Training

[tamnjo]

So, as many of you know, I am quite new to parrotlets. I was reading here, and I was wondering what kind of training do you have to do? If so, what are the best methods? You guys are so great here, thanks so much!

[AndreaFahy]

In my last several years of parrot training I was so thankful to finally learn about clicker training. Parrotlets love it, it is based on positive reinforcement only and they learn behavior so quickly - whether stepping up, flying to "come" or doing tricks.

http://www.talkparrotlets.com/showthread.php?t=482&highlight=clicker+training

[tamnjo]

Thanks for the link:)

[hollybean]

i use clicker training as well. :)
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[tamnjo]

When i get one, ill most likely do clicker as well. it seems to work well and the p'lets like it.

[jodeg]

My clicker training kit is on it's way! After reading other posts on this forum, decided to give it a try. Will update after we try it!

[tamnjo]

Can't wait to hear how it goes!

[AndreaFahy]

My clicker training kit is on it's way! After reading other posts on this forum, decided to give it a try. Will update after we try it!

What did you order?

[jodeg]

I ordered this one off eBay. Her postage was a bit cheaper than others. $18.75 + $3.64 shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260213037488 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260213037488)

It's "Clicker Training For Birds" kit by Melinda Johnson.

Can't wait to get started with it! :D

[tamnjo]

I heard you can just use a metal bottle cap and a chop stick. Can you?

[Sally]

The easiest is to click your tongue! It is always there and easy. I do that and Chipper does well.

[tamnjo]

Ok. That saves me about 15 bucks:P

[jodeg]

HA! HA! Yes, that certainly would save $$$! I wanted the book that comes with the kit -- "Clicker Training for Birds" by Melinda Johnson. It's not just a phamplet, but a 150-page book. I imagine this is what costs the most. I just received my kit today, and have only started reading the book, but so far, I'm glad I got it.

You can buy clickers at Petco for $1.00 and you can probably get the gist of the method by reading info on line, plus there's a website - www.clickertraining.com (http://www.clickertraining.com) -- that probably has lots of info. I've never tried this method, so thought I'd go all the way and get the kit -- if it works, money well spent!!! Will post an update after I give it a try.

OH BOY! I just "clicked" the clicker when my Chihuahua was sitting on my lap, and she almost shot :eek: to the moon!!!! My guess is that she'd need some "conditioning" before I could use it with her!! ;)

[tamnjo]

Awe. I love Chihuahuas!
Can't wait for the update:)

[Sally]

Yes, my doggie hates loud noise. I had a clicker and she hated it. Chipper was not thrilled either. My clicking is just right for Chipper. Wish they would have quiet ones.

[jodeg]

In reading the book that came with my kit, it says they are working on clickers with volume control! She also says you can wrap cloth around the clicker and/or put it in your pocket to muffle the sound a little. She says if your bird is really frightened, you might try using a ball point pen as a clicker, which would be a much softer sound. You can also make the sound with your mouth.

I haven't finished the book yet, but as I understand it, the clicker is only used until the behavior is learned. Then you can replace the clicker with a word which will be used to cause the behavior, like "up" for your bird to get on your finger.

I tried it this morning with Kiwi, and she did great! She isn't afraid of the clicker sound at all -- with 3 dogs in the house, I'm sure the clicker didn't sound like such a big deal! I put her on her play stand. I used the "target stick" (a pencil -- eraser end -- will work), held it a little above her beak and said "touch". She opened her mouth and touched the end of the stick, but she didn't grab it. I clicked right at the time she touched the stick. Then I gave her a teeny bit of treat. She got the idea right away! I did this about 10 times and she did it every time.

I like short training sessions, especially since she's so young. She already knows the "up" command, so I don't have to work on that one. Prior to getting the clicker, I had also started saying "nap time" and laying her on her back in the palm of my hand. For some reason, she lays perfectly still and watches me! Don't know why, but I'm going to use it to my advantage to teach her this "trick". I only leave her that way for 10 or 15 seconds, don't want to scare her, then I praise her -- "Good Girl!" Each time I try it, I open my fingers a little more, and so far, she just lays there -- I'm amazed!

Well, so far, so good! Guess I'd better finish MY training (read the rest of the book) before I go any further. I was just anxious to try it.

How has the clicker worked for others?

[jodeg]

WOW! So far, clicker training is A-MAZ-ING!!! I just started trying it out today (see post above). Now, Kiwi will walk to the target stick and touch it, she'll also climb the ladder on her play stand to touch the stick at the top, AND now I can hold my finger about a foot away from her, say "come" and she'll fly to my finger!!! I click when she lands and give her one seed. She takes the seed VERY gently, with no biting or lunging.

