distraught I may have ruined trust with my bird

[kjarva]

Hi all,

I'm a new member here and I desperately need some help. I've had my new bird for a month and a bit and things were going great with him. He is a green cheek conure and is a really friendly little thing. Ever since I got him, I started to introduce his aviator harness to him because I wanted him to be able to go outside.

Everything was going great, he accepted the harness and I followed all of the steps you are given in the DVD. Yesterday we went outside for the first time and he seemed to love it. However once I got him back inside and took the harness off, everything changed.

He now runs from my hands, doesn't want to come out of his cage as it involves stepping up and just seems to want nothing to do with me. He will still accept treats from my fingers but if he notices my hand anywhere near him he runs. He doesn't appear to be injured but the only thing I can think of is that I might have really hurt him by accident and now he's scared I'll do it again.

I'm so upset because everything had been going so well and now I think I've totally ruined his trust. I have been clicker training him up until now but even that doesn't seem to help today - he'll come as far as my hand but will not even attempt to step up. Can anyone suggest a way to regain his trust?

Thanks

[Michael]

Everything was going great, he accepted the harness and I followed all of the steps you are given in the DVD.

That's why. That DVD belongs in the trash. Use positive reinforcement instead.

[kjarva]

Any suggestions on what exactly I should try? Like I said, he will come as far as my hand and no further. He won't step up or come out of his cage since yesterday. I seriously hope this will be a passing thing and he'll get over it quickly but the last thing I want to do is try to force him and make the situation even worse

[liz]

Ten days ago I scared the sh.t out of Myrtle. She had been going in the laundry room, picking cloths off hangers and once they were on the floor she pooped on them. I go tired of running her out so I hung a sheer curtain in the doorway. That seemed to work. I forgot that she has also become a walker. I went in and she was there. I chased her around the laundry room like before but forgot that with the curtain she could not fly out. She was panting before it dawned on me.

Like I said it has been 10 days. She was so scared/angry at me that she would not even look at me let alone let me touch her. Our bond was broken. So I just went back to my original idea that I did not need her to love me. I just needed her to be happy. She got the message and over this time she started back to me the way it began.

This morning she is flying back to my shoulder and telling me hello and baby babble in my ear. Myrtle has a temper and holds a grudge but I ignored what she was doing and she gave in.

You have not lost your baby you just had a setback. Go back to what you had when he first came to you.

[kjarva]

Thanks for the response Liz. I'm pleased to report that even though I was totally distraught and miserable this morning thinking that my relationship with little Largo was over, he has just proven me wrong.

I went all the way back to the original training I did with him when I first got him home (you guessed it, target training!) and we've progressed that he will now hop onto my hand. He's still very cautious around me and I think it will take a while to repair the damage, but at least I now know he is willing to let me repair it