charmedbyekkie
New member
So most folks around here know how I trained Cairo to take to an Aviator harness (fed him treats through the loop, then slowly increased how far through his beak had to go into the loop to get a treat).
And we had always done it with him sticking his head forward, sometimes he would lean into it.
Then a few months ago, when his hormones really picked up, he would make this upset growl/whine and jab his beak at the harness. I would just show him the harness, and he would start bobbing his head towards it. I thought it was because I hadn’t done harness training independent of bringing him out for walks and whatnot. And we had a few days where I had to do a mini training session before we could go outside. I completely blamed myself for just using being busy as a lazy excuse.
Then one day, his perch was lower than usual, and I tried putting the harness on him from above. He did a silent head bobbing movement upwards just like how he used to go after his baby formula syringe - and it slipped right on.
It dawned on me.
That upset growl/whine and jabbing with his beak is what he would do when he was upset that the baby formula was the wrong temperature or consistency (or the wrong food in the syringe).
Ever since then, he happily slips the harness on if I position the treat and the harness like he’s going to get fed from above like a baby. The moment I try to slip it on from the front (rather than from above), he gets upset. We've been doing it for the past couple of weeks; even when he's angsty-hormonal, he is more than happy to put on the harness this baby way.
I honestly don’t know what to think about it. Good or bad? In any case, he still accepts the harness, just in a funny way. I try to do parrot-led training I guess
And we had always done it with him sticking his head forward, sometimes he would lean into it.
Then a few months ago, when his hormones really picked up, he would make this upset growl/whine and jab his beak at the harness. I would just show him the harness, and he would start bobbing his head towards it. I thought it was because I hadn’t done harness training independent of bringing him out for walks and whatnot. And we had a few days where I had to do a mini training session before we could go outside. I completely blamed myself for just using being busy as a lazy excuse.
Then one day, his perch was lower than usual, and I tried putting the harness on him from above. He did a silent head bobbing movement upwards just like how he used to go after his baby formula syringe - and it slipped right on.
It dawned on me.
That upset growl/whine and jabbing with his beak is what he would do when he was upset that the baby formula was the wrong temperature or consistency (or the wrong food in the syringe).
Ever since then, he happily slips the harness on if I position the treat and the harness like he’s going to get fed from above like a baby. The moment I try to slip it on from the front (rather than from above), he gets upset. We've been doing it for the past couple of weeks; even when he's angsty-hormonal, he is more than happy to put on the harness this baby way.
I honestly don’t know what to think about it. Good or bad? In any case, he still accepts the harness, just in a funny way. I try to do parrot-led training I guess
