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Recall training biting

Discuss topics associated with teaching birds to fly. Training parrots recall flight, target flying, and other flying exercises.

Recall training biting

Postby Eurycerus » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:00 pm

So I have not been following Michael's training because I haven't built two training perches yet. I will at some point but Nika is learning how to fly now! I want her to know that flying to me is fun and the thing to do. I also want to teach her that listening to me is fun (have her go to where I point) and recall flight basically.

I thought just to see what would happen I would extend my hand (similar to how Michael holds his hands) and ask her to hop to it from her play gym perch. My hand started four inches away and I probably went to six inches or something. I thought I would sort of try Michael's technique just with my hand. She easily and happily would hop or sort of flap to my hand and made the conscious choice to. HOWEVER for some weird reason she aggressively attacks my hand! I am terrible at doing nothing so I try to put up with it but I end up either putting her back down (no treat of course!) or shaking her a tad to get her to unlatch or today I accidentally closed my fingers without thinking about and clasped one foot. Oops.... She was fine and continued biting at the same level.

So should I just completely stop this exercise? even though she seems to completely comprehend and does it voluntarily. Should I just let her bite me and stop being a baby? What should I do? I don't have time right now to make the training perches but she's learning how to fly and I don't want her to be a menace.

Edit: In addition, I forgot, she's actually been nibbling on my fingers when I have her step up CONSTANTLY. Sometimes she gently bites me but she full on bites me when she hops/flaps over to me, as described above.
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Re: Recall training biting

Postby Wayne361 » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:49 am

I would get the perch's built and introduce flight/recall training from there first. By rewarding from going from perch to perch on command, you are enforcing the fact that good things happen (treats) when prompted to fly to perch on cue. Once this is established it is a simple transition to recall to you and he might see it as a positive at this point, due to previous perch training, and biting wont be an issue anymore (I would guess). That is the way i would approach it.....hope it helps.

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Re: Recall training biting

Postby GreenWing » Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:20 pm

In Michael's videos he discusses having your sennie step up by only offering the index finger; this prevents nibbling and biting. Is this how you're holding Nika?

Wayne361 wrote: By rewarding from going from perch to perch on command, you are enforcing the fact that good things happen (treats) when prompted to fly to perch on cue. Once this is established it is a simple transition to recall to you and he might see it as a positive at this point, due to previous perch training, and biting wont be an issue anymore (I would guess).


That's good advice. When working with Tiki, she responds to positive reinforcement and praise. I don't understand how some parrot owners succeed when lecturing their parrots; if I lecture Tiki, she gets aggressive.

If Tiki does nibble me when working with her, I stop, set her in her cage, close the door, and turn my back on her. Then, after a few moments, I have her step-up and try working with her again, praising her for stepping up, etc. This seems to work best.
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Re: Recall training biting

Postby Eurycerus » Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:57 pm

Yeah lecturing doesn't make sense. Although i do talk to nika like she's a person which means i ask why she's doing something like biting me.

I'll have to make the darn perch but i won't have time for three weeks :(

I have been practicing step up again and trying to treat everytime she didn't touch me with her beak at all. Hopefully that helps....

Oh and i hold my index finger out like Michael when asking for step up but hold all fingers out like Michael when asking for her to flap over
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Re: Recall training biting

Postby GreenWing » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:33 pm

Sounds like you're doing a great job! Sometimes our sennies just like to test us ;)
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