Is my 17yr old jenday conure too old to start training?

[Pajarita]

Oh, most likely you did and did not notice it - but she did. Deaf animals are incredible at reading body language the same that blind dogs are great at distinguishing subtle differences in tones of voice or smells. I had a dog that was both blind and deaf and the only thing you noticed different about her was that she walked on the street with her nose touching the back of my calf. I walked slowly down the curb (she was not only housebroken, she refused to do her business on the sidewalk, it had to be on the street) and she followed me until she found a good spot. She also hated walking into a puddle so I had to go around them or she would stop and refuse to go forward and get her paws wet - she was an old English Cocker Spaniel and her name was Fanny.

[GMV]

Ah, you mean like the guy that claimed his horse could do math, but he actually was nodding to the horse without realizing it.
Did you train fanny by touch?

[Pajarita]

To tell you the truth, I've never actually put any thought or time into training any of my own animals (although I did have training sessions with the 'problem' dogs at the shelter but again, simple things like walking on a leash without pulling, sit, lay, shut up, that kind of thing). I am just very consistent and patient and, if one thing doesn't work, I just try another that 'fits' the animal. All my animals are very well behaved as well as obedient (to me, not my husband -not even his own dog listens to him ) but I just teach them useful things. Fanny needed to go outside but walking on a leash the 'normal' way was not an option because she couldn't see where she was going (she had no trouble inside the house because, once she learned the layout, she was fine) so I just started walking in front of her very slowly backwards (so I could touch her rump to make her walk) and, slowly, she figured out how to do it on her own by keeping her nose against my leg. Animals always try hard no matter the disability - they are not like people. I had (until last week, as a matter of fact, she had to be put down due to cancer) a blind cat that nobody even realized she was blind until they saw she had no eyes, and I still have her foster brother which was born with a severe neurological impairment of his motor skills (he dragged his back legs and had the 'shakes' in his entire body) but he lives an almost normal life now.

[GMV]

I am sorry for your loss.
It is amazing how determined animals can be.
I am glad to hear that the foster brother is living a normal life after such an impairment.
That give bliss a spark of hope!

[Pajarita]

I seriously doubt that Bliss' problem was genetic and congenital despite what the vet said. For one thing, only diseases that affect an animal neurologically would have that kind of effect on their unborn babies (Coqui, the cat I was telling you about was born that way because his mother, a feral cat, contracted panleuko while pregnant, she gave birth to four kittens and she and three of them died, Coqui was the only one which survived) and, if the mother had been sick when she produced the egg that had Bliss in it, she would not have been able to incubate it and Bliss would have never been born. For another and assuming that the problem is a defective gene that only Bliss got (meaning, not the mother or father), he would not have been fed by the parents and he would have died in the nest because parent birds do not feed defective babies. So, unless Bliss was an incubator baby and hand-raised from hatching (HIGHLY doubtful as tiel eggs are never put incubators -cheap birds that reproduce easily), the possibility of him having a genetic and congenital defect is zero.

[GMV]

Whatever the reason, i will keep trying to improve and push blisses coordination.
(he is somehow fully flighted now despite the pet stores clipping)