I've been wanting to get my cockatoo Bandit to say "I love you" on cue for a while now and half the battle is figuring out what I want the cue to be. I decided it would be really cute if I could say, "Bandit, what do you say when a pretty girl kisses you like this?" and then kiss him, and he would say, "I love you!" So basically the cue is...

Photo by Dave Location: Cruise Ship Shown: Galah "Bandit" To date, Bandit my galah knows the following tricks: Spin Roll over Lawn mower Recall/flight training  I decided that the "wave" would be next. I thought it would be an easy next trick to do... right? Wrong. I've never had such a hard time teaching the wave to a bird before! ...

In the video above I explain things that helped, occured or didn't help train my galah, Bandit, how to spin in a circle on the perch. I used touch training to teach the spin to him and Cressi, my African Grey. Hopefully this helps you and you like the end result of Bandit's training! Listen close and you will hear him say his name while spinni...

I taught both of my cockatoos how to "roll over" which is pretty much the same as "bang" and "playing dead" because they all involve teaching the bird to go onto its back on command. However, the thing is, I taught both of my birds using different ways. I used clicker training with both, but separate techniques (sort of). Let me show you what I...

Distractions can really put an abrupt halt in training. For example, I had three birds out while attempting to work with just one of them. I didn't plan it that way - I had them all out flying around and then Bondi told me she wanted to work on her "roll over/play dead" trick so I began training on the hallway floor. Well, once Bandit saw Bondi ...

Photo  by Dave Location: Orlando, FL Lawn Mowing: Galah "Bandit"   Putting natural behaviors on cue is FUN and EASY! You need to know the basics of clicker conditioning and you're ready to go. I'm going to explain the steps I took to do so with my rose breasted cockatoo, Bandit, and how you can follow what I did with your own bird at home!   St...