How to TRAIN Your Bird to Let You Pet Him

Can you actually TRAIN a bird to let you pet him on the head? Yep. You can. Is it really so hard to believe when people train goldfish to swim through hoops and dolphins to do double back flips (on cue)?  It's important to look at this training in a certain way: You are simply communicating to your bird through the language of training, what yo...
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How a Training Pouch SAVED My Training Sessions

First off, this is not an ad for this training pouch but seriously, it saved our training sessions recently.  MANY people fumble or lack coordination in holding treats, a clicker, a target stick, more treats... and then being able to actually use each of those tools successfully and timely!  I've heard of people attaching a clicker permanently...
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Forcing a Training Session (Why Not To)

The more times you let your bird say "no" with its body language and you respect that decision, the more often your bird will say YES! The more often you give your bird a choice, the more often it will choose you.  This is an incredibly important lesson in parrot ownership. If your bird doesn't want to go on the counter, don't make it. Ask your...
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Training Sessions That Lead to BREAKTHROUGHS!

Does everyone else feel the new energy about Patty?! Patty still struggles with: Pulling the treat away when it's in sight and in reach of the bird Using luring over training/teaching  Backing up for flights at the wrong time (do this when the bird is about to take off, before the bird takes off or when the bird just takes off but NEVER when t...
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The Difficulties of Handling a Handicapped Parrot

When a bird is handicapped in some way, we tend to "baby" it. Treat it differently then we would another bird. And sometimes this is necessary (different types of perching for specific injuries, softer foods for beak deformities, etc.) but most of the time, it is not necessary and we are only making things harder on the bird to be a bird.  Such...
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Parrots on Shoulders "Rules": Keeping a Bird Off Your Shoulder

The best way to keep a bird from biting, nipping or otherwise acting out while on your shoulder is by avoiding letting your bird up there in the first place.  Now, this can be challenging in and of itself!  Here are some avoidance techniques:  Hold your bird's feet while on your hand so it can't walk up your arm Hold your arm position in o...
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