Cannot keep in room

[liz]

I don't understand why you are withholding food. I realize I don't trick train my kids but they are learning new things everyday. I give the their dry foods in silo feeders and fresh foods in bowls. Their bellies are never empty. Even so, if I am eating something they ask me "is that good?". They always want a treat. A well fed dog will do a trick for a potatoe chip. Just find out what they like for a treat and work with that.

[laducockatiel]

Yes, I agree liz. I think to myself, why make the bird hungry just for my benefit? It is not very nice for the bird, so I won't do it. I do train Ladu, but he has his pellets and seeds in his cage at all times and his veggies in his cage at all times. Whenever I decide to train him, he is not hungry, so he is concentrating on the training and behaving well. He does love the treat and even though I don't starve him, he is hungry for the treats because he doesn't get them all the time.

[liz]

I keep them a small room where I train them, but the problem is that the door to the room Perry flew into fell off. The only other small room is carpeted, and I don't want them pooping all over there and getting seed hulls all over the floor. Every dinner is target training, and I can get Perry to walk outside the cage onto my arm, but he promptly perches back in the cage. So what can I do?

You can use an old sheet to hang over the door. It will give you privacy in the room and you can even pin hanging toys to it.

[Shelby]

I don't understand why you are withholding food.

A training diet is common, especially among professional animal trainers. If done properly, it isn't mean and it encourages training because many birds aren't motivated unless they get a food reward. In the wild, they have to work and earn their food. And most people give their birds a few meals each day, so even if the training session doesn't go well, the birds are still getting enough to eat.

I don't think birds should be deprived from their food for long periods of time. But removing food from the cage an hour or two before training or a having quick session before breakfast creates motivation for training and isn't cruel.

Some birds don't need food motivation and are excited just by the adventure of learning or the pleasure of receiving praises. I don't think it's bad to use whatever your bird really likes as a motivator to learn, as long as you are careful to make sure all their needs are met and they are happy and healthy.

they're so hungry that they practically run over and try to get to the stick before I cue them.

Your birds are TOO motivated and this doesn't make for a good training session. Try taking food out of the cage about an hour before training. If they're not motivated at all, remove it 2 hours before, then 3 hours before and so on until they start working for the treats but aren't too "hot" to train. If you are training in the morning before breakfast, hand-feed them a few pellets to curb their appetite a little and then start to train.

[liz]

Keep them well fed and use treats for training.

Would you have prefered that you mother not feed you supper until you cleaned your room or promise a candy bar when you finished cleaning your room.

[cml]

Keep them well fed and use treats for training.

Would you have prefered that you mother not feed you supper until you cleaned your room or promise a candy bar when you finished cleaning your room.

I agree here, I dont see a problem with giving them food all day. As long as they want treats, they will be motivated regardless! We have absolutely no problems with training motivation here, its the favorite part of the day, and our WF-amazon has access to pellets throughout the day.

[Zooey]

Though I don't 'withhold' food. They have bread in their cage if they're hungry, but they ignore it for some reason and only eat a few nibbles. I keep them as well fed as possible, but then training session comes and they start flying. So now what?