Harness Training (Videos)

J

JerseyWendy

New member
Jul 20, 2012
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We will stick this thread and members can put up their videos on harness training their birds. :)

Our Chris actually brought this into motion in his thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/59144-need-feedback-harness-training-technique-video.html

chris-md said:
Hi all!

I bought Parker a harness a week ago and have begun the training. We're maybe 8-10 sessions in. I wanted to post a video of my routine and have you all provide feedback on how you think I'm doing, if my approach is good, what I'm doing correct, what I could improve on.

Any feedback would be warmly welcome. I feel like we're at a critical point and don't want to caulk this up.
Click to expand...

miloslave said:
As promised, I hope it helps. I find the clasp moves to the front most times without me even trying. Just make sure the lead is also under the wing.
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skylala said:
Every now and then they will get stuck in the harness when trying to get it off. To start with try and hold the harness so getting stuck is unlikely. Eventually it shouldn't matter too much so long as things stay positive.

Working without a treat will take a while. I haven't moved on to no treat yet and I'm happy with his progress so far. Remember not to move too fast with training! For best results this needs to be a slow process moving at the birds pace.

Eventually though he will just expect a treat to be in your hand and will follow it without realizing you don't have anything. Then you will give him a treat after he walked in without one. After that you can raise criteria where he has to walk in without the treat. You can still hold your fingers in the same position as if there was a treat, he will learn to follow your fingers just like he learned to follow the treat. When you move to this step remember to give him a treat after he followed with no treat... Then slowly wean him off.

I made a little video of my birds progress here. You can see he willingly comes to the harness without any issue. Also note I am not putting the harness over him, he is walking into it.

I'm pretty pleased with how he is doing. At one point he walked a bit in the harness so I tried to encourage him to do it again. I might do that more often, might even attempt a game of 'fetch' while he has it on.

Don't mind my high pitched bird voice XD
I also made a few errors myself here, with command and praise prompts. KNOWING what to do and doing it correctly at the time of course are not the same thing ;)
Click to expand...

Please feel free to add your educational harness training videos, and/or photos. :)
 
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Great thread, Wendy! Thank you for putting it together! And thank you for the suggestion, Chris!
 
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Just found this video regarding harness training. :)

 
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That's brilliant! I like that it shows different methods. I was also wondering if those amazons were swimming in a harness a couple sizes too big. Parker's is certainly a bit of a tight fit around his neck, but the size recommended for his weight. It's a great recommendation to start with a larger harness for more phobic birds.
 
We've got a bit of progress over here: Getting the head brought the loop for the most part isn't a HUGE deal. So I can get the harness over his head and rest the harness on his back. need gobs of treats but it's working slowly but surely.
 
Nice! Slow and steady, right? I'm about at the same place with Jolly. Meanwhile, things don't get difficult with Maya until I'm taking the harness off. Smh.
 
Update as promised! Parker was insanely good this session, haven't had one this smooth before. I think he was just showboating.

 
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chris-md said:
Update as promised! Parker was insanely good this session, haven't had one this smooth before. I think he was just showboating.

Update on Eclectus harness training - YouTube
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Yesssssssss! Nice, Chris!

Yeah, the length of time they spend chewing is the exact reason that seeds (unhulled) are used much less as treats than small pieces of nuts.

I'd tend to be more sparing with the treats, but your method is working just fine. I see a few very good signs, here. For one, Parker is very deliberate about putting the harness on. His spatial awareness is 100% engaged, and he understands that he's putting the harness around his neck.

Second, he's relaxed once the harness is on. So he's made the connection that the treats are linked to his allowing the presence of the harness around his neck. And more importantly, he trusts that it's only temporary and that you'll be taking it off of him.

And finally, he's controlled. Even as you start moving the harness about in preparation to take it off, he doesn't actually try to get his head out of it until you give the word.

Good progress. You should be able to progress to the wings soon enough. So glad to see this update!
 
Thanks kind sir! I'm in agreement with you, I want to back off the treats. However, based on his reaction when I bring the harness near him without any treats at all (sit and stare, occasional avoidance) I still have work to do on creating a strong positive association. I've done the "show and treat" (charging the harness) I did in the first video just about every session, and, it's only gone so far. This over abundance of treats is a deliberate attempt to build a stronger positive association.

Thing is, I know he was showboating. This was almost TOO smooth a session. You nailed the description, deliberate, and I did notice that while we were filming - right around when I tell him he's being such a good boy. He's never so deliberate. Maybe it was a different location; we usually train on his playgym in the living room, this was in the basement by his cage. He usually charges through to get food, not matter what's in his way, happy to get tangled. The grabbing of the harness he does usually needs to be corrected because it's so egregious, but it was very...useful and deliberate this time.

Well see what tomorrow holds. It could be you actually saw a breakthrough right before your eyes in this video and he'll be more deliberate about getting through in the future.

I haven't said the word deliberate so much in my life...
 
Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not talking the elimination of treats entirely. Some birds dislike the process so much that might not ever happen. I just listen in awe when members tell me of how their birds BRING THEIR HARNESSES OVER in anticipation of going outside! With my Eclectic Duo, that's about as likely as a chain-smoking unicorn kicking in my front door and randomly throat - punching me with one speeding hoof. So, yes. VERY unlikely. (Though with my luck, probably more likely than the harness scenario.)

But even if that session was an aberration, it still tells you that he simply is not a fan of the harness, rather than having a soul-deep phobia of the thing. That's a beautiful thing.

