We spent the day at a parrot workshop, learning some cool training techniques and fun ways to make life exciting for the feathered ones. My favourite part of the session was when the wonderful Barbara Heidenreich was training this cute little female Gang Gang cockatoo to fly to her :)
@lellie@swilde@nicolecampbell@jld29@taffy@sarasdadandmom@pyrrhula There are dog training classes, so why not bird training ones? :) (Barbara has worked with almost every type of animal, from elephants and giraffes to snakes and horses... The principles are the same regardless of species).
What a great idea! I wish I could attend a 'guinea-pig' training session to teach me how to get our new little friend to not run away or cower when I open the hutch....
@filsie65 The same principles that were discussed at our workshop would apply to guinea pigs (in fact Barbara Heidenreich has a couple of guinea pigs of her own that she trained to do some tricks). The trick is to figure out what behaviour you want (e.g. that it's fun to have the hutch opened) and to reward even the tiniest step towards that, so reward them for staying put when you move to the hutch, then open it a tiny bit and reward them again, then reward them for coming back out when the hutch is open... etc. Also look up 'target training' on the web - that's a big part of it too.
@alia_801 Thanks, Alia, that's interesting.. I was trying to give a little treat after picking him up so that he would associate it with good, but that was possibly too shocking already! Extra problem that he seemed terrified at me shoving something at his mouth... I'll look up the target training, and aim more for the 'softly softly' approach... :)
@filsie65 Try also holding a treat a 'safe' distance from him (something he really likes; look at his body language and work out what distance is comfortable for him) and then let him come to you. Once he's there, feed him more treats (slowly, slowly!) and then gradually move your other hand a little closer (while still feeding treats) until eventually you can pet him, then repeat from there...
Also Barbara said that many guinea pigs and bunnies don't like being picked up as all their strength is in their legs so find a tube that's the right size for piggy to run into (they like to tunnel), provide snacks and treats for doing so, and when piggy is happy, slowly, slowly move the tube...
@alia_801 He took a bit of apple from me today! I was behind the 'fence' but did a happy dance!! My friend's GPs (which we looked after last summer) had a sort of plastic 'pod' they liked to sleep in and we used it as a trap for catching them... might see if I can find one for Humphrey
June 11th, 2013
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Now there is something I never thought of , a Parrot workshop.. how cool
Also Barbara said that many guinea pigs and bunnies don't like being picked up as all their strength is in their legs so find a tube that's the right size for piggy to run into (they like to tunnel), provide snacks and treats for doing so, and when piggy is happy, slowly, slowly move the tube...