JJ is only a few months old. About three weeks ago, the owner of the store clipped her despite my asking her not to. She said that she couldn't have her flying around the store with the big windows, etc etc. I understood her reasons for safety at the store, but when I opposed her plans to clip her a second time, she agreed to my request not to do it.
However, now I have JJ at home and I have some questions. She actually does a pretty good job flying, especially if she has some height to begin with. She seems to have good control of where she's going and makes nice tight turns and soft landings, but she'll frequently fly down from somewhere and be unable to fly back up. She flew down from the kitchen counter this morning to poop and tried to fly back up several times, but couldn't gain the loft (or whatever the correct word is) that she needed to get back up. I watched her turn around and walk back to where she had room to get the altitude she needed, but because of her clip, she couldn't - she was only able to get about 2 1/2 feet off the ground. I almost cried for her, and was terribly torn as to whether I should help her or not. She ended up turning around and flying to me, I was sitting down and at a level she could reach. I praised her with tremendous enthusiasm and took her to the counter. I want her to retain her independence and confidence, and I REALLY don't want her to stop flying - I'm guessing that whatever flying she's doing now will only help her flying when she molts and gets her full flight feathers back. I know she's a smart little cookie, and if she's given time and resources she'll solve whatever problems she runs up against. I just want to make sure I'm not inadvertently doing something to mess her up. If she were fully flighted, it wouldn't be a question, and if she were fully clipped it wouldn't be a question, but since she's neither, I need other opinions.
Am I doing the right thing? Is there something more I should be doing? She's my first baby bird and I really don't want to get off on the wrong foot with her. Thanks all!!