does target training help bonding/building trust?

[Zentg]

I actually tried target training about 1.5 months ago but gave up after only a couple days because i got frustrated. but i decided to try target training my budgie again yesterday because I notice lot of people recommend it. Its weird though because now I can get my budgie to target train very well, and today she even jumped on the target stick out of excitement lol!

however she is still quite scared if I try to touch her or anything. do you think if I keep working on target training that will build trust/bond? Basically I follow michael's guide, I got her conditioned with the clicker quite nicely, and I can get get to bite the target stick very well and as soon as she does I click the clicker and give her some millet. considering its only my second day since I quit from last time she is doing excellent!

[Pajarita]

That's because you tried to train her while she was still a baby. But, in any case, she is not supposed to bite the target, just touch it with her beak. Training does deepen the bond if done correctly (and that's a big if, mind you) but you need to have a strong bond to begin with because training does not create it. I don't use a target or a clicker and do not do training sessions, either. I don't need them... nobody does, really.

[mylifewithmarmalade]

I believe any positive interaction you have with a bird builds trust and friendship. Clicker/target/trick training can be a great way to spend quality time with your birds and have them enjoy the experience. If every time they see you it means they get to play and eat treats and be told what a good bird they are, the likelihood is that they will rapidly decide that not only are you not scary, you're actually pretty fun to hang out with.

Pajarita is right in that there are many people who have great relationships with their birds and don't do any "training." But there are many behaviors such as targeting that can be used to make getting your bird to cooperate with basic daily routines much easier. My bird for example loves to go run the birdy 500 up on top of his cage, usually when I'm late for work. Most of the time he'll come to me and step up, but sometimes he is too wound up and having none of it. Because he will target reliably, I can utilize the behavior to refocus him and get him off the top of the cage and back inside without having to tackle him with a towel. Much nicer for both of us. My friend has a geriatric grey that takes daily medication, he's clicker trained to take it from the syringe. Can you imagine how big a pain that would be for bird and human if he wasn't trained?

Tricks are definitely not necessary, nor particularly utilitarian, but they are a good way to keep your bird busy doing something enjoyable for you both. Birds are so smart. Personally I think we owe it to them to offer them an outlet for their mental energy, and I honestly think a lot of the screaming/biting/plucking issues we hear about are partly (though obviously not wholly) due to a lack of mental stimulation. Tricks are one way to offer mental stimulation. There are others, but I like tricks, as does my bird. Just my two cents.

[Wolf]

Training is a very good way to help you and your bird to bond deeper and it can make your relationship much more enjoyable, at least from the human vantage, but it must be done correctly, that is to say only in a positive manner and always in accord with the bird who is also the one to set the pace of the training. Training cannot in any stretch of the imagination create the bond, you must first gain the birds trust and nurture that so as to allow for the bonding process to begin. I read very often of new parrot caregivers who jump right into training and try to substitute that for actually earning the birds trust and creating a bond. AND IT WORKS, at least it works for a short while because the bird will learn quickly but then all of a sudden it backfires on them and they have to start all over from the beginning and gain the birds trust which is now harder than it would have been had it been done first and they also have to deal with biting and other behavioral issues on top of this.
Although I don't do training sessions per se, I do work with my birds and teach them how to co exist within my home and all training is done in the most natural training manner that I know of, that is to say that every interaction becomes a training session or more accurately an opportunity for both of us to learn through playing with each other. It was mentioned that someone thought that plucking type issues may be partly due to lack of mental stimulation, I can't argue with this but I do know that a lack of positive attention and interaction is one of the major factors in their plucking. One of the benefits to training is that the mental stimulation can help the bird with problem solving as can flight and puzzle and foraging toys.

[Pajarita]

My bird for example loves to go run the birdy 500 up on top of his cage, usually when I'm late for work. Most of the time he'll come to me and step up, but sometimes he is too wound up and having none of it. Because he will target reliably, I can utilize the behavior to refocus him and get him off the top of the cage and back inside without having to tackle him with a towel. Much nicer for both of us. My friend has a geriatric grey that takes daily medication, he's clicker trained to take it from the syringe. Can you imagine how big a pain that would be for bird and human if he wasn't trained?

Have you tried putting his gloop in his cage right before you go to work with a sliver of an almond, for example, right on top? Mine go into their cages on their own as soon as I put the gloop in it and say the 'phrase' that means food.

As to the syringe with medicine... well, not to pop anybody's balloon but all handfed birds will take food from a syringe. You don't really need to train them for that. But, of course, this could be a wild-caught as a juvenile that was never handfed, in which case, he would have had to be taught to get food from it... May I ask what medication needs to be given daily in his beak that cannot be given in his food or water? Is it anti-seizure? (It's the only one I can think of...)

[seagoatdeb]

It really depends on the bird, some like target training more than others. If you have a bird that loves the target training it will increase your bond but if you are pushing for more than the bird is enjoying it will backfire. Communication is what is important with training. If you and the bird start to communicate with each other in a positive way a bond is formed. The proof is in the pudding, use the method that works with your bird.