Jolly sticks his head through the loop because hungry is his default setting, but he panics if his head doesn't slide out of the loop smooth as silk. Smh.

Keep us updated, Chris. I'm following Parker's progress with great interest.
 
This was not a fluke! Just did another session that went even better than the update video. He CHARGED for the neck collar each time and twice went through on command without food to chase after!

I'm wondering, was this the hardest part of training? I'm thinking ahead and I'm having a slight panic attack about the though of him getting tangled as I work getting the wings through the harness. My impression is they take easier to this part, but it's easier for things to go wrong, and in a bigger way.
 
No need to panic, Chris. You and Parker are doing great!

Whether or not the wings will be easier depends on the dynamic between you and Parker. Is he okay with you handling his wings? If so, here on out should go rather smoothly.

If he's not cool with you handling his wings and such, you might want to work on that aspect separately before continuing on with putting the harness over the wings.

Btw, the tricky part in my experience has always been avoiding letting them step into the loop. Well, the 2nd trickiest part, anyway.

Best way to proceed is to make the loop ridiculously large on one side, so that you can slip the wing in easily. Then you pull all the slack to the other side for the other wing.

Just try to be swift as possible, while not pinching any feathers. The tightening of the harness can also be tricky, but I've found that loosening it afterward is the trickiest part.

With Maya, at least, she starts getting a bit impatient with the process by the time I've loosened her buckle and am in the process of getting the harness off her wings. Puts a bit of urgency on things. Lol!
 
Wonderful videos and wonderful thread...I got so wrapped up here in all the training that I forgot about the time and its almost heading for 1 am. Some Great tips and help here.
 
Excellent thread & videos, thank you so much!

For those of you who have harness trained, what harness would you recommend?
Now that Levi is flying, I really don't want to clip him. However, I still want him to be able to enjoy the outdoors w/ us.

Thanks :)
 
Tami2 said:
Excellent thread & videos, thank you so much!

For those of you who have harness trained, what harness would you recommend?
Now that Levi is flying, I really don't want to clip him. However, I still want him to be able to enjoy the outdoors w/ us.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Everyone will say aviator, but I firmly believe had we gone with that one, Kiwi would still not be harness trained. Too complicated, must be pulled on and off and is all one piece, including the leash. Probably good for birds bought as had raised babies who have been target trained all their lives. Not so good for obstinate/older set in their ways birds who are resistant to target training methods and have no desire to wear a harness.

As our bird fits the latter description above, we went with the father tether. Took about 2 years to get him to wear it too. Lots of patience required for harness training! Having the ability to unbuckle rather than pull it off him was invaluable during early training. Also, the leash is detachable (like a dog leash) so not having a 3' piece of cord dangling there to get tangled up while trying to wrestle a harness on a less than compliant bird was also beneficial to the process. The harness can also go on the bird both ways (leash clipped in the back for "walking" or to the front on the belly (for riding on a shoulder), if that makes sense. Since Kiwi's feathers hide portions of the harness, I made this demonstration image of how it fits using my feather-free hand:D

20104d1516122335-progress-harness-front-harnessdemo.jpg


I found this video helpful too in making my decision to go with the father tether instead of the aviator:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqL6_fsjrIY"]Putting the Feather Tether on your parrot - YouTube[/ame]

20098d1515953583-january-2018-potm-contest-potmphoto.jpg
 
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Kiwibird said:
Tami2 said:
Excellent thread & videos, thank you so much!

For those of you who have harness trained, what harness would you recommend?
Now that Levi is flying, I really don't want to clip him. However, I still want him to be able to enjoy the outdoors w/ us.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Everyone will say aviator, but I firmly believe had we gone with that one, Kiwi would still not be harness trained. Too complicated, must be pulled on and off and is all one piece, including the leash. Probably good for birds bought as had raised babies who have been target trained all their lives. Not so good for obstinate/older set in their ways birds who are resistant to target training methods and have no desire to wear a harness.

As our bird fits the latter description above, we went with the father tether. Took about 2 years to get him to wear it too. Lots of patience required for harness training! Having the ability to unbuckle rather than pull it off him was invaluable during early training. Also, the leash is detachable (like a dog leash) so not having a 3' piece of cord dangling there to get tangled up while trying to wrestle a harness on a less than compliant bird was also beneficial to the process. The harness can also go on the bird both ways (leash clipped in the back for "walking" or to the front on the belly (for riding on a shoulder), if that makes sense. Since Kiwi's feathers hide portions of the harness, I made this demonstration image of how it fits using my feather-free hand:D

20104d1516122335-progress-harness-front-harnessdemo.jpg


I found this video helpful too in making my decision to go with the father tether instead of the aviator:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqL6_fsjrIY"]Putting the Feather Tether on your parrot - YouTube[/ame]

20098d1515953583-january-2018-potm-contest-potmphoto.jpg
Click to expand...

PERFECT :smile049:
Thank you April, I’m glad I asked.
Levi will be 2 in a couple of days, but he’s all attitude and I know he will resist. So, this one sounds about right for him. ;)
 
Interesting. I'll post my experience with a video at some point when I have a camera that takes them LOL Meanwhile. Got to Macaws/Rudy in the park to see that nearly all the shots are of him wearing a harness.

I was able to put a aviator harness on Rudy at a young age (5 mos.) for the next 6 months no problem. I was hospitalized for 2 months due to ahead injury. When I saw Rudy again he had no interest what so ever with a harness. THere was an easy solution. On the back of the chair a small piece 6x6 of T shirt material draped over his head.

I can put his harness on in less than 30 seconds cinched. .
 
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