Harness training road block

[Joe]

I have a gcc with a petit size harness.

We seem to have run into a snag with harness training. All  seemed to be going well. She wasn't afraid of it, we got to the point where I could hang the large loop on her neck, no problem. Then she would stick her beak through the neck hole to get a treat and I would pull it back just passed her eyes. Then we got it all the way on.  The problem is that it is somewhat difficult to get back off and she wasn't thrilled with that part. Now when I put it on her head right after she takes her treat, she gets ahold of it with her beak and won't let go. I've tried pulling her beak off it and clicking when she spends even the smallest amount of time leaving it alone, but she goes back to chewing it before I can get a treat to her. Any suggestions? Do I need to start over?

[marie83]

I found the petite aviator to be too small for my green cheek, it's ridiculously tight to the point I was scared to try to use it again. So I ordered the next size up but it seems to be too big though so I would then worry about escapes. Sorry that doesn't help much, I didn't get very far with training and figuring out a solution as I had to stop training for my birds health issues.

[Michael]

As long as the smaller size is USABLE and only scary, you can practice the motions on the bigger one to build up habit/comfort and then return to the smaller one for real use. Just make sure they are the same color so the parrot doesn't feel like it's starting over again with a new harness. In the long run, it is best that there be barely anything extra but in the short run it makes it harder to train. Also you can stretch/soften the material a bit. It comes very hard while new. Maybe even running it through the wash could help. After use my harnesses have become a lot softer.

[Joe]

Any suggestions as to my next step? I thought about letting her chew on it until she stops on her own and then reinforce the non chewing behavior, but I'm afraid of making it worse.

[Michael]

I would just keep the bird busy and focused as much as possible to avoid chewing. But in the long run, both of mine chew on the harness from time to time. In over 3 years of using it, still hasn't come apart. So even if the harness only lasts you one year before you play it safe and replace it, it's a win. It's much more durable than it looks.