I was talking to a lady at work who was telling me that she was beginning to train her new Boston terrier puppy.  I asked her how she intended to train it: “Oh, definitely with positive reinforcement, I would never punish a dog!”  As she continued to talk, I realized that she took punishment to be the opposite of positive reinforcement.  A lot of people make this same mistake.

The misconception seems to come from the words positive and negative and people’s misunderstanding of the word reinforcement.

First, a reinforcement is anything that strengthens the likelihood that a behavior will continue to happen once it has started.  Secondly, you shouldn’t confuse the words positive and negative with good and bad.  A positive reinforcement (R+) simply means that something has been added to the bird’s environment and serves to increase a behavior, such as a food reward or praise.

A negative reinforcement (R-) means that something has been deleted from the birds environment to increase a behavior.  An example of the this is the time out. When you walk away and disconnect from your nipping parrot,  you are denying the bird your attention in the hopes that he understands that this behavior was unacceptable and will result in the loss of something he values.  BOTH are useful tools in training. A time out is a fairly harmless way teach a bird, but it is R-, which generally does not yield the same great results as R+.

In the book “Don’t Shoot The Dog” by Karen Pryor, she describes a technique where a trainer uses negative reinforcement successfully to teach a llama to allow the trainer to approach him.  Quite simply, every time the trainer was allowed to get a little bit closer to the animal without incident, the trainer would  leave.  R-.  Inch by inch, the trainer was able to get close enough to physically handle the animal.  It works.  The trainer got what he wanted, and the llama was no worse for wear, but it didn’t gain anything from the experience either.

The continued use of R- in its varying degrees can eventually get you into trouble.  It sometimes crosses the line into what is perceived by the animal as force or punishment (or actually is)  – do it my way or I’ll take something important from you.

You have to consider the possibility of fallout from the use of R-: an animal that feels it is being “mistreated” might decide to retaliate and bite.  Or your relationship might simply deteriorate.  It is known that parrots do not respond to punishment.

The use of R+ is win/win.  Everybody benefits.  Your parrot performs a requested behavior, and gets a reward for it.  Eventually the reward is phased out and offered intermittently, and the behavior remains.  A parrot, or any animal, that is trained by these methods actually looks forward to the training because it is a way to earn yummy treats.  It never feels forced to comply and will do so eagerly.

I have heard so many times that a certain parrot doesn’t like women, or that another prefers them. I have myself had a parrot that didn’t care for men – loved my daughter, liked me, hated my ex-husband.  Smart bird.

I was even told once that a female parrot is more likely to do well with a male human, and vise versa.  Where does this preference come from? Were they born with it? I don’t think so.

Often, a bird that has been placed in a rescue might have a dislike for one gender, which may have landed them there in the first place.

If we were to analyze the bird’s background, I think we would find that at some point the parrot had a bad experience with someone of that gender and now associates all women, for instance, as evil-doers.

What about the parrot that doesn’t hate men, but gravitates toward women?  Perhaps this bird simply had such positive experience with women that it logically seeks out a woman for comfort. Maybe the breeder who hand fed the parrot was a woman who lovingly attended to its needs or the person at the pet shop who offered attention and fresh food and water was a woman.

And then there’s the parrot who has bonded to one individual in the house, to the exclusion of everyone else.  This may not be related to gender at all, but instead the parrot may have selected the primary caregiver  as the favored person.

Further, where the parrot selects one person as a mate, it isn’t necessarily the opposite sex.

While having a preference for a man or a woman might be very real in your parrots life at the moment, it has likely been learned, and can be UN-learned through your efforts and lots of positive experiences.

I know a woman, Linda, who brought home a rescued female military macaw named Kharma.  The bird immediately bonded with her and the two were inseparable.  About two years later, her boyfriend, Dan, moved into the their house, and Kharma’s loyalties slowly shifted to him.

What’s worse is that her beloved Kharma was lunging and nipping at her when the three of them were together.

She was heart-broken and didn’t understand what she had done wrong.  I tried to console her by assuring her that she hadn’t done anything to drive the bird away, but that Kharma had simply chosen Dan in the same way she had initially chosen Linda.

She tearfully told me that she was thinking about asking Dan to move out.   I told her that throwing away her boyfriend was not the answer.

