Potty Training

[GreenWing]

So I've been really impressed at how well Tiki is "doing her business" on command. Periodically we will set Tiki on her cage and tell her to "go poo-poo"... when she does it on command, we praise her and give her a treat. She is really doing a great job, my smart little girl!

But here's the question: Now that I have a clicker... do I use the clicker as we praise her, after she goes?

[friend2parrots]

hi greenwing, Tiki sounds super smart! I just wanted to mention however that there have been a number of posts in the "Parrot Training" section, and I also think posts written by Michael or some of his blog entries where the topic of potty training is discussed. i recall reading in one of these places that its not good to train this too exactly, (and using a clicker can make things very exact) and some people advise against potty training altogether. people seem to have diff strategies, for diff reasons, related to whether its good for the bird to hold it in, whether it lets you know, rather than you giving a command (i think forum member Dave+Karen talked about this. ) i am not sure if people advocate using a clicker for this command. it would be great if michael, dave+karen, or marie, or anyone familiar with the pros and cons of doing this could advise on this issue?

[Dave & Karen]

My opinion on this is if you can get the bird to not go on you or to go in a certain place out of the cage he's doing good, I wouldn't click and reward for this tho since if he does get over trained to it he may hold it in and not go unless you tell him to, and he needs to be free to do his business inside the cage as well as out of the cage when he has to go. The result for training this too strictly might make the bird hold it in all day while in the cage or not fly off to relieve himself which ould cause digestive system problems.

Basically what I do is if ours is on my shoulder I'll perch him on my finger and hold him away from me and ask if he has to doo doo, he'll try whether he has to go or not, but he usually goes then I give verbal praise and perch him back on my shoulder, if he has to go he'll whine in my ear which means get him off me now or he'll go on me if ignored. He mainly knows I don't like him going on me but I take him off my shoulder about every 20 minutes or so to make sure he has the chance and it's a very rare occasion when an accident happens. He also sleeps on my shoulder when I watch tv at night so it's my responsibility to give him the chance to go, they Will go in their sleep and can't warn you no matter how well trained.

as far as going other places out of the cage, he does know to fly off and go from a perch I made for him most the time but no click or reward is given other than a quick verbal praise so he knows he did good but it's not set in stone that he can only go there or when I ask him to go.

[Wayne361]

As mentioned you should probably read Micheals blog on potty training. Has everything there. Shouldnt treat for going potty as i remember. My will hop up onto my finger and look at his perch (where he goes poop) when he has to go. But this was predicated by me taking him to his perch every 15-20 minutes so that he could do his thing repeatedly over many months before he would cue me. I am trying now to bridge the behaviour with him flying to his perch when he has to go. I dont know if I every will be able to train this behaviour but currently happy that he cues me when he has to go. Havent had an "accident" in several months so i guess I can consider myself fortunate.

Wayne

[marie83]

I'm neither for nor against potty training, its not something I have ever tried to do myself although I can definitely see the benefits of it. mine poop all over the place, including on me

My main concerns would be training to poop on command or training to poop in only one specific place and the bird trying to hold it for a period of time - obviously if they really really need to go then they will but I would be concerned about them holding it for too much longer than what is natural for them and there is a possibility they will try to hold it as long as they can if they are really responsive to being trained.
Whilst I have no real knowledge of what a bird holding on to their waste for longer than natural may do to them and my opinion on this is theroetical, I assume that it cannot be good for them, a bit like holding urine for too long can cause a higher risk of contracting a water infection, holding faeces too long can cause constipation etc. Because of this I would only use potty training as a guide with no big rewards for performing in the desired manner, i would judge it on an case by case basis as to whether using a clicker was appropriate.
For example I use a clicker sometimes, other times I train without one and I've never found either way more effective than the other but for a bird that is solely clicker trained using the clicker might make it a really big deal to the bird where as with my birds it probably wouldn't be seen as a huge deal (a nice thing rather than an amazing thing).


I'll just appologize for any spelling errors and if this post doesn't read as I meant it to because I've had a bit of a drink lol.

[Wayne361]

[quote="marie83"]I'm neither for nor against potty training, its not something I have ever tried to do myself although I can definitely see the benefits of it. mine poop all over the place, including on me

If this isnt a reason to be for potty training then I dont know what is? hahahaha....

[Michael]

My main concerns would be training to poop on command or training to poop in only one specific place and the bird trying to hold it for a period of time - obviously if they really really need to go then they will but I would be concerned about them holding it for too much longer than what is natural for them and there is a possibility they will try to hold it as long as they can if they are really responsive to being trained.

Actually, mine were taught to poop when they land - and in conjunction with the fact that over the years they have been taught exclusively to land on parrot trees, cages, and stands - they don't have the problem of only pooping in one specific place. I have a soft potty training approach that is 98% successful, so I don't really care about the occasional miss. On the other hand they don't suffer any repercussions as a result. All I gotta do to avoid getting pooped on is chuck the bird in the air if it has spent more than 10 minutes on me, and it will fly to a perch of its choice and take care of business. All parrot areas already have newspapers under them for obvious reasons.

[marie83]

I know yours are Michael. I never generalised anything which is why I said I'm not against the idea.
If I thought "soft potty training" as you put it, would cause problems then it would an outright against.

I'm neither for nor against potty training, its not something I have ever tried to do myself although I can definitely see the benefits of it. mine poop all over the place, including on me

If this isnt a reason to be for potty training then I dont know what is? hahahaha....

Not really, it doesn't damage anything and is a doddle to clean up. If you came here you wouldn't have a clue I had birds most of the time. I might feel differently if I had a macaw though.

[Wayne361]

Marie I totally believe you in the cleanliness of your home but with the time/effort required to clean up after each bird does its business on you, furniture, floor etc, wouldnt it be easier for YOU to potty train? Sorry just curious why you wouldnt. I might be wrong but to me it is like driving 20 miles to get a quart of milk when there is a convenience store just a short walk away....
I realize it is YOUR choice so dont want you to be offended....just curious.

Thanks,

Wayne

[marie83]

No offence taken but it really is a 2 second job to clean the poop as they dont poop mid air its always contained to certain places. As for my clothes it takes no longer to wash them and they get washed anyway lol.

Basicly the main places they poop is on their tree- theres newspaper there anyway.
on me- I wear a "parrot t-shirt" not my best clothes.
on top of their cages- it falls through anyway.
The odd bit gets on other places but yea, its tiny and a 2 sec job to clear up.