Update and some questions (possibly dumb)

[Chris&Akilah]

Hi guys, well I've had Akilah for two weeks now. She is doing great. Such a cuddly, affectionate thing, I think she is in love with me...the cute little dance she does in the morning when I take her out looks like some sort of courtship ritual (isn't she too young for that though?), she lifts her wings slightly and waves her head from side to side, then puts her head out for a scratch, squints her eyes, then starts again. Love it!

I'm using Michaels "method" of potty training...that is, just trying to get my timing right. I put her on a paper towel when I feel she might need to go, and she usually does. The only accidents I've had where my fault for not recognizing the signals and putting her down. Hopefully by the time she is fully-flighted again she will have it down and be able to fly to the potty by herself.

I have attempted to introduce the clicker, I dont think it's going to work for us for two reasons; one being my own inconsistency, I often just forget to click, get the timing wrong, or don't have it handy when I need it. The same problems I had when clicker training my dog...which leads me to the other problem, which I mentioned in my introduction thread. My dog still remembers the clicker very well, and whenever he hears it he gets very excited and will whine and scratch at my door (no matter what yummy stuff I put in his Kong), so I have to leave the room and put a stop to it before he damages the door. I think all that Akilah is learning from the clicker is that it makes me a bit aggravated and gets the dog all wound up. I'm much more consistent and confident using my voice. I am still trying to find out what really motivates her as a reward, as she seems to enjoy all foods equally.

Anyway here are some questions;
- I like to leave the TV on for her when I"m not here. Animal Planet seems like a good choice, but there's always lions and snakes and other predators on there...images on the TV won't scare her will they?

- She likes to sit quietly on my shoulder which I enjoy, but sometimes she goes behind my head, which I don't like...how can I discourage that?

- it's getting chilly here, how warm to these birds need to be? Is a room temp. in the low 70's acceptable or should I give her a heat lamp?

Thanks! 's rock!

[zazanomore]

For your first question, I heard a lot of people put Tree House on for their birds when they are gone. Nothing scary there, just cute little songs and happy pictures.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I think a vocal bridge ("Good!") probably works pretty well for birds, it is all I've used. A clicker is great when you need the sound to carry or are working with an animal that may not be able to recognize a word easily (e.g., a horse).

We let our room temperature vary between high 60s and mid 70s and that doesn't seem to pose a problem. My impression is that sudden variations are more problematic than gradual ones.

If the dog is really responding to the clicker I'd definitely use a different bridge for the bird -- no telling WHAT behavior you are reinforcing sight unseen. OTOH, don't dogs learn to ignore clicks intended for other dogs in a public place? Like at a competition? Maybe he's never gotten past the bridge conditioning to understand that only a click delivered for a cued behavior is meant for him? I'm not a dog trainer, so feel free to ignore me!

[MandyG]

OTOH, don't dogs learn to ignore clicks intended for other dogs in a public place? Like at a competition? Maybe he's never gotten past the bridge conditioning to understand that only a click delivered for a cued behavior is meant for him? I'm not a dog trainer, so feel free to ignore me!

My dogs seem to understand that the clicker is only meant for them when I'm focussed on them. My older dog used to run to me whenever she heard me pick up my clicker (it had a plastic wrist band that made a sound if it banged against the clicker). I'd simply tell her to go lay down (it's kind of her 'mind your own business' cue) and she would leave and I'd proceed to train my bird. I was worried that she would start to get confused when I actually did want to use the clicker for her but she knows when it's her turn to train and responds to it the same as she always has.

The same goes for my other bird that is clicker trained. When I first started clicker training Pele in another room and Mojo heard the click he started saying 'good bird' and 'good boy Mojo' but it doesn't seem to be affecting his training sessions.

On the other hand, I do have to train my dogs seperately. One has to be put away in another room otherwise they lose focus on me and start competing against eachother for treats. Also my timing is much more accurate when I can focus on one animal at a time.

If you absolutely can't get your dog to calm down when you're using the clicker for your bird, try using something different for a click! Some people use a 'clicker' pen. You can also buy another clicker that sounds different. Karen Pryor also sells electronic clickers that have different sounds. I've never tried one of those myself but it's supposed to be great for multiple animals because they each can have their own unique 'click'.