FEATURE
unbalancing the bird on your arm if its about to bite, distracting it, squirting it with a small water pistol, getting her to step from one hand to another, giving her the evil eye, putting her back in her cage, you name it, I tried it!!! After 8 months of trying different techniques I came across Barbara Heidenreichs Web site www.
GoodBirdInc.com. (Good Bird Magazine, PO Box 684394, Austin, TX 78768.) I emailed Barbara and she kindly sent me some advice from her website. I also found out that Barbara had written books on parrot behavioural problems, these included screaming, biting, cage bound birds, feather plucking and much more, plus DVDs on parrot training etc,etc. Barbara is a well known animal trainer in America she also travels to many other countries throughout the world. From reading just one of the few books that I bought on Parrot problems by Barbara Heidenreich, I learnt so much, and the techniques that Barbara uses were different to what I had heard before. I began to learn why parrots act or behave the way that they do, all about their natural inbuilt instinct to survive, how parrots don’t hate people (like I had become to believe!). These books taught me so much about my bird, how to NOT force her to do something she does not want to do, to respect her, and to try to look at the situation like a parrot does. Yes, she did seem keen to come out with us in the beginning when we first brought her home, but she was a little baby, she didn’t know what was right for her.
From reading just one of the few books that I bought on Parrot problems by Barbara Heidenreich, I learnt so much, and the techniques that Barbara uses were different to what I had heard before. I began to learn why parrots act or behave the way that they do, all about their natural inbuilt instinct to survive
There were times that I can see now, when we did force her to step up, she was really telling us in her own way that she wasn’t happy to do so, I just didn’t read the signals!!!! We had reinforced, and sadly taught her to bite, our ignorance had caused this bad situation. From reading Barbara’s books, it was clear that she is in favour of reinforcing good behaviour, ignoring the bad, but also actually giving the bird the right to say ’no‘ to something that we want it to do. If within a few seconds that you ask a command, hold a treat out, and if the bird doesn’t comply promptly, then to actually walk away from the bird with the treat, but to return a few minutes later and try again. No it’s not letting the bird have its own way, but its giving the bird respect by letting it have a choice to do the command promptly; or in a few minutes later. In no way should you force the bird to do something it just doesn’t want to do, if you do, your more likely to receive a bite! If when your bird really misbehaves then give her/him ‘time out’ in its cage for only a very short time.
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