New Senegal: questions about training and treats

[BeatriceC]

I was trying to "think like the flock", but didn't quite get it right, I see. I think for now I will just keep doing the five minutes of clicker training but scale it back to twice a day, with the goal of letting praise and head scritches be his "treat" (saying "good boy!" and scritching his head after the click and before the treat", since he does let me pet him already). I'll spend the rest of the time just hanging out with him.

He's currently next to me in his cage chattering away. I'm having fun replying to him because he doesn't actually say words, so the content "conversation" is getting pretty silly.

[seagoatdeb]

BeatriceC, your parrot is showing you how much he likes what he saw and wants the benefits from it....this is a case of him training you. Its pretty hard to over train them with a clicker so never something you really have to worry about, they will not participate if they get bored or dont want to do it. Your Senegal is a smart bird to make that connection by watching it on a flat screen like that.

[Wolf]

Head scratches and praise are all very good rewards for a bird, but then so is a well deserved treat or one given freely without them having to earn it and that goes for the head scratches and praise as well.
With a new bird I try to limit both the number and duration of training sessions until I have been able to learn the bird a bit better. After I begin to get the feel of what the bird prefers then that is what I go by as it is the relationship between the two of you that is most important. With most birds shorter and more frequent training sessions are generally more productive than fewer sessions that last longer, but this is one of those things that is adjusted by following the birds lead. Sometimes the bird will want to continue with the training games and sometimes it will want to do other things such as just hanging out. They can be very effective at training us, so don't be surprised when you learn that while you have been playing and training the bird that the reverse is also true.

Just take your time and enjoy the time that you spend playing, training or just hanging out with your bird and you will do fine, I think. After all it is the time we share with them the relationship that we build with them, the companionship that is the most important thing other than keeping them healthy.

[seagoatdeb]

Wolf dont really disagree, but there is a real difference with different parrots. If one actually touches a stick and is asking for a reward on its own then it is showing you what it wants. So is it earning or teaching you? Its all about learning to communicate with each other so when the parrot asks you respond, you do it on their best interactive time and not your thought out schedule, untill you have observed enough to see what that schedule should be. I guess I am saying trust your baby parrot and yourself to find the right amount. No Parrot is text book. Some parrots do better never using a clicker they are all different.
I use a clicking sound with my tongue with my parrots the most. That means we are playing or playfighting is some way. With my Red Bellly no matter how mad she gets if i sweet talk her if feeling are hurt, she is soothed....... or click my tongue if she is mad she forgets about it and play fights. Thats what works with her. I use a clicker for her to play with others she will touch the stick and then get the treat from them and learn to like them that way. I never think of it as only earning, it is also an interactive game that you get a reward from and even learn trust from. To me its the same as spending hours digging through a foraging toy to get the tasty interior that is always there.

[Wolf]

I always tend to look at it as the parrot is responding to what it was taught by using that to tell us what it wants. Learning and teaching should always be considered to be a two way street and if it is accepted as such then it really goes a long ways in fostering trust. There is no valid reason to not accept that this intelligent creature has the ability and the right to communicate with us or for us to disrespect it by ignoring its attempts to do so, We very often expect them to learn what we want of them and for them to understand what we are telling them, but some of us fall down in accepting that the bird wants to communicate with us as well.

[seagoatdeb]

I always tend to look at it as the parrot is responding to what it was taught by using that to tell us what it wants. Learning and teaching should always be considered to be a two way street and if it is accepted as such then it really goes a long ways in fostering trust. There is no valid reason to not accept that this intelligent creature has the ability and the right to communicate with us or for us to disrespect it by ignoring its attempts to do so, We very often expect them to learn what we want of them and for them to understand what we are telling them, but some of us fall down in accepting that the bird wants to communicate with us as well.

I sure agree with that wolf. Out of all parrots I have ever had, my Red Belly, tiny bird that she is, has struck fear into everyone but Me.....the reason she has relationships with so many people now is I finally was able to get those people to understand how she was communicating with them and to form good communication with her.....I can really do no wrong in her eyes and she is different with others, so both parrot and person had to learn and in my experience, the parrot learns easier than most people.