Kahlua

The other day, I was talking about how my philosophy has changed as a result of the classes I've taken during the last couple of years. Positive Reinforcement makes you re-think your approach because it requires two things -- the trainee always has the choice to participate (or not) and the opportunity to earn a reinforcer (reward).

For example, in the past when someone asked, "How can I make my bird step up?" I would have suggested some approaches. Now I'm more likely to ask why you want your bird to step up. If you want your bird to come out of the cage and it doesn't want to step on your hand, but it will come out by itself if you open the door and step back -- that works, right? You got what you wanted and the bird got what it wanted. Win, win.

If you say you want to put the bird on a playstand, I might ask if you can push the playstand close to the cage and target the bird to the stand.

If you tell me you need to move the bird from one point to another I might give you alternative ideas to stepping onto a hand. Using a small perch or a table-top perch are two methods I use in training birds at CPR.  Watch Carpe

It surprises people when I tell them I don't handle all the birds in our program.  I work with all of them, but it's not necessary for me to step them onto my hand. One of our best-trained birds, Kahlua, doesn't care for hands and that's okay. Because I know her, I allow her to step onto my shoulder, then bend over to download her. Mind you, I would NOT do this with a large bird, but I am willing to risk it with a smaller bird once we have a relationship. Watch Kahlua

Another thing that's made me re-think this issue was watching the trainers at Natural Encounter in January. They stood two to three feet back from the bird, held up a treat and a flat palm and asked the bird to step up. Then they waited for the bird to invite them into their space, by offering a foot, leaning in that direction or some other signal. Think how different this is from our usual approach of shoving our hand at the bird while authoritatively staying, "Step up." Watch Bosley

And one last thing: birds have value and can be trained whether they can be stepped up or not. I so admire a couple of our adoptive families who have recently accepted retired breeder cockatiels into their homes. These birds have never been socialized, but the families enjoy their beauty, their happy chatter and what they add to their homes by their simple presence.

A little food for thought.

Train away!

Abigail Beitel

CPR is very fortunate that Abigail Beitel has joined us as a summer intern. She is a sophomore at NC State University pursuing a degree in Biology. Abigail plans to attend veterinary school with early plans of seeking board certification in a specialty, potentially cardiology or orthopedics. Of course we hope that after a few weeks with us she will consider Avian and Exotics!

Abigail has an extensive background interacting with companion pets. Her mother, Jill Beitel, is a certified pet dog trainer (Courteous Canine) who uses positive reinforcement methods similar to those used by us. (Jill has helped me on several occasions with my guys.) Abigail has worked alongside her mom for many years and additionally she has work experience with small mammal veterinary clinics.

Thank you, Abigail for all your excellent work. We hope you will enjoy your time with us! I know the birds are enjoying your presence.

Please contact Lynda Rettew, Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteer@companionparrots.org if you'd like help CPR and the birds. Thank you!