Free! Training Rescued and Re-homed Parrots Webinar

I have to be honest, while my name may be somewhat known, I am like many in the animal business and make a modest living. As an animal lover I struggle with the inner battle that many share, of needing to make a living but at the same time wanting to help as many animals as possible.  I realize at this time some cannot afford to pay for the behavioral help they need for their parrots. However I believe I may have a small solution to this dilemma. As is commonly the case, as a community we are quite strong. When times are favorable we often have the ability to support our friends and colleagues. We often do this by donating what we can, when we can.

So for this reason I have decided to continue to make the webinar on Training Rescued and Re-homed Parrots available at no charge. However I ask if you watch this webinar that you consider saying “Thank You” by offering to pay what you can.  The amount is up to you! (The webinar normally sells for $19.95.) Your contribution will help make it possible for this item to continue to remain free for those who can’t afford it. If the generosity of others has helped make this a wonderful opportunity for you, you can help pay it forward by helping spread the word about this resource on social media, in chat groups, etc.

If parrot people come through with their support, maybe this can be extended to other resources. I sure hope so! It is up to you parrot community :) If you love these resources and want more, let it be known through your contribution and/or word of mouth support. What you do and say matters!

Webinar Description:
Whether you work in a rescue or sanctuary, foster parrots or have adopted a parrot into your home it is sometimes difficult to break through or overcome behavior problems with a parrot with an unfortunate or unknown history. This webinar will provide guidance for those working with some of the more challenging behavioral cases in the avian community. Total run time is 1 hour and 50 minutes. You can log in and out as much as you want to watch at your convenience or repeatedly. 

How to Contribute:

Click on this link.

The donation is set at $1. If you would like to increase this amount,  change the number in the box under “Qty” then click on the  words “update quantity.”  This will allow you to increase your contribution by increments of $1. Then proceed to checkout.

Access:

Visit this link to access the webinar http://www.instantpresenter.com/barbarasffat/EB56DC86884B

If you are experiencing any problems connecting to the seminar in your usual browser, consider switching to a different browser. Just paste the link to the webinar in a different browser such as Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Also be sure to have a current flash player on your computer such as Adobe Flash Player http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

For iPads use the Puffin browser or Photon both are free apps. This will allow you to view flash video files included in the presentation. You can log in and out as much as you want.  

This webinar is one of many resources you can find at www.GoodBirdInc.com. I hope you will find it extremely beneficial to helping you foster a wonderful relationship based on trust with the parrots in your life.

Barbara Heidenreich 
www.BarbarasFFAT.com 
www.GoodBirdInc.com 
Copyright 2015 

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Overcoming Fear Responses. Two Tools Every Animal Trainer Needs

When it comes to animal training you often hear people sing the praises of positive reinforcement. Me too! I love it. But there are two other tools that I can’t live without, systematic desensitization and classical conditioning. Try saying those three times fast! They sound like a mouthful, but they really are very important tools, especially when it comes to introducing your pet to new things or new situations.

Systematic desensitization is exposing your animal to something in a gradual way without evoking a fear response. For example if I want my parrot to get used to a syringe that I would like to use to deliver oral medications, instead of just presenting it in front of his beak, I will have it far enough away that he can see it but shows very little response to it. What I would like to see is mild curiosity or indifference. What I definitely don’t want to see is any body language that indicates a fear response. If I see fear responses, that means I failed at my use of systematic desensitization.  If I use this approach correctly, over time I will be able to gradually bring the syringe closer to my bird and no fear response will be presented.

This same strategy can be used to introduce many different types of objects including stethoscopes, new toys, travel crates, even people. In some of my parrot training workshops I have had participants successfully wrap a towel around a parrot using this technique. It requires very slow movements and excellent observation of parrot body language.

Systematic desensitization becomes an even more powerful tool when paired with classical conditioning. This means at the same time I am gradually getting closer with this new object or experience, I am pairing it with something I know the animal likes, usually preferred food items. In other words new things are introduced at a pace the animal can handle and good things happen at the same time. This is a powerful way to help an animal accept new things. And it can happen quite fast. Using this approach I can usually get a syringe, stethoscope or towel very close to a parrot in just a few minutes. This allows me to then transition to using positive reinforcement training strategies in which the animal makes choices to engage with the object to earn desired goodies.

These two tools are great for training behaviors that facilitate medical care and they can also be used to help get your parrot engaged with new toys, new people or just about any new object or circumstance you think might be uncomfortable for your parrot.  Next time you see your parrot or any other pet in your household hesitate around a new object or circumstance, think about pulling these two important but often overlooked tools out of the tool box.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2015

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Connecting with a New Parrot

I spend a great deal of time on the road teaching parrot training workshops, meeting new parrots, making a connection with them, and then training behaviors such as step up, take medication from a syringe, interact with towels and so on. Sometimes because I spend so much time talking about and studying these topics I assume many others are familiar with this information as well.

