charmedbyekkie
New member
Just want to post this for those who are interested and as an alternative to those who believe leg chains is the only way.
Soooo Cairo came to us relatively stationary trained by sheer fact that he used to be leg chained to a perch. Now, we did away with the leg chain once we adopted him, and with that stationary training became more 'optional stationary' which became more 'try to get the bird not to go to areas he should not go' (which comes off as more negative reinforcement). Not good when you've a fearless adventurer who loves hunting for new textures to chew.
He's a born flyer and gets bored too easily (favourite toys are only favourite for max 1 week if we're lucky). Locals told me to just chain him to the stand, which is not going to work with this rambunctious boy (not to mention I don't stand by leg chains).
So off we went, trying to teach him, which meant I had to lay down some ground rules for the humans.
Human Rules:
The first training session consisted of me standing next to his stand and feeding him treats every few seconds. I made the treats bigger if he was engaging with a toy or his hoops to encourage him to play by himself on the stand.
Over the span of a few minutes, I slowly moved further and further away from the stand and slowly shifted my body from facing him to angling away from him, but returned frequently to give treats for staying there.
I would also keep an eye out if he started looking like he wanted to fly off (looking around and leaning forward), I would step in the way, causing him to shift body language into a more sitting/staying position, and then give him a treat the moment that body language had changed.
I gradually and purposefully moved to stand next to one of the places he likes to go (but is forbidden from going). If he landed on that forbidden place, I would at first ask him to fly back to the perch (which I've already trained beforehand), then reward the action with a treat. After the first couple of times of sending him back to the perch, I would then ignore him and wait until he returned to the perch by himself, then I would treat him.
Next, I sat with my back facing him, doing my work, but turning around every once in a while to treat him. He slowly learned that Ma has eyes on the back of her head.
Now we're at the stage where he will immediately fly there when I let him out of his cage and expect a treat. He will play there and even wait there if I go to another room, then pause and let out a call. "Uh oh" (my name in Cairo-speak) means he wants to see and interact with me a little. "Hello" means he's expecting a treat for being a good boy (whether for staying there or for going potty there). He will wait, then call one more time in case I didn't hear the first time. If I don't respond with a treat by the second time, he'll fly off (which is him being typical mercenary Cairo).
He clearly makes decisions. Sometimes, he gets tempted and flies off from his designated area; he'll land somewhere he isn't supposed to be, pause, look around (but not engage with anything there), and then fly back to his perch. When he flies off, I don't look at him directly - just try to keep an eye out from the corner of my eye, then immediately reward him when he returns to his perch. Sure, he's probably thinking I'm rewarding him for the round trip, but I want to reward every choice he makes that brings him to staying on the playstand.
I must say, though, this by far is more agreeable to him screaming in his cage (he will literally just relax, look out the window, and scream, despite us having trained him to use nice words to contact call and summon us). My only concern is when we all go back to work and he'll be spending more time in his cage again.
Soooo Cairo came to us relatively stationary trained by sheer fact that he used to be leg chained to a perch. Now, we did away with the leg chain once we adopted him, and with that stationary training became more 'optional stationary' which became more 'try to get the bird not to go to areas he should not go' (which comes off as more negative reinforcement). Not good when you've a fearless adventurer who loves hunting for new textures to chew.
He's a born flyer and gets bored too easily (favourite toys are only favourite for max 1 week if we're lucky). Locals told me to just chain him to the stand, which is not going to work with this rambunctious boy (not to mention I don't stand by leg chains).
So off we went, trying to teach him, which meant I had to lay down some ground rules for the humans.
Human Rules:
- do not feed the bird treats when he is away from the stand unless he is doing something you asked him (e.g., step up, wave, shake, talk, etc), even then he should be on your shoulder and not another 'perch', so he doesn't get the idea that all places are training/treat-giving perches
- do not leave treats lying around the house (if you leave a treat on a table, it is your fault that he sees that table as a place he can and should go to).
- do not interact or give attention if he goes somewhere that is not his designated perch, but do ask him to return to his designated stand if he is going to do something not OK
- observe his cues and body language to preempt him leaving his stand
- whenever the bird is on his designated perch, make sure it stays his safe-zone (i.e., do not do things that make him uncomfortable like push his boundaries unless specifically training - my partner and I sometimes swoop in for a quick 'cuddle' session which is just a quick annoying but tolerated touch)
- give him options for the playstand - have both a whole body engaging hoop that he can climb and flip upside on AND a toy that has multiple textures (leather knots he can undo, wooden blocks to chew, solid plastic he can grab with his feet)
The first training session consisted of me standing next to his stand and feeding him treats every few seconds. I made the treats bigger if he was engaging with a toy or his hoops to encourage him to play by himself on the stand.
Over the span of a few minutes, I slowly moved further and further away from the stand and slowly shifted my body from facing him to angling away from him, but returned frequently to give treats for staying there.
I would also keep an eye out if he started looking like he wanted to fly off (looking around and leaning forward), I would step in the way, causing him to shift body language into a more sitting/staying position, and then give him a treat the moment that body language had changed.
I gradually and purposefully moved to stand next to one of the places he likes to go (but is forbidden from going). If he landed on that forbidden place, I would at first ask him to fly back to the perch (which I've already trained beforehand), then reward the action with a treat. After the first couple of times of sending him back to the perch, I would then ignore him and wait until he returned to the perch by himself, then I would treat him.
Next, I sat with my back facing him, doing my work, but turning around every once in a while to treat him. He slowly learned that Ma has eyes on the back of her head.
Now we're at the stage where he will immediately fly there when I let him out of his cage and expect a treat. He will play there and even wait there if I go to another room, then pause and let out a call. "Uh oh" (my name in Cairo-speak) means he wants to see and interact with me a little. "Hello" means he's expecting a treat for being a good boy (whether for staying there or for going potty there). He will wait, then call one more time in case I didn't hear the first time. If I don't respond with a treat by the second time, he'll fly off (which is him being typical mercenary Cairo).
He clearly makes decisions. Sometimes, he gets tempted and flies off from his designated area; he'll land somewhere he isn't supposed to be, pause, look around (but not engage with anything there), and then fly back to his perch. When he flies off, I don't look at him directly - just try to keep an eye out from the corner of my eye, then immediately reward him when he returns to his perch. Sure, he's probably thinking I'm rewarding him for the round trip, but I want to reward every choice he makes that brings him to staying on the playstand.
I must say, though, this by far is more agreeable to him screaming in his cage (he will literally just relax, look out the window, and scream, despite us having trained him to use nice words to contact call and summon us). My only concern is when we all go back to work and he'll be spending more time in his cage again.
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