on this?

Please start a new thread on your problem, otherwise the OP may get conflicting information. Thank you. You'll get grate advice, never fear.

 

[SailBoat]

The granting of shoulder privileges is a sign of complete trust by you, and it ought be met by a willingness for him to dismount. Easier said than done! Most of mine will always step-up willingly, though will often climb down to the center of my back when unwilling. Fortunately I can reach behind with the magical hand and remove them.

Totally agree with the advice of CherylCali.

Only a Parrot that can be trusted should be allowed on a Shoulder! The Neck contains critical support systems that if injured /damaged could result in serious injury /death. Example: Simple compression of specific areas of neck can result in a Human quickly passing-out.

At first, our Parrots don't connect our face with our hands. At best, they see our hands as close friends of our Head, since they seem to always be around. I find that when working with a Parrot, that I keep my hands close /near by my face.

I do not see that having your Parrot on your Shoulder has caused any serious or lasting problems. Only that you will need to establish that Shoulder time is a very special reward. Understand that nearly all Parrots want to move to the highest location. Plus being on a Shoulder and close to the neck greatly reduces their being seen. Kind of like blending in with the Human. Add to it, that they quickly pick-up on the difficulty Humans have in getting them off the Shoulder. All of which, makes this a great place to hide.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Only a Parrot that can be trusted should be allowed on a Shoulder! The Neck contains critical support systems that if injured /damaged could result in serious injury /death. Example: Simple compression of specific areas of neck can result in a Human quickly passing-out.

At first, our Parrots don't connect our face with our hands. At best, they see our hands as close friends of our Head, since they seem to always be around. I find that when working with a Parrot, that I keep my hands close /near by my face.

I do not see that having your Parrot on your Shoulder has caused any serious or lasting problems. Only that you will need to establish that Shoulder time is a very special reward. Understand that nearly all Parrots want to move to the highest location. Plus being on a Shoulder and close to the neck greatly reduces their being seen. Kind of like blending in with the Human. Add to it, that they quickly pick-up on the difficulty Humans have in getting them off the Shoulder. All of which, makes this a great place to hide.

That is a helpful explanation. I figured the reason the bird runs up to the shoulder was because it was the highest branch on the human, but it didn't occur to me that it was a good hiding place.

 

[Flboy]

My JoJo was the same way in the beginning, not wanting off my shoulder. Plus he was very hand shy, spent 8 months in an open pit, being groped by every passing human! Good at stepping up, but terrified at being grabbed.
My method,leaning slightly forward, I would sweep both hands over my shoulders. No chasing from side to side!

 

[Anansi]

My preferred method for this is to work on target training. The more of a positive experience target training becomes for them, the more that they want to go where you ask. Also, one of the most important things here is to establish that coming off of your shoulder does not automatically equal returning to the cage or staying off of you. If you start to do exercises where your bird comes off of your shoulder, is rewarded, and then goes right back on, being taken off will eventually no longer be seen as necessarily a bad thing.

Might take some time, but they eventually come around.

 

[Printer bird]

I agree with Anansi. I had your same problem with my GCC who was a re-home and had not had any proper training. I worked at target training and that allowed me to reliably move him from my shoulder (or to wherever I wanted him to go). It also helped Charlie trust me and understand me more as he "got" what I meant when I asked him to move from one place to another. Give it a go - Charlie picked it up really quickly and it made training 100% easier.