Target training question

[Jenny]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but training birds is new to me. When I hold the stick, clicker, & treat all in one hand, Aaron sees his (millet) treat & goes for the treat rather than the tip of the stick. If I hold the treat in my other hand, Aaron will either touch the stick & then run toward my other (hidden) hand for the treat, or he'll ignore the stick & just hang out looking as if I might pull my treat hand out any time. When I don't respond to his hanging out & waiting, he'll go do something else rather than continue w/training. Do I just wait a few minutes & then ask him to target again, & just keep doing it that way until he's consistent w/targeting?

[Roger P]

No matter what trick I am working on, I try to use the same hand when providing the treat. That way Merlin looks for this hadn when he hears the click and knows he did something right. For targeting I usually hold the clicker and the treat in my right hand, and the target stick in my left hand while Merlin is on his perch. That way he takes direction from one side and gets treats from the other, and he is not searching for the treat while I am giving direction. The only trick I used the treat as part of was when teaching him to "turn around", as you need to use the treat at first to get him to turn. Once he was used to the command and the twirling action of my left hand, I went back to the right hand only treating.

Sorry, sounds kinda confusing even as I write it, but I hope it helps!

[Jenny]

thanks Roger, I understand what you're saying. So if Aaron just sits there waiting for my treat hand to come over w/the goodie w/o responding to the stick, I just need to wait a few minutes & try again or wait until he's hungry, is that right? Now that I type that out, the answer to the question seems pretty obvious!

[Roger P]

No problem. With birds, they are all so different. What works for one may not work for others. The idea is to stay consistent, so they don't get mixed messages. If direction always comes from the same place (hand), then when that hand moves, they know to watch. Also, if you alternate, you can have the treat ready in the other hand, which makes treating that much faster. I tend to hold the treat in my right hand (out of sight or Merlin just looks at my right hand) between my thumb and first finger, and the clicker in my palm with the other fingers ready to push the button. Then the left hand is free to use the prop or give direction. If your bird has a grasp of what the clicker means, he will wait a second or two for the treat before moving on to something else.

The key is to click when he does it right so he remembers what you wanted. It is the click that is time sensitive, more so than the treat.