Step One?

[HyperD]

Hehe ya they do try that... I like to think it is because they want to make the clicking sound and treat themselves

I don't let her play with it though, they need to learn boundaries, what are toys and what are not...


Let us know how training goes over the coming days

[jhuff]

well.. My latest Delima is... I decided to start with tricks that he knows already, but now using a clicker and the treat. The first one i started with was a whistle the whistle that you would do when a pretty lady walks by. Well, he did it and did it well, and does it EVERYTIME i ask. Well.. Now if i ask him to do anything else, he wants to do that whistle. I havent been able to get him to do any other trick, even the ones he knows... somewhere I believe i went wrong? I havent been giving him treats for these failed attempts. I only give him a treat if he does what i ask

[HyperD]

Sorry I don't know what to suggest... If he gets it wrong just keep repeating it and hope he does it?

My sennie gets her commands mixed as well but she will at least cycle through her tricks until she gets the right one...

[Michael]

Re-teach the already known tricks and they will come back much quicker and the new cue be learned.

[skeetersunconure]

how did you transistion to verbal cues? skeeter knows several tricks but all on signal cue like wave ya know...

[jhuff]

The second trick, is a known trick as well. I haven’t tried anything with him that he doesn’t already know.

As far as commands, I do the whistle myself and he repeats it. For some of the other ones, i have words as commands, I have always just whistled what i wanted him to whistle and when he decided to repeat, i would give him a treat.

But, now, when he sees the clicker and the treat, he automatically whistles the (pretty) whistle, even if i did not whistle that one at all. I only stick with ONE trick at a time. If he doesn’t catch it after 10 min. or so, i stop and we will try again much later.

I have only been trying to switch to a different (but known) whistle with the clicker and treat, for a couple of days. Maybe i should just give it more time?

Thank you all for your support!

[Michael]

Sounds like you made the clicker into a cue.

[jhuff]

So Whistling the whistle i was him to do, should not be his cue? I could see where he could catch the sight of the clicker as his cue.

How do i combat that? How do i re-teach a trick he knows, with a new cue for it, then incorporate the clicker?

Thank you Michael!

[javelin]

Wouldn't step one be -- "being able to handfeed the bird"?

I'm still stuck on this one actually, Sunflower has so far ignored all our food offerings immediately presented by our hands. Will clicker training work also even if the bird doesn't feed from your hands but present the favorite food only by dropping it near the bird or into a feeding tray?

[jhuff]

Personally, I think you need to be comfortable with you bird, just as much as your bird should be comfortable with you. I have no idea if dropping the treat close to the bird will have the same effect, I know everything I have read, says you need to give the bird its treat, i take that as in, hand your bird its treat. Maybe before you teach Sunflower tricks, you need to get Sunflower a little more comfortable around you.