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Target training purpose

Exchange information about how to teach specific tricks to parrots. Most of these techniques should apply to all bird species. Share your success stories.

Target training purpose

Postby Len_Senegal » Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:05 am

Hi,

I've recently gotten a young hand raised Senegal, I've experience of other parrot species but this is my first Senegal and I've decided to encourage his plentiful energy towards trick training etc.

I've conditioned Len with a clicker and am ready to progress to target training and have my stick at the ready! But wasn't sure of something .. Am I meant to say 'Target' as he touches the stick or remain quiet? If the target training is to help encourage the direction or object you want the parrot to go then surely you should remain quiet as it may get confused with other directions you give it, such as say picking up a ball, you wouldn't want to say target then 'pick up' etc? But videos I've found on this the word target is used and I thought that maybe uneccessary if the target training is merely a tool to help other tricks?

Hope that makes sense!
Any help would be very appreciated :)

Thanks
Len_Senegal
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3
Location: Scotland, UK
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal - Poicephalus.s. mesotypus
Flight: Yes

Re: Target training purpose

Postby Michael » Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:56 am

No. You should say it. It teaches your parrot to listen to commands, it encourages it to go do the action when it hears it, and it becomes a command you can carry over to other objects if needed. For example you can later break out your finger and say target to have it follow your finger by knowing the command. Likewise if you want the parrot to learn to touch new objects (particularly ones it is scared of) you can hold out the object and say "target" or "touch" whichever you originally used, and the bird will already know what to do.

When you teach a target based trick such as turn-around, you can say target and have it follow the stick but then swap to saying turn around while targeting and then swap to saying turn around without targeting. You blend one known behavior to create another. It works great.
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Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
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Re: Target training purpose

Postby Len_Senegal » Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:16 pm

That's great, thanks for the reply Michael. It's made it a bit clearer for me now! Hopefully we can get some tricks learnt soon :thumbsup: :senegal:
Len_Senegal
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3
Location: Scotland, UK
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal - Poicephalus.s. mesotypus
Flight: Yes


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