Please advise. Video of mango learning wave

[Nir]

This is my 3rd session with him. let me know what you think. it was hard holding the camera phone in 1 hand and training in other. Also he is a bit camera shy. So let me know. Also what else i can do to improve the training or the trick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhK9D9asr0I


oops.. edited

[cml]

Your link isnt working!

[Nir]

edited link

[cml]

Seems like its going great if thats your third session. He seemed to have grasped the trick really quick.

The person who needs to focus more on training is probably you rather than Mango , you seemed a bit distracted ^^.

[Nir]

Seems like its going great if thats your third session. He seemed to have grasped the trick really quick.

The person who needs to focus more on training is probably you rather than Mango , you seemed a bit distracted ^^.

lmao ya, i was actually working at the time so at times was multitasking . i gotta get better at clicking on the right time as well.

[KimberlyAnn]

Very cool! Well, I think it's difficult to hold a camera, use the clicker, and give the treat. Mango is learning so you are doing something right!

[janetafloat]

Cute! Looks like you're well on track, and I know how hard it is trying to film a bird while you're also trying to do the trick training. Mango is adorable (not that I'm biased or anything)

[Conure Mom]

Constructively speaking,what I noticed that could be improved was the timing of your clicks - and those may have been a result of trying to do too many things at once in this particular case.

Your clicks seem to be coming a little bit late in almost all of the behaviors. I didn't watch the whole three minutes of the video, but in the first minute or so, I noticed that in a few of them, your clicks were coming as he was dropping his foot. If you go back and watch the video and the timing of your clicks, you'll see it as well. I noticed you were asking for a higher wave at one point after you'd already clicked, but then you reached out and put his foot down - a little confusing, but I blamed that on the multi tasking. If that was something you were doing consistently, you wouldn't be getting the results you're getting.

Here's what I saw, specifically:

O:04 - You clicked when his foot was already back on the ground
0:26 - Same thing
0:46 - You clicked when his foot was up, treated, then told him "a little higher," then told him to put it down - LOL! Woman brain at it's finest, huh? haha!
1:11 - You clicked when his foot was up, but it had been higher and came back down before you clicked.

My suggestion would be to decide what you want to reward at this point - either the height of the foot when he waves or the length of the wave - and work until you have ONE of those the way you want it. Once you have one of those the way you want it, add in the other characteristic. When you're working with him, be sure NOT to reward the waves that don't meet your criteria. Also, you have to be SUPER attentive and exactly on time with your clicking. Easier said than done, right? LOL! The video self-critique is an excellent way of seeing how you're doing. Take a video and go back through Michael's blogs and training stuff and see what he has to say and make sure you're doing all of it.

Over all, I really think you're doing great. For a third session, I'm super impressed! I hate the fact that I sounded all critical, but constructive criticism is all that I was offering. Keep up the good work and Mango will be another Kili before too long!

[Nir]

Wow amazing advice conure mom. Ya a lot of the stuff was because of holding the camera and stuff. The clicker was ob my lap so right after i do my wave cue and he put his leg up i would pick up the clicker. Normally the clicker is on my other hand and i do click on time. But the advice about wether I should reward the length of wave or height was something I didn't think about! I have been clicking on time and usually the height. Didn't really think about the duration. Right now he waves pretty damn good I think because the standard of the wave I reward is higher.. He only gets a treat if it's high and now on it usually is high. But I will work on the duration. Again thanks a lot for taking the time to type all of that. That's exactly the type of advice I was looking for.

I have been working on turn around and he does it but I haven't phased out the circle yet. That's only because I just got his harness so I started training him that. Any advice about teaching him multiple things on the same time? Is that okay or should I focus on 1 trick at a time and move on until he has mastered it. Also another thing that's a problem is that he only does wave ,turn around when he is on the area where I train him. If he is playing on his play tree and play gym, he will not do the tricks. So should I change the training area from time to time?

Ps: I finally got him to stick his head in the harness but he still doesn't do it willingly. He will just kinda hesitantly bow his head while closing his eyes and let me put it on but it's very defensively. And right after he is dying to take it off. Still a work in progress . I do reward him with bigger treats for this.

any advice is greatly appreciated.

[janetafloat]

Really take your time with the harness training - don't push ahead if he's not happy about it, it'll backfire on you. I got Alfie to the point that I could completely put the harness on him but then he wigged out a bit and trying to get that thing off a squirming bird that's trying to bite the harness without getting bit your self is quite a feat...that I didn't accomplish...ouch! And then we had to go back to square one.