new to forum and new Ekkie

[tresagomez]

Hi everyone!

I am really excited to have found this forum.
I recently acquired a 7 yrs old female Ekkie. She is about the sweetest bird you could ever meet!
She was on a bad diet [predominantly seed] and her owner mistakenly gave her alot of inappropriate attention. [ back petting]
We started clicker training right away, and of course we changed her diet to one that was healthy for an eclectus.
She is flighted but really not a strong flyer. She can flutter across the room on a downward slope when startled. I am going to be training her to wear a harness and hopefully improve her flying skills.
Currently my two biggest challenges in training her are her thinking it's a mating ritual and her wanting to do what I ask on her own time and not when I ask.
So this is how I am currently dealing with the mating behavior. If the tail goes up I say no very sternly and walk away very abruptly. This has curbed the behavior but has not eliminated it. [it is also spring] [she is on a very controlled diet and fed twice a day].
the second behavior occurs when I ask her to do something. "Come here", "touch", etc. She will look at me and then start preening. Sometimes I just turn my back to her for about 5-10 seconds and then she wont repeat it. Today, I had to walk away and ignore her for a good few minutes several times before she settled in to training mode. If she is in her cage and I say 'come here" and she starts preening I shut the door and walk off. Since "come here" means she gets to come out of the cage, she usually pulls it together and sits front and center waiting for me to return.
Me walking away or turning my back to her has helped, but definitely has not eliminated the unwanted behaviors. I would love any advice on that.

Also I have been delaying working with the harness. I know she is going to go into mating behaviors with me touching her back and under her wings. I would appreciate any advice on how to deal with mating behaviors when teaching harness wearing and how to teach a weak flying bird how to fly.

Thank you,
Sincerely,
Terri and Bijou