New Year's Resolutions for Animal Trainers 2018

It's that time of year again! The New Year reminds us to do better, be better. And this can certainly be applied to many things, including our lives as animal trainers. For the third year running, here are some New Year’s Resolutions for animal trainers………

      1. Get Out of your Routine – Are you in the habit of asking for the same behaviors, in the same order, offering the same reinforcers, and reinforcing every behavior? This can be a motivation squelcher for some animals. If your animal has a full repertoire of behaviors it knows well, it is time to gradually introduce some unpredictability.  If everything has been the same for some time, you will want to slowly introduce changes so as not to create frustration.  In the long run you can increase motivation by getting out of predictable patterns.

      2. Wrap Your Brain Around Your Bridge – What I mean is…does your bridging stimulus mean what you want it to mean to your animal?  This may take some scrutiny on your part or maybe the help of a trusted fellow trainer to analyze. I have seen some perplexing whistling, clicking etc. over the years. And if it isn’t clear to me what it is meant to communicate, it probably isn’t clear to the animal. Remember the bridge can mean whatever the trainer teaches it to mean. This could be many different things from “here comes food” to “duration has been met” to “that movement was correct” to “come back to the trainer” to “you are free to move”, etc.  Try to discern if the animal is responding to your identified bridge or other signals to get information.  I often observe the animal has learned to ignore the sounds and to focus on human body language instead.

3. Consider Animal Training a Necessity, Not a Luxury – I get it, training is fun! It is sometimes hard to imagine that “work” gets to be fun too. I sometimes consult at facilities where the attitude is that those who are training are shirking the real responsibilities of caring for animals. I disagree. Training allows day to day care of animals to be easier and stress free. It makes veterinary care easy to accomplish, both preventative care and urgent care. Bottom line, training is important to good animal health and welfare.  Help foster the culture that training is an important part of animal care.

4. Get to Know a Scientist – And I mean a real scientist. These are the ones who run labs, produce graduate students, publish studies, etc.  (Remember not all PhD’s are created equal.) I know catching up with a real scientist may not be easy for an animal trainer because these folks are not usually “internet famous” or out there on social media. They are usually busy focused on their research.  One of my favorite places to mingle with real scientists is the Art and Science of Animal Training Conference. This conference brings together top trainers and accomplished scientists from different disciplines. If you want your mind really stretched this is a good conference for the trainer who is beyond the basics.

5. Get Creative with Training and Back a Conservation Project – Whether you work with domestic animals or exotics, there is always a way to help their wild cousins. I am often impressed by how much the companion parrot community does for parrot conservation. My favorite parrot organizations to support have been The Kakapo Recovery Program and The Bird Endowment. We unfortunately lost The Bird Endowment Founder Laney Rickman this year. But the Nido Adoptivo project she started which has made a huge difference for wild blue throated macaws will continue.  I trained my blue throated macaw Blu Lu (a macaw rejected by her parents at The Bird Endowment) to paint portraits of parrots. Her paintings have raised thousands over the years to build macaw nest boxes in the wild.

6. End Your Sessions Well – Some may think this means to end on a “positive note.”  While it is certainly nice to have a good last rep if the session goes that way, that isn’t exactly what I mean. Instead I am thinking more about having a plan for how you will end your session.  For example, will you be using an end of session signal? If so, what happens after that signal?  To avoid creating frustration I suggest having something engaging to offer after the end of session signal. I prefer things that take time for the animal to eat or play with so that there is something desired paired with the time the trainer is collecting things and exiting. Or will you be training until the animal is no longer showing interest in what you have to offer and chooses to disengage so that perhaps a signal is not necessary. Either way, having a plan for how the session will end will be good to work out before the session begins.

7. Try Training Multiple Animals at a Time – This may be something to work up to for some trainers, but it is a good skill to practice. It takes good observation skills and good timing of delivery of reinforcers. Some basic behaviors to practice are teaching all animals to station for duration and not interfere with other animals. This sometimes requires a higher rate of reinforcement for some individuals. Some animals are less likely to stay put while others are getting attention/reinforcers. This means they need more reinforcers and at faster intervals and/or delivery of reinforcers timed for when others are receiving goodies. You can then work up to selecting one individual from the group to target, recall, move forward, step up, etc. depending on the species.