I am astonished as how well this works, and how quickly she caught on!

THIS IS GREAT!!! :D

[tamnjo]

WOW. she making great progress:D
Thats great!

[LyndaM]

That is amazing! You've inspired me to start trying it with Otis tomorrow!

[jodeg]

We had company tonight and Kiwi did her "tricks" for them! She climbed the ladder to touch the target stick, flew to my finger when I said "come" and TA DA! layed on her back in my hand ("nap time") -- I can just about open my hand flat now -- she just looks at me and waits!

These friends of ours aren't really bird people, they're more dog people, and had heard of clicker training for dogs. They were amazed that she learned this in only one day, and really only 3 short training sessions.

When our friends left, the lady said, "Oh Kiwi is just the sweetest little thing!" Oh I'm just all puffed up now!!! :D

Gosh, I hope this continues!!! I'd better get busy and FINISH the book!!! :o

[aby]

Just as a side note, if anyone is interested in this for their dogs, a great book that can show the power of this method is "The Power of Positive Dog Training" by Pat Miller. Awesome story - probably a fun read for people without dogs too - she's a great writer.

Aby

[nar1122]

What treat do you use for the training?

I can't seem to find a treat that my parrotlets really love... they love many things, but they are all parts of their diet (broccoli, carrots, etc.)

[jodeg]

I only started yesterday (3/8), but I've been using the little bag of treats that came with the Clicker Training Kit. It kind of looked like small soft balls of a variety of seeds. I crumbled them up into individual seeds and give her ONE seed for each click. Also, I have to wait for her to finish eating the treat before we can do the next behavior, so one seed is fairly quick and easy.

When that's gone, I'll probably use millet seed -- one seed at a time. She won't get the millet at any other time, and I know she loves it. I don't think the small amount she gets with each training session will be too much fat. The clicker eventually gets "faded" out, but the treat for the behavior should always be given. (The book says, "Would you work for NO paycheck?" -- NO WAY)

She's had 2 training sessions so far today and is still doing well. She's starting to fly to me without my cue just to get the treat, so I'm having to ignore that, and put her back where she started. The clicker training booked covered this, so I knew to expect it. I'm glad I have the book for reference.

Since is this only my SECOND day at this, I'm sure no expert!! :rolleyes: Perhaps others on this forum can give you some ideas of what to use. Whatever the treat you choose, I feel this method is DEFINITELY GREAT!

[nar1122]

Yeah, I've read the clicker training book by Ann Castro. It's one of the best books out there (IMO).
I like the Millet seed idea. Oscar and Maya LOVE millet, but they rarely get it.

I am going to have to clip their wings, because everytime we try to train them, they fly away... and Maya isn't even really tamed. :rolleyes:

[jodeg]

I think the millet seed is a tiny treat, she loves it, and even one "sprig" will go a long way when giving one seed at a time!

I STILL can't believe how well and how quickly clicker training works! To see your little baby getting the idea and responding so quickly is wonderful! She really seems to enjoy doing these little behaviors for me -- she scrambles like crazy to run to the target stick, run up her ladder or whatever!

Today we did all the stuff she learned yesterday, plus I added a 6" piece of 2" diameter PVC. I held it on a towel so it wouldn't roll (my husband is adding "feet" to it to fix that problem). I held the target stick inside one end of the tube, almost out the other end and said, "Touch, tunnel". She ran right over and touched the stick. I moved the stick further and further back into the "tunnel", BUT (so smart) she figured out real quick that the stick came out the other end of the tunnel, so she'd run around to the far end and touch the stick there! Smarty pants!

So instead of the target stick, I put one seed inside the tunnel and turned it so she could see it and said, "tunnel". She ran over, stuck her head inside and grabbed the seed -- that's when I clicked my clicker and praised. Little by little, I moved the seed father back in the tunnel. She started wanting to come around and go in the other side, because the seed was now closer to that end, so I'd have to turn the tunnel real quick. Eventually, and this is the first day I've tried this, she'd go into the tunnel, grab the seed (I click), I'd turn the other end of the tunnel toward me, and she'd come all the way through the tunnel! A-MAZ-ING!!! I have to "refine" (as they say in the book) this still, but I just can't believe how quickly this training works!

This method is fun for both of us and certainly seems to make her happy! I KNOW it makes me happy! WHAT A BIRD!!! :D

[nar1122]

That is such a cute story!

Thanks for sharing ;)

[Kumiko]

I am sure to buy that because I have nothing to do over the summer. I acutally want a book for reference. I think Kiwi and Keiko will flip for this type of stuff. AND Sonnie-man.

