Hi everyone!
So last night I broke out the tools and a few pieces of wood and successfully made my Jenday Conure Mango a training perch! The first trick i decide to teach her was to "nod it" and bob her head. She succesffuly learned by mimicking me, and then picked up the voice command in under ten minutes. I was very impressed. Today, she does it right on cue as well, even off the perch or if i don't have a treat obviously shown.
Since I was so impressed, I figured I'd try to move onto to another non-vocal trick (her vocals are weak). Since I had read up on how to teach the "wave" trick by using the "step up" command, I started on this. While I made sure to make the "waaaavvee" and "NODIT" sounds very different so she'd be able to associate the sound with the trick, after a couple of hours of training over the past two days she has not picked up the wave trick at all. I feel like she would, except she, in anticipation to please me (trust me...the treats come straight out of her food ... she could get those anytime!) bobs her head like a maniac at the "waave" command. I try to wait for her to stop bobbing before i retry the "wave / step up" command, she nods while doing it
Any advice? I love my little bird and I want to give her a good start into her trick training. I know it seems like I'm rushing the training, but she is very eager to learn more and is always trying to listen and mimic me.