However it became clear this is not the case when reading a thread on a chat group.  A woman had inherited a macaw and was very unsure about how to interact with her new charge and was most troubled by how to train the parrot to step up.

Here are some of the misguided tips she received from well-meaning members of the group:

• Make him step up by using a stick
• Expect to get bit
• If he bites, ignore it and just take the bite, so he learns not to bite
• Just sit by the cage and talk to him softly
• He will grow out of the biting
• Don’t show fear
• Just put your finger near him and talk to him like he is human
• Keep him below eye level
• Just be patient and love him
• Sing songs to him
• Parrots are just bad pets and shouldn’t be in our homes

I think it is wonderful that people want to help and are willing to share information. However the tips listed here are not what this bird or woman needs. And it saddens me that the information that will truly help this person is not reaching enough people.

Here is what will make a difference…straight forward force free training with positive reinforcement. This means identifying something this bird finds of value. Singing and talking to the bird may be of value to some birds, but not all and in reality is usually not the most powerful reinforcer for a bird that has no relationship with the human in question. Fortunately it was mentioned the bird like walnuts. Awesome! Now there is a treat she can use to get started pairing something good with her presence. The nuts can be broken up into small pieces to offer lots of teaching moments throughout the day.

The next step is to identify steps or approximations she can use to train the bird to step up. These are outlined in great detail in my DVD Parrot Behavior and Training, my eBook Train Your Parrot to Step Up and you can see examples on my YouTube page. Each step or approximation is reinforced with the pieces of walnut.



While going at the birds pace is important, it does not necessarily mean you have to wait weeks or years to train this behavior. It literally usually only takes one to two training sessions for me to train this behavior. It is one I repeat over and over again with new birds I have just met at parrot training workshops. There are always birds present at these workshops that show fear responses or aggressive behavior towards hands. This is the result of hands being used in coercive ways. It is not inherent to parrots. It is the result of learning and can be changed with force free approaches. Biting never had to be in these birds’ repertoire and nor does it need to be in the future. “Taking the bite” is not the way to go. Teaching the bird you will respect his or her body language and not push her to the point of biting will make biting irrelevant and not necessary. The result will be a much more trusting relationship between human and bird.

Biting is not a phase to grow out of, nor is it solved by keeping birds low. It is also not the result of parrots being bad pets; it is the result of how people interact with parrots in coercive ways.  A pleasant bite free relationship with parrots it completely possible when you use a force free training strategy.  I hope by sharing this information here, we can get more people talking about kind, gentle and most importantly, effective ways of building trust with companion parrots.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2014

Building Trust with Your Parrot

Today I was stroking my yellow naped amazon parrot Delbert’s foot. I was marveling at how such a little tiny creature would sit there so relaxed while I gently touched him. Seriously, it really is a moving experience when you think about it. An animal that can easily fly away from me or perhaps bite me hard enough to draw blood is allowing and enjoying me touching his feet. I think that is really cool. And in a weird way, a proud moment. The pride comes in because I know it is the choices I have made when interacting with my parrot that allows me this wonderful privilege.

Building trust with your parrot is a very realistic goal. What it requires is tossing out those old school notions about how to interact with animals. You are not going to be the boss, your bird does not have to obey you, and your parrot doesn’t have to do anything right this second.

Instead you are going to be your parrot’s partner, his provider of all things wonderful and most of all, you will be his friend.

Here are a few tips to help you start building a trusting relationship with your parrot.

1. Avoid using force to get your parrot to do something you want.
2. Avoid doing anything that creates a fear response. (You will need to learn to be very attentive to your bird’s body language so you know what the slightest fear response looks like.)
3. Avoid doing anything that creates aggressive behavior. (Just as with fear responses you will want to become very familiar with aggressive body language to avoid creating it.)
4. Empower your parrot to choose to participate. Let him walk or fly away when he wants to.

Some may be thinking “With my parrot having all that freedom to choose how in the world will I get him to be well behaved and do what I ask when needed?”….like step up when it is time to go back in the cage. This is where learning about how to train with positive reinforcement will be very important.

Positive reinforcement training will teach your parrot that when he does cooperate with your requests wonderful things happen. Like he gets treats, head scratches, cuddles or attention. Or all of the above! When you use this approach you get a parrot who can’t wait to do what you ask. And best of all you get a parrot who really enjoys interacting with you.

Follow these tips and not only will your parrot learn to trust you, but you will also find your relationship will blossom. Making that connection with a parrot is very rewarding for you both when you train with positive reinforcement. You can learn more about how to train your parrot and build trust from my DVDs Parrot Behavior and Training: An Introduction to Training and also my Live Workshop DVD The Basics of Parrot Training. Also check out the DVD Understanding Parrot Body Language to fine tune your sensitivity to fear and aggressive behaviors.

I get lots of emails about people having turned their relationship with their companion parrot around by following these strategies. I can’t wait to hear your story!

Happy Training!

Barbara
Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2011 Good Bird Inc