She did some restructuring in the way things were done in their household, and by whom.   Since we had very little history on Kharma, we tried some experiments – some worked,  some failed.  The end result?  Linda and Dan were married, and Kharma perched next to them both on the alter on their big day.

Kharma still has a preference for Dan, but accepts Linda as an important part of the flock, and interacts with her nicely every day.

We will never understand why Kharma selected Dan after such a good relationship had been shared by Linda and Kharma, but clearly there was no adversity to women present from the start.  It’s a mystery.

This is my Senegal Parrot’s first appearance in a video and I had only had my bird for about 6 months at the time it was shot. In the video she demonstrates 7 tricks: wave, shake, nod, turn around, bat, fetch, and bowling. That is greater than an average of 1 trick per month.

Also I had taught several other taming behaviors and established a regime. She also knew target, let me pet her, hold her in any angle, and open her wings to check feathers. I taught these tricks at a leisurely but consistent pace. Check back at this blog for more training tips.

Wild birds learn everything that isn’t hard-wired into them from their parents. Everything from what is safe to eat to how to bathe to what to be afraid of is learned by watching.

Many of our companion parrots have been captive bred and have not had the advantage of having a feathered mom or dad teaching them the ins and outs of being a bird.  It makes perfect sense that our parrots learn from one another.

When I first got Theo (goffins cockatoo), she was sedentary.  She didn’t have the same sense of adventure my others have, was just plain fearful of many things, and wouldn’t touch her toys.

She rarely ventured off her perch, very UNcockatoo-like behavior.  She would recognize toy parts, a piece of wood for instance, but clearly had no idea what to do with it.

I would hand it to her and she would take it in her beak and immediately drop it with complete indifference.  I hated the thought that she might spend the rest of her life staring at the wall, so I enlisted the help of my other parrots.

Theo is enamored with Linus (umbrella cockatoo) and doesn’t miss a move he makes.  When I handed that same piece of wood to Linus, and he immediately severed it, you could actually see her brain at work: “THAT’S what that stuff is for.”

In return for his teaching services, Theo, who has a hearty appetite, showed Linus what to do with berries, sweet potato and other foods he had no use for.

My cockatiels, Tinky and DeeDee, are always learning from each other.  When one picks up a new word, the other is using it within a day or two. I really only have to do the work with one of them to get through to them both, kind of a two-fer. Unfortunately, this means when one picks up a bad habit, the other follows closely behind.

Tinky discovered how exciting it was to toss my toothbrush from its holder onto the floor in the bathroom and it became DeeDee’s favorite new game as well.  My quaker, Libby,  showed the cockatiels what to do with fresh vegatables:  you eat what you can and  toss what remains on the floor, bowl and all.  Observational learning has it’s drawbacks.

A behavior problem can sometimes be corrected when an uncooperative bird watches the appropriate behavior of another and sees the benefits of attention and goodies lavished on him as a reward. Chances are he’ll want in on that too.

Likewise, with training, and especially with younger parrots that are new to the regimen, watching a more experienced parrot comfortably performing a behavior, and being rewarded for it, might be just the thing to light up that dim bulb.

This summer I had to go to a BBQ outing so I brought my Senegal Parrot along for the day. It’s a good way to socialize the bird and introduce it to new people and surroundings.

By bird is usually much more tame during such outings and never bites anyone (although at home she can get territorial). Such outings are a great opportunity to introduce new people, new foods, new objects. The parrot is like a sponge and soaks this all in because it’s curious and observant.

And of course this is a great opportunity to show off your bird’s tricks to friends and family.

Also, I had to go to a birthday party to which I decided to bring my Senegal. Everyone is always quite impressed, the bird learns, and I have my favorite companion along with me to enjoy it. I don’t keep her out for too long at a time.

I give the bird breaks in the carrier but usually place it some place nearby so that she can see me. On occasion, however, I leave the carrier (in a safe and undisturbed place) for a while so that the bird can learn to be alone in the carrier if need be transported.

So by all means, bringing your bird on single day outings is a great experience for you, your bird, and your friends. When you have to go visit the in-laws or some other outing you aren’t so much looking forward to, bring your feathered friend along to keep you company.

Warning: Your bird should be on a harness when taken outside unless properly trained by a professional for un-tethered outside interaction.

10) Polly Wants A Cracker, Paul Wants the Whole Damn Buffet!

Read the rest here!