Training to roll over

[ruffledfeathers]

I know conures are supposed to be very easy to train for tricks. I never really taught Georgie tricks, just the normal bird things (step up, lay down/play dead, dance), but I am trying to teach Gilbert to roll over. Any ideas/suggestions?
He already is fine with lying down in my hand, or on a table, but won't do it on command. He is fine having me roll him over too, but doesn't do it on command. Lately i have been rolling him to his back and telling him to roll back to his feet and giving him a treat, but he makes it clear that i'm annoying him!! LOL
Only one of my dogs has learned to do any tricks and he is the extremely hyper, food motivated one. (Easy to train them!) Gilbert is chill, gets a lot of affection, and he is extremely well fed without doing anything for it, ha. I am not sure how to motivate him.....

 

[barw33zy]

I am at this same stage with my sun. I don't think we can ever get them to do anything they don't want to, all we can do is try to make them want to do it. My sun used to flap his wings when I said "Flap 'em!", but he seems to have lost interest in that. For rolling over I've tried targeting with a stick and it almost works, but I still have help him on his back at the beginning. You could experiment with that, but I'm also anxious to hear what other people recommend.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Are you using a clicker?

 

[ruffledfeathers]

No, i have never clicker trained, my dogs or the bird. Do you think that would be more successful?
I watched those mice who are clicker trained on youtube. It's adorable and amazing.
I have just been trying to daily say Roll Over, when i roll him over and then make an excited fuss praising him and giving the treat. (he loves that part). But i only do it a few times in a row and then let him play something else because it will frustrate him quickly.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I think it will make a awesome difference. I spent at least a month trying to teach Rosie how to wave with absolutely no success. She was confused and didn't understand what was happening. I got a clicker, taught her touch training then started working on wave and it took her less then 2 hours spread out over two days to get wave down. A clicker is a way for us to tell our birds the exact moment they do something right. It also makes training less frustrating for our birds, we can't tell them exactly what we want but a clicker gets pretty close. Some people get by by using other objects but they rarely have the consistency of a clicker(plus a clicker is only like $2-$4 unless it's gimmicky).

I'm uploading a video once the file finishes saving. It briefly goes over touch training. Touch training is a great way to teach birds how to use a clicker.

 

[tab_xo]

I am not sure if you mean roll over sideways, or like rolling over his feet as a front flip? hehe

I taught Fargo to roll over by having him on the ground, then helping him over by lifting his foot and he would tilt over, then i guided him over.. Each time we did it i would slowly let him go a bit earlier each time, so when he was on the ground he would lift his foot, waiting for me to help him over

We only do training for about 5-10 minutes a day, its not very long, we do a sessin on the stand, and a session on the floor.. We would only practice roll over maybe 2 or 3 times, then thats enough!

Just keep helping him over and he will know that its what he has to do!

Fargo finally got the hang of not needing my hand, and i just have to hold my hand over him and he tips over, which is so cute Next step is to work on bringing my hand back so he doesnt need it over him!
Oh and i also dont use clicker training, im sure its very successful, but i just never bothered, Fargos praise is saying 'good boy' and a treat.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Here's the video I did on touch training, it's really simple and is a great way to teach them how to use a clicker.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0yIjT4Vf0Y&feature=youtu.be"]video link[/ame]