8. Practice Giving Training Feedback in Helpful Ways – You don’t have to be a consultant to find yourself in the position of sharing information on training. You may be helping a colleague, friend or posting in a chat group. As animal trainers you would think the goal is to also reinforce the good things people do as well, but often humans focus on what people do wrong.  In the world of animal training I don’t recommend completely ignoring errors in training for a variety of reasons, including safety. However how we convey information about errors can be done in way that is helpful and not hurtful. Take the judgement and emotion out and think more about providing information to help someone be successful. Just like training an animal, take responsibility for your human student not succeeding and change your approach to be of more help. And yes! Do positively reinforce when humans are on the right track too.  But insincere accolades are easy to see through. Be genuine with your praise for good work and non-judgemental and informative when offering feedback on what needs adjusting.

9. Conduct a Shaping Plan Contest – Come up with as many different ways as possible to train a specific behavior. For example I can think of 4 different ways right now to train an open mouth behavior.  Some plans may work better for different species. The fun part will be picking and choosing which plans to apply with which animals and then training the behavior!

Here is one strategy for getting an open mouth behavior started with a giraffe 

Here is another strategy for an open mouth behavior we tried with a pig

10. Expand your List of Reinforcers – Most trainers use food to reinforce behavior, which is totally fine. But what fun it is when we start adding other reinforcers into the mix. We can extend training sessions, we can still have motivation when animals are satiated for food, we have more variety in reinforcers for maintaining behaviors, and some non-food reinforcers are super powerful (just think about the ball obsessed dog!) Two of my favorite non-food reinforcer stories involve target training a male guinea pig for the opportunity to sniff a handful of litter soiled by a female. He LOVED it! And getting a lovely stationing behavior from my macaw just by looking at her and giving her social reinforcers with some “time with my face” at unpredictable intervals. Its really just about identifying what your animal seeks to acquire or engage with and trying to deliver that experience for desired behavior. Definitely a resolution that will broaden your training immensely.

There you go! Ten more things for animal trainers to try in the new year. 

Follow my Instagram page for more tips and animal training clips 

All the best!

 

Barbara Heidenreich

Barbara's Force Free Animal Training

Websites

All Animals: BarbarasFFAT.com

Parrots: GoodBirdInc.com

Rabbits: BunnyTraining.com

 Copyright 2017 Barbara Heidenreich

Hello Chatty Trainer!

It’s kind of a no-brainer to say I am an animal lover. And anyone familiar with force free animal training knows just how much this approach enhances your relationship with creatures of all kinds.  That’s why I get a little spring in my step when I know it’s time to move out of the classroom and get on to the practical application portion of any consulting gig. Let’s face it. A good training session can be really fun.

When I work in the zoo community I often film training sessions to record our progress and what we may need to work on with a particular behavior goal. Sometimes that means I might even get a glimpse of myself doing a little training demonstration to get things started. In a recent session I watched myself working with a brown bear on a lie down behavior. Recording sessions are also a great opportunity to evaluate one’s own practical application skills. (I highly recommend it!)

This bear and session was most definitely giving me joy. And the way I expressed it was through my words. However, I knew those words of praise were really for my benefit and not the bear’s.  In general, I tend to be a quiet trainer. This is for several reasons. One reason is that some animals can get highly aroused by our excited vocalizations. High levels of arousal can lead to undesired behaviors such as aggressive behavior and sexual behavior (that’s another story involving a monkey I will share later.)  The other reason, is that I am quite aware that what is teaching my animal to give me desired behavior is delivery of the reinforcer. And if I can deliver that reinforcer in direct conjunction with the desired behavior, that is what is communicating to the animal what behavior should be repeated.

There are times when my words may be used to “bridge” behavior. Or a word may be used as a verbal cue. However, I am usually not very chatty when intentionally teaching/using a bridge or cue so that they will be salient. In this case, I knew any verbal cues would be changed (English is not the native language of the country where this bear lives.) I also knew I was right there to deliver the reinforcer and my hand moving forward quickly with the food would act as the bridging stimulus for the behavior. This was the only thing that really mattered…..the precise timing of the delivery of the reinforcers to communicate the desired behavior was presented.  And despite all my chit chat and lack of succinct auditory bridge, the bear did learn to lie down on a visual cue.  Overtime the cue can be made more subtle. But overall this was not bad for one session.  And the trainers were new to creating behaviors and putting them on cue.

