Parrots are intelligent
animals. Some studies have proven that certain species of parrots
have intelligence levels comparable to that of a four year old child!
Yet it’s glaringly obvious that people have no idea how to harness a
parrot’s ability to learn. So I thought I’d shed a little light on how I’ve
adopted some dog training techniques to get parrots to respond to training
much quicker than traditional methods.
This technique is called
“shaping”. Shaping is a training method that trains parrots to think. It
doesn’t lure them with food, or punish parrots for doing a behavior
incorrectly. Instead it works on this principal…
“Parrots will continue
to do behaviors that bring them pleasure, with greater and greater
frequency – and continue to do so until the behavior no longer brings them
pleasure”
When I’m training one of
my parrots to learn to step up onto my hand, I don’t just shove my hand in
front of them and force them off their perch. After all, the parrot might
not want to step up. The parrot might be sleepy, upset, not want to be
taken away from his food bowl, or a whole host of other reasons.
So instead, I like to
reward parrots for coming to me on their own free will. I like to let
the parrot train himself that coming to me brings him pleasure. Here’s what
I mean…
Let’s say that our parrot
is happily playing on the top of his cage, and you want him to train him to
step up onto your hand. To do this place your hand about 12-24 inches from
your parrot, and observe what he does. Does he back away even further? If
so you should back up also, until you’re far enough away that your parrot is
showing relaxed body language.
Then start watching for
tiny movements your parrot starts to make towards your hand. At first,
parrots will usually do nothing. But be patient and start small. Look
for your parrot to look at your hand. When he does say “good”, and
reward with a favorite treat of his.
Parrots will catch on
pretty quick and realize that all they have to do to get a treat is look at
your hand. When your parrot gets to this stage, demand more from your
parrot for a treat. Make your parrot take a step towards your hand… even a
small step, tell him “good” and reward him again.
Continue to slowly
demand your parrot get closer and closer to your hand before giving him his
treats, until he’s actually stepping onto your hand. But be careful,
parrots can tend to not trust you. So the first time your parrot steps on
your hand, don’t think the training is done. Parrots will feel betrayed if
you coax them onto your hand and them pick them up fast.
Instead let your parrot
step on your hand without picking him up, and gradually work on rewarding
your parrot for letting you pick him an inch of the ground, then two, three,
four etc. Until every time you walk over to his cage, he’ll run over to you
expecting that he can step up onto your hand to get his treat.
Training parrots in this
way teaches parrots to problem solve. It teaches them to figure out what
you want them to do, and makes training other behaviors in the future much
easier.
Copyright © 2007
Womach Brother Productions - African Grey Parrots
This article was written by Chet Womach a parrot trainer who's helped
thousands of people owners overcome behavior problems in their
parrots, by using positive
reinforcement training techniques.
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