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Vocal training and treats

Want to teach your bird talk? Learn about and discuss methods for training birds to vocalize and mimic different sounds on cue.

Vocal training and treats

Postby GreenWing » Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:51 am

So, I've got a little problem on my hands. My sennie has gained 7 grams since last month. I vocal train her with treats, which has been great, only... now every time she talks, she expects a treat.

What can I do in place of a treat when working with her? I use verbal praise but she keeps going on and on and eventually gets frustrated and will try to nip me. I am not kidding, I think she was saying "MORE!" as well
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Re: Vocal training and treats

Postby Michael » Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:51 am

Food Management + Variable Ratio Reinforcement. Talking is relatively easy for them (especially when compared to flying or actually DOING something) so even if it just gets them a couple treats a day for chatting all the time, or a bit of attention, or to get taken out of the cage, it's already rewarding to them to try talking all the time.
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Re: Vocal training and treats

Postby Andromeda » Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:00 pm

What treats are you using (curious)?

I agree with Michael: food management and variable ratio reinforcement. I just want to add that you should put the behavior on cue if you haven't already and then only reward (on a variable ratio) when you cue it. Do actual training sessions where you cue, reward, cue, reward, and do that for 5 - 10 minutes but do not reward (with food) if it is not cued. If you do this the bird will learn to only expect a treat when it's cued and over time won't beg as much by going on and on and on (which can also lead to frustration as you have seen). If the bird talks without being cued outside of these sessions that's fine but don't worry about rewarding for that.

Regarding the variable ratio I reward my birds at intervals of 3 - 6 times at random. I know Michael goes higher with his birds so depending on the bird you can potentially do more than 6. However if you are just beginning to use VR don't start too high as if you start out right with 4 - 6 times the bird might get frustrated or possibly even cease the behavior entirely if it decides it's not "worth it" due to not being rewarded enough. Start with maybe every 2 - 3 times at random and over time push it up to 4 - 6 (or more) at which point you can reward every 3 - 6+ times at random.

Good luck!
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