So, should I have learned to pipe down a bit when training this bear? Here is my take on it. While I am no stranger to precise use of a bridging stimulus and giving clear verbal cues, I was fully aware of what was actually influencing the behavior…. delivery of the reinforcer. I knew the words were me expressing my enjoyment in the moment and pretty much had no significance to the bear. Eventually we chose a hand cue, so words did not matter for learning this behavior.  In fact, it is one of the cool things about reinforcement, it is a universal language. And yes, I think more importantly we (meaning bear and trainers) definitely had fun. I will certainly lighten up and let trainers enjoy their own verbal behavior when I have confidence it isn’t interfering with what we are trying to accomplish. Training should be fun and in reviewing the video of the last three weeks of consulting I hear lots of laughter and I see lots of behavior goals met. Mission accomplished this time, even through the chatter.

Barbara Heidenreich 

www.BarbarasFFAT.com 

www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com

Copyright 2017

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.

What All Pet Owners Should Know

I was recently asked a question for an article. What would you like all pet owners to know? Here are a few of my thoughts.

1. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It can be easy to man handle our pets. However using force to get your pet to cooperate can damage your relationship. Instead focus on teaching your pet to be a voluntary participant by rewarding him for cooperating.

2. Young animals are learning machines! When your pet is still young there is window of development in which he will be very receptive to new experiences. Take advantage of this critical period by exposing your pet to things that will be important to his care in the future. These might include things like nail clippers, or travel in the car, or odd surfaces. Be sure to pair these items or experiences with positive reinforcers such as food treats, attention and toys.

3. Pet parents play an important role in a well behaved pet. Your pet is not inherently bad or good. By focusing on rewarding your pet for good behavior you can create a little angel instead of a little monster. Your pet will learn desired behavior earn more reinforcers and are therefore worthwhile doing. Although it is easy to forget, be sure to make the effort to frequently reinforce your pet for being good.

4. Here is a technique to apply when your pet misbehaves. Our tendency is to want to punish our pets with aversives when they misbehave. Unfortunately this can be damaging to our relationship with our pets. A more trust building approach is to ignore the undesired behavior and reinforce your pet for doing a different acceptable behavior instead. For example instead of punishing your puppy for jumping up on you, take a step back. The moment his four paws hit the floor lavish him with praise and attention at his level. This will teach him to keep four paws on the floor instead of jumping in order to earn attention. Best of all you get to be the good guy, instead of the bad guy in your pet’s life.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBirdInc.com 
Copyright 2012

Introducing a Child to a Parrot

Blu Lu the Blue Throated Macaw made a new friend today. Before she arrived at my place I am not sure if Blu Lu had met any children or not. But her initial reaction to Camryn showed she was not sure kids were to her liking.

When three year old Camryn first arrived at my house she had “happy feet.” She was dancing and wiggling until she found some parrot toys to play with. Blu Lu flew up to a high perch and looked down on the activity. After awhile she was willing to come over to the adults in the room to munch on some pellets and pine nuts. Pretty soon Blu Lu was willing to stay put if Camryn moved closer. 

Eventually Blu Lu decided her belly was full and head scratches and cuddling were in order. Camryn’s mom and I were both happy to oblige. This again paired a positive reinforcer with the presence of the little girl.

Camryn joined us on the couch and brought a slew of parrot toys with her. After a while this proved to be too tempting for the much more relaxed Blu Lu. Camryn shared the toys and Blu Lu discovered kids can be fun!

The process took about an hour and a half, but it is time well spent. For Blu Lu to be a great ambassador for Blue Throated Macaws it is important for her to feel comfortable around the many different people she may meet in the years to come. Today was a great start on that training.

Here is a short clip of some of the interactions. Enjoy!

Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2010 Good Bird Inc

A Place for People Who Are Crazy About Parrots - The Good Bird WingNutz (TM) Club

I have been biting my tongue for months now. Working on a new project is exhilarating, so much so you just want to tell the world. The day has finally come. I can officially announce ....drum roll please........

Good Bird Magazine is now a part of the NEW Good Bird WingNutz (TM) Membership Program.

What does this mean for you? It means if you become a member you get access to tons of additional resources from Good Bird Inc and the newly redesigned Good Bird Magazine. You can Learn How to Train Your Parrot! Solve Parrot Behavior Problems! Get Inspired! Expand Your Knowledge!

WHAT MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES:
Members will receive access to special online resources including the following:

* Selected Back Issues of Good Bird Magazine
* Parrot Training Videos
* Latest Discounts
* Sneak Previews
* Parrot Training Video Tips
* Selected Articles by Barbara Heidenreich
* Special Messages
* Product Reviews
* Bonus Materials
* Surveys

THE NEW GOOD BIRD MAGAZINE
Included in your membership is the quarterly publication Good Bird Magazine. We changed the format to make Good Bird Magazine a better resource for parrot enthusiasts. The new digital format is unlike anything seen in the parrot world before. It has video, audio, hyperlinks and flips pages just like a paper magazine. You have got to check it out! Take a test drive of the NEW Good Bird Magazine at this link (Be sure to click on the bottom right corner of each page to get the page flip!)

Here is a complete list of all the NEW features in this innovative digital parrot training and behavior resource.

* All Color - Parrots are just too beautiful for black and white
* Video - The perfect tool to teach readers how to train their parrots
* Audio - Audio adds a new dimension and features such as parrot call identification
* Links - Get connected immediately to resources, references and advertiser special offers
* Searchable - Find exactly what you are looking for
* Sticky Notes - Easily add a note to any article for future reference
* Book Marks - Save your place with a custom label
* Zoom Capabilities - No need for reading glasses. Get a close look at just what you need
* Highlighting - Emphasize sections of interest for easy referral
* Page Flipping - Read a digital magazine just like a regular magazine
* Printable - If you still love a printed product, you can easily print a copy
* Downloadable - If you are an ereader user, download Good Bird Magazine for easy portability
* Super Easy to Use - User friendly in every way

GET ACCESS NOW
To get access to membership areas including the latest issue of Good Bird Magazine all you need to do is become a member. Click the link below to start your membership and get immediate access. Membership is only $19 per year.

Become a Good Bird WingNutz (TM) Club Member

After you complete your order go to the Good Bird WingNutz (TM) Club home page

Next click on "register" in the Membership Login Box on the top left side of the page. Fill out the short form. Be sure to use the email address associated with your membership order. This process will confirm you have a placed your membership order.

Once this step is complete you can return to the Good Bird WingNutz (TM) home page and log in using your email address and the password you chose during the registration process. After logging in you will have access to additional materials available in the WingNutz (TM) members only sections.

(Your membership will automatically renew so no need for annual reminders. You can cancel at anytime. Just send a note to info@goodbirdinc.com)

I hope you will enjoy this great new resource designed to help you have an amazing relationship with the parrots in your life.

Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/

Making New Things Fun for Your Parrot

My parrots just blow me away sometimes. Or perhaps it is better to say that training with positive reinforcement blows me away. I recently brought Delbert, my yellow naped Amazon parrot to a new location for a photo shoot. He is fully flighted and an extremely competent flyer. Before letting him out, I made sure the room was safe for a flighted parrot. Windows and mirrors were all covered, dogs were outside and no one was allowed to open a door unless he was safe in his travel cage.

New environments can sometimes be pretty frightening to parrots. Delbert has been around a number of new places, but not near as much as I would like him too. So I was going to have to really observe his body language and see how he responded. What I wanted to avoid was my bird flying around the space in a panic.

My first signal that things were probably going to be OK was when he started chatting away while we were doing the final set preparations. He watched from his travel cage and starting asking “Ya wanna come out?”, “Are ya ready?”, “Here we goooooo”

Letting him look at the space for about 20 minutes was a great opportunity for him to acclimate. There are some things that usually evoke a fear response in parrots such as things moving overhead, quick movement nearby…but sometimes it’s the things you don’t expect that you have to watch out for. This is when reading your bird’s body language becomes super important. Although he had been looking at it for some time, a long narrow cardboard box was simply unacceptable. Any steps too close to that would send Delbert circling around the room. Fortunately because of all his recall training he would land on my hand after a few laps. We opted to remove that box while Delbert was far away from it.

Another thing that proved a challenge was the backdrop. The colored drape would occasionally move. This especially happened the moment Delbert would launch off of my hand for a cued flight. Although it took him a bit of time, the way he gradually got past this challenge was by doing simple behaviors and getting reinforced. Delbert loves flying to new people. So for some of our photos he got to fly back and forth between me and new people. This meant treats and attention that he loves. Pairing doing simple A to B flights and getting reinforced made the background fade into …well, the background!

Delbert presented excellent flights on cue, posed like the super model he is for his close ups and enjoyed preening the hair on every head there. He also ended the day snoozing on the photographer’s shoulder, beak grinding away. I suppose technically a photo shoot is “work” but I have to admit it sure felt like fun to me….and I think for Delbert too. (I think we were done shooting way before he decided it was time to wrap it up.) What made it fun was reading his body language and remembering to use positive reinforcement to make sure the experience was a good one for him too. Hmmmm, maybe he has a future in modeling. Look out Zoolander…..here comes Delbert!

Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright Good Bird Inc

Traveling with Parrots

Twenty hours in a car. That is how long it took to get the baby parrots to their new home. And I am happy to report the journey proceeded without incident. This is in part because of some advance training. Both Beni and Wrigley had already learned to enter crates. I had practiced moving them in the crates and eventually going for short drives. On the days we did not work on this behavior, the crates were always set up with treats hidden within. This meant if they felt like exploring an open crate on their own when they were out playing they would discover something special inside.

Needless to say, they soon learned to check the crates for goodies first thing. For the long drive I decided I wanted to use something larger than a crate and purchased some collapsible wire cages. I set these up where the crates usually sat. Transitioning to the new travel cages was a breeze. I also loaded them up with tons of toys which were too tempting for the baby parrots to resist.

Beni and Wrigley had also experienced several new environments in their training. This meant the hotel rooms were just another interesting place to explore, instead of a potentially frightening experience. I also brought along some familiar perches to give them a recognizable prop in a new environment. These ended up being their preferred roosting location for their nights in the hotel room.



Even though the drive was tiring and when we arrived it was snowing, there was still time for a bit of playing on the hotel beds as the video clip shows.

Their transition to their new home at the Kaytee Learning Center went really well too. But I will save that for the next blog!

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright Good Bird Inc
www.GoodBirdInc.com

The Baby Parrots Take a Trip

What an adventurous day. The baby parrots took a small excursion….. planned of course. So far both Wrigley and Beni have had the chance to spend time in each room of my house and also the back yard. They now appear relaxed and comfortable in these environments. This means it was time for us to push the envelope and try a completely new environment. I had done quite a bit of training to get both birds ready for spending more than just a few minutes in a crate for travel. And it paid off. Both birds entered their crates without hesitation. I had already worked on walking them around the house in the crates, and also placing the crates in the car and taking a short drive around the block. Today we took it a bit further and drove to my friend’s house.

I packed a familiar perch, lots of treats and a few toys. My friend had recently hurt her ankle and was stuck in her room with her foot propped up on a pillow. Time for some feathered entertainment! I placed the crated parrots on the bed. I set up the portable perch. Now it was time to open the crate doors.

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is how what you think will be so predictable often ends up being exactly the opposite. I was so sure Wrigley the double yellow headed Amazon would be calm as a cucumber and Beni the blue throated macaw would be wide eyed about the new environment. Instead Beni could have cared less. He was just thrilled to be hanging out with people and sucking up tons of attention. He flew with confidence to the perch, to my hand and to the top of the crate. To him it was just another room.

Wrigley on the other hand had to take a moment to observe his new environment. He then launched into a few loops around the room before finally landing on his familiar perch. But once that moment passed he was all about exploring, flying to my friend for treats and playing with toys. That was actually my favorite part. The fact that both parrots were comfortable enough in just a few minutes to play with toys was a great sign. It also meant all that time spent practicing behaviors in new environments was working. Beni and Wrigley are learning to generalize their behaviors. This is an important goal for these future ambassadors for their species.

Although they did really well in the new environment we did have one small set back. The crate training suffered a small breakdown. Beni was not so eager to enter the crate for the return trip home. This means the short drive was too big of an approximation for him.

Training Beni to crate has been a challenge from the start. I think this is because his first experience in the crate was a 4 hour drive from the breeder’s place to mine. This was more than he was ready for at the time. This has meant a lot of work on this behavior, and no doubt we will spend another session just practicing some repetitions of going in and out of the crate for our next sessions, and building our approximations from there. Even though there was a slight glitch, the good news is we can get back on track. Thankfully, even less than perfect situations can be turned around with a little positive reinforcement.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2009

Oops! I Scared my Parrot!

I made a boo boo today. Delbert my yellow naped Amazon parrot is flighted. He loves to get up to top speed first thing in the AM and cruise around the house. He has a few favorite landing spots, one of which is on top of the microwave. Well for some god awful reason I felt compelled to do a little house cleaning the other day. (Trust me, it was purely a strategic move to avoid a big ol’ pile of work waiting for me on my desk. When the stack gets to overwhelming, I turn into little miss clean freak.)

In my cleaning frenzy I thought “Boy it must be slippery when Delbert lands here.” Of course I had no evidence to support that thought. However I still decided I should place a nice non slick substrate on the microwave. My material of choice was a piece of a purple yoga mat.

Having forgotten about it the next day, I let Delbert out as usual for some zoom, zoom, zooming around the house. Full steam ahead he rocketed for the top of the microwave. If he had the words to express his thoughts, I do believe he would have said “Holy you know what!”

His confident expression turned to eyes wide open followed by some strategic aerial maneuvers to get the heck outta Dodge as they say. Guess who spent the rest of the morning retraining Delbert to step onto the microwave?

Sometimes we take for granted that a bird should do something we request, like stepping onto an unfamiliar or changed perch. There are many times I have watched someone quickly bring a parrot up to a perch, only to watch that bird lean far away to avoid it. In many cases people start wriggling their wrist and force the bird onto the perch. This often leads to a bird who leaps off of the perch once on it or shows body language that indicates he can’t wait to leave.

I much prefer a parrot who eagerly steps onto a perch. To get this kind of response, I pay attention to my bird’s body language. I try to make sure the bird is as comfortable as possible. I will offer treats as we approach the perch. If the bird ever shows the slightest fear response, I stop moving towards the perch. In essence I break even this behavior into small approximations. Over time the birds learns stepping onto a new perch means lots of treats.

At a recent parrot behavior and training workshop I taught, I went through this process with two parrots. I wanted a hyacinth macaw to step onto a table. It took me about 10 minutes of tiny of approximations to finally get her to step onto the table. During the process I had to stand in some weird positions so that she was comfortable. But she did it! A little poicephalus parrot also went through these steps. In just a matter of seconds she learned to step onto the table as well. I then went on to work with her on getting comfortable with a towel. You can see pictures from this event on my twitter page .

Slowing down and taking a few extra moments can make a world of difference to a parrot, especially when your parrot is afraid of something new. So even though I created a little set back for Delbert. We were able to get past it with a just few minutes of training.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc

Bizarre Rare Parrot......The Feather Duster

Behold the feather duster. Kind of a controversial topic I have discovered. Apparently they are a rare mutation of the English Budgie. I recently met Munchkin a feather duster hatched at J & M Aviaries in Austin, TX. I remember when Linda and Jerry told me they might have a feather duster baby. They were hand raising a few budgies and one appeared with unusual feathers. At first they thought it might be a disease such as psittacine beak and feather. They had even thought they might need to euthanize the bird to protect the flock. Fortunately they realized what they had on their hands was one of these rare mutations.

The controversy over these parrots is that there is concern that they don’t live long and that the feathers create a hardship in their lives. This can mean challenges seeing and also keeping the feathers clean. The shorter life span has been attributed to the nutrient requirements for feather growth. All of this may be true for some, but what we all wondered is how many people actual have the opportunity to give a feather duster the kind of attention it needs to live a healthy life?

As a small facility J & M is able devote plenty of time to each bird. Larger aviaries that hatch a feather duster may not have that luxury. Munchkin goes home every night with staff and is attended to all day at the aviary.

As a hand raised baby he is extremely engaging and appears to respond enthusiastically to attention. In this video clip, you can see him perk up when he hears his name called and spin circles when Linda comes closer.

In one article I saw comments that it was unkind to allow feather dusters to survive. I found this difficult to agree with after watching Munchkin. He certainly did not seem to be suffering and in fact he was as vital as any bird I had seen. He has a preferred toy that he rests up against (made by the Leather Elves….Robin is quite proud I am sure!) and probably gets more attention than most parrots I know.

Working in bird shows for so many years I often had the privilege to work with and train some unusual cases ….a blind Harris Hawk named Storm; a Barred Owl with brain damage due to a head trauma named Mr. Magoo, and an amazing wing injured Bald Eagle named Hope. One thing that amazed me is how adaptable these animals are. As with any animal the goal was always to use positive reinforcement to help makes their lives as rewarding as possible. And in turn they helped educate and inspire so many people despite their personal individual challenges.

I hope people can look at Munchkin as a special bird who happened to hatch into the hands of some people who care deeply for him. With any luck he will teach us more about this unique condition and how best to care for feather dusters.

Barbara Heidenreich

Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc
www.GoodBirdInc.com

Adventures in Animal Training!

Yeah, I admit it. I have a pretty decent job. In this economy when most are doing they best they can to make ends meet, actually getting paid and enjoying the heck out of your work is quite a blessing.

I just returned from a few days of zoo consulting work. Even though I worked a number of animal related jobs as a teen and through my college years, I started my real animal training career working as a zookeeper 19 years ago. It was there I was introduced to training animals with positive reinforcement and have stuck with it ever since. In those 19 years I have met a lot of animals....and certainly parrots are probably the ones I have met the most now that I also lecture extensively to the companion parrot community. But even with the parrots, every single time I meet an new animal it is an adventure.

My adventure this time included some time spent with elephants, gorillas, a red tailed hawk, a raven, a sulphur crested cockatoo, a dwarf caimen, African crested porcupines, a turkey vulture, pigs, giraffes, southern ground hornbills, rhinoceros hornbills and a cute penguin named Pigloo. (I apologize to anyone I may have left out!)

Although I occasionally get some time to interact with the animals myself. My job is really to coach those who already have a relationship with the training subjects. But did I get to pet Pigloo? and feed biscuits to a gorilla? and get sniffed by a giraffe? Happily.... the answer is yes!

Although I love the animal encounters, there are other parts that mean just as much to me. I so enjoy when I get feedback that the material/information I offer has been helpful. This was a super appreciative audience. Plus they sacrificed a lot of their free time to take advantage of the few days I was there. That is HUGE! And it was a big positive reinforcer for me that they were willing to spend so much time with me.

And of course, I always learn something new too. While I have been fortunate to work with the species mentioned prior to this trip, every animal is an individual and every situation presents it's own unique challenges. Therefore there is always a bit or brain power involved to get the job done. I love that!

There were a number of "feel good" training moments in this trip. The elephant session, turkey vulture, and pigs maybe stand out the most for being thrilling in the sense that we really saw the animals learning during their sessions.

So now it is onto other events. Next up, I will be teaching a parrot training seminar at Cornell University. (I think that makes 4 vet schools now for me?) A few years ago I was invited to speak at my alma mater UC Davis. The event was one I had attended 20 years earlier as a student. I even brought the seminar notebook I had received all those years ago to show everyone. You can even see where my Amazon parrot had made his mark on it. I had him in my life, even way back then.

I often get emails from people asking to be stuffed in my suitcase when I head out on the road. OK, but you must weigh less than 50 lbs or I get charged extra at check in. Seriously, I would love for everyone to share in the experience. It is for that reason I became a part of the Twitter community. If I can squeeze in a moment I try to offer a little "tweet" to fill followers in on the day to day activities of an animal training consultant. You can become a follower at this link here. It also automatically updates on my Facebook and if I can figure out how to do it...on my blog here. Wish me luck!

Barbara Heidenreich

Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc

Training Tips and Parrot Bites

As a proponent of positive reinforcement training, one of my goals is to avoiding doing anything that creates the situation in which a parrot may be inclined to bite. That means avoiding force, reinforcing for desired behavior like stepping onto my hand when cued or off as the case may be, and paying close attention to my parrot’s body language that says “back off”…..and respecting it by doing just that.