I can't wait til Summer comes. !! :)

[jodeg]

Today is March 11th, I started clicker training with Kiwi on March 8th, so it's only been a few days. She's doing GREAT!! She seems to love doing these behaviors and it's amazing how quickly she learns.

Here's what she does so far: (the command I used is marked by " "
She did the "up" command to get on my finger before clicker training.
1. The first thing was just to "touch" the target stick -- she did this almost immediately.
2. Walk several steps to "touch" the target stick.
3. "Climb" the ladder on her play stand to touch the target stick, then just climb the ladder.
4. "Come" to me -- she flies to me and lands on my finger -- I started about 3" away from her, now the distance is up to about 2 feet.
5. "Tunnel" - She crawls through a 6" piece of 2" diameter PVC pipe to get the treat I'm holding on the other side. I did this little by little, but now she zooms through the "tunnel", no problem!
6. Climb the ladder on her play stand and "ring bell" - a bell that's attached to the top of the play stand. This was done in several steps. I started this one this morning and at first, I had to point to the bell, now, if I say "ring bell", she does it! Not every time yet, but we're working on it!
7. "Nap time" - I lay her on her back in the palm of my hand for about 30 seconds. I started this before clicker training, so now I just give her a seed when she does it. I can almost open my hand completely flat -- she just lays there and stares at me and waits!
8. We're working on "pick" up a paper clip. She picks it up very quickly, but so far, plays with it -- I'm working on getting her to bring it to me, but I think this will take some time.

This has been accomplished on about 3 15 minute training sessions a day. I can't seem to think up new behaviors fast enough! I'm not bragging (am I? :o ), I just am SO AMAZED at how quickly this is working. I am so glad I read about clicker training on this FORUM! It's added so much to the growing relationship I have with Kiwi.

In case you haven't guess, I HIGHLY recommend clicker training!!!

[tamnjo]

Wow. That's incredible! And no your not bragging:p We love hearing about your success!

[jodeg]

THANKS! :D You're all so supportive!! I love this forum!

[LyndaM]

I can tell that Kiwi is a smartie! You've inspired me to start clicker training Otis!

[nar1122]

I have began clicker training with Oscar in the past three days, and today he finally made some good progress ;)

The individual millet seeds works very well, btw.

I spent the whole first day (in two 15 minute sessions) associating the click with the treat.
He didn't seem to get it. lol

Then the second day, we did the first 15 minute session of more association.
The second two sessions that day we began using the target stick. Sometimes he would successfully bite into the stick. The other 99% he would be distracted trying to find a way to climb the table to get to the bowl of seeds :p

But, today, in our first two sessions he did remarkably well. He seemed more interested in the training and didn't wander off much. In comparison with the first two days, he did very good today.

Everytime he shows an improvement, I give him the jackpot, and a three-minute break.

I just wanted to compare our books about two things:

Does yours mention the treat jackpots?
Also, does yours mention not to have the target stick in the bird's view when he/she is eating their treat, because they will then learn that they are allowed to ignore the stick and do other things.This is becoming so fun to do with him! :)

[Sally]

Great job!http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Sally11/sillybunny.gif

[jodeg]

It IS fun, isn't it? Keep up with the short training sessions and you're sure to get there! I think they have short attention spans, so that's why I like the short sessions 15-20 minutes. She's usually interested in the training sessions, but NOT before breakfast!!! After she wakes up and eats something, she's ready to go, but not before!! (Sounds like my husband! :rolleyes: )

Glad the millet seeds work for you!

I do remember reading about the jackpot treat -- a little more of whatever they like. If I remember correctly, it's when your bird completes the behavior you've been working toward for the first time -- HOORAY! I've done it once in a while, like the first time she ran all the way through the "tunnel" (6" piece of PVC pipe).

I don't remember any mention of keeping the target stick out of sight when eating a treat. She can always see the stick, but she's never paid any attention to it when it's just laying on the desk. I'll have to check back through the book.

I think the book did say something about not letting your bird play with the target stick as it's not a toy. She never bites the end of the stick, she just taps it, which is what I wanted her to do. I've never seen her grab at it when it's just laying there.

She has started to do some of the "begging" behavior they mentioned in the book, which is so cute it's hard to ignore. She had just done the "ring bell" behavior, so got a treat. I started typing on my computer and she started ringing that bell like crazy -- and then looking at me like I was an idiot for not catching on! Course she's only supposed to ring the bell when I give her the cue, so I had to ignore it!

Keep up the good work and keep us posted on your progress. Once Oscar (the name of our Daschund, BYW!) gets the idea that the click means treat, you're on your way!

Have fun!

[YWallpaper]

I love hearing these detailed personal experiences with clicker training--I think I am going to try this, too. :)

[nar1122]

I wish we could have journals or blogs on here :cool: