Well not a dog but a parrotlet.
Training a parrotlet can be easy or frustrating. In our case it is frustrating.
I have been looking through pictures and noting timelines with our Huey.
When I first got him, he would step up. He did this for a few days only then he started biting. A biting bird who draws blood does not make for a happy family.
I decided that maybe I should just sit near him and win his heart then everything would fall into place. I would open his cage and he would climb out and onto his play gym. He eats his snacks outside of his cage on the play gym. I was hoping this would be easier to teach him "up". I figured I would have time to "properly" train him as I heard stories of people having their birds for many many years.
Our version of "up" consisted of a flat hand palm side up and could only be acomplished from outside of the cage. Huey was clipped when I got him when he was 6 months old he will be 4 in April. As his feathers grew in so did his personality, but also so did his attitude. "up" became a suggestion in our house. When he got tired of flying around he would step up onto my hand.
Then the plucking began. I was concentrating on trying to do EVERYTHING suggested to get him to stop. (still an ongoing process).
It was frustrating for me to read on this forum how lots of folks have these wonderful little birdies while I had a terror. I could bond more with the members who had their own little terrors. I decided that I would just be happy with what we had and not concern myself with all of the bonding. We had our own kind of bond in our house. Huey bonded differently to hubby than he did with me.
I realized that I was focusing on the wrong things. We have a guy who in his own way does care for us. It might not be like some of his friends care for their parronts but it is there.
We decided to clip him beofre we took our trip in November. I also made it a point to spend more time each day trying to teach him up. I have made progress and I am posting here because one of the members here made a comment to me privately when I told her how happy I was with our "training" that she knew of another person who bonded with their parrotlet after 4 years. Not everybirdy bonds in the same way, some really do take their time.
Here are a few things that I do know about our guy. I sat back and thought about how he is trained or how he has trained us, it might not be typical but it works and I want those who might be frustrated to know that there is hope.
Huey loves to travel, I open his cage and put his travel cage near the door and he hops right in (or out).
He now will chirp while sitting in my hand or on my shoulder.
He will "up" with minimal fluttering when I put my hand into his cage now. Once on my hand I can take him out.
He will fall asleep in my hand and will sit there for up to 25 minutes.
If he is out of our sight (he flutters off of the couch and we can not see him when we look) he will chirp if we call his name.
He loves to eat what we eat, he will give our plates a glance and them actually look at his to be sure they are the same.
Biting usually is now more of a signal and not a bite. If he wants to get my attn while in my hand he will kind of mouth my hand.
The only time he will talk around us is when hubby is getting cussed at for doing what ever Huey decides is what he should not be doing.
He does talk but only when we are not in the room.
Hubby is a safe zone, Huey will run away from me when I am trying to get him to "up" and over to hubby. He climbs up hubbys leg and onto his shoulder and sits as far away from me as he can, giving me stink eye.
He likes what I call head banging music, in the car Huey is quiet until a loud song comes on the radio then he chirps loudly until the song is over.
Hopefully as the years go by he will continue to become more friendlier and with any luck maybe even have some chest feathers. If not we will just love him as he is.
My point in this ramble is love your little ones and dont worry if they fit into the mold of what people percieve to be a tame parrotlet. There are people on this forum who have troubles and issues just like there are people who have perfectly tame wonderful little ones. Look for the good and you will find it.
Training a parrotlet can be easy or frustrating. In our case it is frustrating.
I have been looking through pictures and noting timelines with our Huey.
When I first got him, he would step up. He did this for a few days only then he started biting. A biting bird who draws blood does not make for a happy family.
I decided that maybe I should just sit near him and win his heart then everything would fall into place. I would open his cage and he would climb out and onto his play gym. He eats his snacks outside of his cage on the play gym. I was hoping this would be easier to teach him "up". I figured I would have time to "properly" train him as I heard stories of people having their birds for many many years.
Our version of "up" consisted of a flat hand palm side up and could only be acomplished from outside of the cage. Huey was clipped when I got him when he was 6 months old he will be 4 in April. As his feathers grew in so did his personality, but also so did his attitude. "up" became a suggestion in our house. When he got tired of flying around he would step up onto my hand.
Then the plucking began. I was concentrating on trying to do EVERYTHING suggested to get him to stop. (still an ongoing process).
It was frustrating for me to read on this forum how lots of folks have these wonderful little birdies while I had a terror. I could bond more with the members who had their own little terrors. I decided that I would just be happy with what we had and not concern myself with all of the bonding. We had our own kind of bond in our house. Huey bonded differently to hubby than he did with me.
I realized that I was focusing on the wrong things. We have a guy who in his own way does care for us. It might not be like some of his friends care for their parronts but it is there.
We decided to clip him beofre we took our trip in November. I also made it a point to spend more time each day trying to teach him up. I have made progress and I am posting here because one of the members here made a comment to me privately when I told her how happy I was with our "training" that she knew of another person who bonded with their parrotlet after 4 years. Not everybirdy bonds in the same way, some really do take their time.
Here are a few things that I do know about our guy. I sat back and thought about how he is trained or how he has trained us, it might not be typical but it works and I want those who might be frustrated to know that there is hope.
Huey loves to travel, I open his cage and put his travel cage near the door and he hops right in (or out).
He now will chirp while sitting in my hand or on my shoulder.
He will "up" with minimal fluttering when I put my hand into his cage now. Once on my hand I can take him out.
He will fall asleep in my hand and will sit there for up to 25 minutes.
If he is out of our sight (he flutters off of the couch and we can not see him when we look) he will chirp if we call his name.
He loves to eat what we eat, he will give our plates a glance and them actually look at his to be sure they are the same.
Biting usually is now more of a signal and not a bite. If he wants to get my attn while in my hand he will kind of mouth my hand.
The only time he will talk around us is when hubby is getting cussed at for doing what ever Huey decides is what he should not be doing.
He does talk but only when we are not in the room.
Hubby is a safe zone, Huey will run away from me when I am trying to get him to "up" and over to hubby. He climbs up hubbys leg and onto his shoulder and sits as far away from me as he can, giving me stink eye.
He likes what I call head banging music, in the car Huey is quiet until a loud song comes on the radio then he chirps loudly until the song is over.
Hopefully as the years go by he will continue to become more friendlier and with any luck maybe even have some chest feathers. If not we will just love him as he is.
My point in this ramble is love your little ones and dont worry if they fit into the mold of what people percieve to be a tame parrotlet. There are people on this forum who have troubles and issues just like there are people who have perfectly tame wonderful little ones. Look for the good and you will find it.