In the long run these strategies make it less likely the bird will be inclined to present aggressive behavior in the future. Trust is built as the parrot learns I wont force him to do anything against his will and if he chooses to present certain behaviors (like stepping up) he earns desired outcomes….which often means treats. Yea!

However I thought I would share a few “techniquey” type things I have been using for years. Meeting parrots for the first time is a big part of what I do when I travel to teach seminars. Many of these birds have histories that may have taught them to present aggressive behaviors towards hands. However I purposely ask the owners to refrain from telling me the parrot’s histories.

This is because I want to base my actions on what the bird shows me with his body language. If I am unsure I have a few little strategies that help me have some confidence as I start to interact with the parrot.

1. Reach for the Treat


Offer a treat to the bird by holding it far enough away that the parrot must reach for it. Hold the treat in your fingertips so that the only thing the bird can reach is the treat. This way he won’t be able to get to your fingers to bite. Plus he gets a treat which can reinforce his calm acceptance of the treat. I repeat this a few times and watch the parrot’s response before venturing in closer. (I have more detail about this in the article "Training your new Parrot" on my website)

2. Do the Tighten Up


When asking a parrot I have just met to step up for the first time, I often keep my hand in a tight closed fist as pictured above. If a bird tries to bite, my first choice is to pull my hand and the treats away (time out from positive reinforcement aka negative punishment) But even the best of us may not react fast enough. Having your hand in a tight fist makes it difficult for the parrot to grab a hold of anything with his beak. I still don’t leave the fist there for the bird to gnaw on…I am not trying to flood the bird to accept a hand. The fist is just to avoid injury should I fail to respond to the parrot’s signals fast enough.

3. Hair Play


My final tip has to do with my hair. Some parrots show quite an adverse response to hands. In those cases I will sometimes lower my head and see if they might like to play with my hair. I offer the very top of my head as once again there is no flesh they can grasp. Many times parrots will start preening or playing with hair. This in some cases can get some pleasant interaction going with a parrot.

Keep these tips in mind when you are meeting a parrot for the first time or if you have a parrot that presents aggressive behavior. Hope they help.


Barbara Heidenreich


Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc

Parrot Play Time and You. AKA Stop and Smell the Amazon Parrot

All day long I found myself saying "lovely fatty bum, bum." Why you may ask? It is this dude's fault. This particular you tube clip has cracked me up more than his famous potty mouthed parrot (warning! not for those offended by curse words). I am not sure if it is the accent (Americans love those English accents), the phrase or perhaps that he is just having a fabulous time playing with his dog. Or maybe it is just that everyone needs to hear they have a lovely fatty bum, bum from time to time. Here is one for you dear reader "lovely fatty bum bum!"

Anyway, I think the real message in the clip has to do with taking time out to have some fun time with your companion animals. I must wrestle, hug and love on my dog countless times throughout the day. I whistle, sing, scritch and play with parrots off and on all day as well. (Now everyone knows the real secret as to why it takes so long to answer my emails. Busted!)

Sometimes this means typing with one hand as I give a nice little preen to my cockatiel. Usually I try to make my work time, fun time for my parrots. The cockatiel not only visits with me but also wanders around the window sill where I stash lots of parrot safe toys.

Several times a day I also take short breaks for training sessions. I actually find them a nice relief from the computer and of course my parrots benefit as well. A session might be followed up by lunch for me and more playtime on the counter for my birds.

When my brain can't take any more work, I do like many and find TV to be a nice way to clear out thoughts about work and drift into someone else's story. This too is also parrot time, as my Amazon parrot of 21 years likes to make sure my eyebrows get a good preening. It's Extreme EyeBrow Make Over for me if he is on a roll.

While I know many are often seeking help for behavior problems with parrots, I hope they also are also having some moments to stop and as I like to say "smell the Amazon" (Those Amazon parrots do have a very distinctive odor. All the Amazon people are nodding their heads. )

Amazon smell for me is associated with all things warm and fuzzy from the many years of enjoying sharing my life with an Amazon parrot. Hope you get a warm fuzzy feeling all over from your parrots too!

Barbara Heidenreich

Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc