by Pajarita » Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:58 am
Welcome to the forum! But no, I don't speak Spanish to any of my animals with the exception of Mami Zon which used to speak only Spanish but now speaks English, too, and the only command I still use in Spanish is the "Step up!" one ["Dame la patita"]. And Naida Zon, Mami's companion, understand the command in both languages now from hearing us asking Mami and seeing what she does when asked - they are SUPER smart!
Don't worry for one second about it! First of all, the bird is still a baby - well, maybe not a baby-baby but only now going into its juvenile stage [the mature sexually at around two years of age] so he is only now beginning to learn. The most important thing you need to do is keep on calling him the same name he now has because parrots understand the concept of proper names AND use them themselves in the wild [the parents name the babies in the nest and the babies continue using these names throughout their entire lives]. Ask the current owners which phrases they use for things like step up, come here, good boy or bad boy and, at the beginning continue using them but, at the same time, use the one you would. For example, let's say that his name is Giovanni. You would say something like: "Giovanni, veni qui! Come here! Come here!" Eventually, he will start responding to the "Come here' alone - see what I mean?