Hey all!
We're sorta training at the moment, but not really? Why? Because Mommy is studying very hard. We help. We've learned that we like note cards - she uses them w/ a pen to write things on...why? They are MUCH better for chewing. We also help by trying to eat the text book, and singing songs.
But we have learned this week that the harness and leash are not snakes. (We had forgotten this) In fact, it's fun to step on the leash and pick up the harness! (Mom needs to transition this behavior quick! Soon, after her test!)
Well, we're off to sing a song, do some flights - we're getting really good at doing those on cue!, and go to bed.
Ta,
Crash and Pippin
November 9, 2009
October 14, 2009
Birdie-Doctor!
Yesterday was a wonderful, and frustrating day for the boys and me. Crash and Pippin had to go to the birdie-doctor. They are just fine, but they had to have their annual wellness exam (one year ago we brought them home and they had their first). I came home from work and let them out of their house, and they sung and flew around some. I got their carrier ready - and...bad mama...though I've had it in the room with them and worked with it with them for the last week, they haven't really seen it in a year.
A year ago, when we made this jaunt last, they were babies, and had clipped wings. This year, they are 1.5 yr old male cockatiels full of vigor, and flighted. Perhaps you see where this is going?
When I first arrived home, we practiced stepping down off mom's hand onto a book (to prep for the scale). Crash took to this lovely, he likes clicks and treats for stepping up and down "mom, I can do this all day!" he says. Pipping found the book big and scary, even though he's done this before. Perhaps you can see where that is going?
Then it was time to get them packing into their carrier. It's much smaller than their other house, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have gone back in there. "You just freed us!" They say. We tried C/T for stepping up. Yay, success. Then I try to turn and put them in the carrier. LAUNCH! Away they fly. Flights around the room commence. This goes on for a while, me trying hard not to make this a new game, them trying very hard for it to become one. Sigh. Eventually Trev came home and working together we got first Pip, then Crash, into their carrier.
We go to the vet. We sit on chairs. Pippin sings a song for the entire office. Loudly. He doesn't care that a large dog wishes to play with him. He does get nervous about the small children present. He ignores the cats.
Finally, it's time to go into the exam room, be weighted, and have their exams. Pippin, like at home, will not step down onto the scale. We tried C/T, but there are new people, and new sounds. "Not Fair, Mom, you changed the rules!" he squawks and flies in small circles (since the room is small). Finally, setting his treat bowl on the scale, the and his ladder on the treat bowl, he steps down. He sticks his head though the rungs of the ladder for treats (eep!) and is weighed in at 99 grams. Then he realizes he has his head through the rungs of the ladder and falls over. He's fine. We let Crash out. He is much better behaved. We put the book on the scale, in in one C/T, he steps on and comes in at 92 grams.
For their exams, they had to be toweled so they could have their hearts listened to, and then their nails clipped. Pippin, bless him, was much better at this than Crash. Silly birdies. But they survived this after much flapping about avoiding the towel (even though we have worked with them and towels before). Then they provided songs for the vet, who says they are actually quite well behaved (whew, no mama likes hearing her boys are naughty!) and we went home.
Crash and Pipping have clean bills of health, have eaten more millet than is good for them, and will be working on some of the vet type behaviors at home between now and next year so they are even better behaved. Like stepping on a scale, and being toweled.
A year ago, when we made this jaunt last, they were babies, and had clipped wings. This year, they are 1.5 yr old male cockatiels full of vigor, and flighted. Perhaps you see where this is going?
When I first arrived home, we practiced stepping down off mom's hand onto a book (to prep for the scale). Crash took to this lovely, he likes clicks and treats for stepping up and down "mom, I can do this all day!" he says. Pipping found the book big and scary, even though he's done this before. Perhaps you can see where that is going?
Then it was time to get them packing into their carrier. It's much smaller than their other house, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have gone back in there. "You just freed us!" They say. We tried C/T for stepping up. Yay, success. Then I try to turn and put them in the carrier. LAUNCH! Away they fly. Flights around the room commence. This goes on for a while, me trying hard not to make this a new game, them trying very hard for it to become one. Sigh. Eventually Trev came home and working together we got first Pip, then Crash, into their carrier.
We go to the vet. We sit on chairs. Pippin sings a song for the entire office. Loudly. He doesn't care that a large dog wishes to play with him. He does get nervous about the small children present. He ignores the cats.
Finally, it's time to go into the exam room, be weighted, and have their exams. Pippin, like at home, will not step down onto the scale. We tried C/T, but there are new people, and new sounds. "Not Fair, Mom, you changed the rules!" he squawks and flies in small circles (since the room is small). Finally, setting his treat bowl on the scale, the and his ladder on the treat bowl, he steps down. He sticks his head though the rungs of the ladder for treats (eep!) and is weighed in at 99 grams. Then he realizes he has his head through the rungs of the ladder and falls over. He's fine. We let Crash out. He is much better behaved. We put the book on the scale, in in one C/T, he steps on and comes in at 92 grams.
For their exams, they had to be toweled so they could have their hearts listened to, and then their nails clipped. Pippin, bless him, was much better at this than Crash. Silly birdies. But they survived this after much flapping about avoiding the towel (even though we have worked with them and towels before). Then they provided songs for the vet, who says they are actually quite well behaved (whew, no mama likes hearing her boys are naughty!) and we went home.
Crash and Pipping have clean bills of health, have eaten more millet than is good for them, and will be working on some of the vet type behaviors at home between now and next year so they are even better behaved. Like stepping on a scale, and being toweled.
September 14, 2009
Bad Mommy!
Crash and Pippen send their apologies, they haven't been able to make me type their updates in a timely fashion. So, here's a macaw sized update, and we'll get back on our regular schedule and be better at posting on their training!
The boys wished to tell everyone they've learned a few tricks. If I could figure out how to take a video off my phone and load it in here, you could even see their newest trick, "pull sword out of stone".
Tricks they've learned:
More harness training, a more concerted effort at working on retrieve, and a few other fun tricks. I think we'll make them a birdie agility course and begin working on that with them. Over a barrel, through a tunnel, up their ladder, through the weave polls, and if we can get them to do it - down a slide! why not!
More updates faster, promise!
The boys wished to tell everyone they've learned a few tricks. If I could figure out how to take a video off my phone and load it in here, you could even see their newest trick, "pull sword out of stone".
Tricks they've learned:
- Targeting - following a chopstick around for clicks and treats
- Climb the ladder - climbing to the top for clicks and treats
- Ring - pick up a ring for clicks and treats - this will eventually turn into retrieve the ring, I hope
- Ball - pick up the ball for clicks and treats - also hopefully retrieve. Unfortunately, as a newbie clicker trainer my clicker timing was a bit off so right now they think the goal is pick up ball, fling ball as hard as possible. Working on this....
- "Sword from stone" Take ball, above. Add toothpick to little hole in ball. Present combo to birds. Birds figured out all on their own, to pull the toothpick out of the ball. As I'm a bit better with the clicker when they learned this, they do not also fling the chopstick.
- Toweling - a useful behavior where they tolerate being wrapped in a towel for things like vet procedures. We started by putting the towel on the ground and click/treating (C/T) for walking onto the towel. Then we moved to staying on the towel while various edges were picked up. We can put them above them (not on yet) now for a C/T. Getting there.
- Harness training - we want to take our (flighted) birds outside to play. However, Crash and Pippin informed me, the moment they saw their brand new, blue, harnesses that those weren't infact harnesses but rather snakes. Big, blue, biting snakes - and they promptly flew circles around the room any time you got close to them with said harness. The attack plan for this training has been one of desensitization by their choice. We put the harness and all their favorite toys on the ground and did C/T for targetting, moving them closer and closer to the toys (and harness). We also treated for position, meaning we provided a treat, but closer to the big scary thing than even the target was. Slowly, we've come to accept it on the ground. The next step we took was targetting w/ the harness in our hands, and slowly this worked too. Then we moved to having them actually target the harness, from the floor first, C/T if they touched it, and quickly faded that to our hand, C/T for touching while it was in our hand. However - we didn't want them to think that the goal was to touch it, as it the goal is to wear it, so we quickly moved to making the harness into a big loop and targetting Through the big loop! This is where we are. Pip will stick his head all the way through for a C/T. Crash hasn't quite made that step yet.
More harness training, a more concerted effort at working on retrieve, and a few other fun tricks. I think we'll make them a birdie agility course and begin working on that with them. Over a barrel, through a tunnel, up their ladder, through the weave polls, and if we can get them to do it - down a slide! why not!
More updates faster, promise!
June 9, 2009
Flying strong
Crash and Pippin wanted me to tell the whole world what good flyers they are. I told them the whole world didn't care, but I'd post it on their blog for those who did.
We let their flight feathers grow back in, and they've had them for 6 months now. We've been working with them, on and off, on 'fly' and 'come' commands. Soon we'll put this 'introductory lesson' to clicker training. As cockatiels, they really enjoy flying, and flying fast, and...as young birds, not so much looking where they are going. We've skimmed wings and tails on walls, ceilings, a ceiling fan, a picture, a plant, and a chair. Nothing serious, but we would like them to have a bit more control, and more direction when they are out flying for their excercise. Then there is the 'taking off because we're scared' scenario. Bad deal. We'd like to get 'land' or 'come' on a cue so that even if they are scared or out of their element they will fly to either Trev or myself.
We've decided to put retrieve on the back burner for now, and teach a few other tricks w/ the clicker. Likely to start those this week.
We let their flight feathers grow back in, and they've had them for 6 months now. We've been working with them, on and off, on 'fly' and 'come' commands. Soon we'll put this 'introductory lesson' to clicker training. As cockatiels, they really enjoy flying, and flying fast, and...as young birds, not so much looking where they are going. We've skimmed wings and tails on walls, ceilings, a ceiling fan, a picture, a plant, and a chair. Nothing serious, but we would like them to have a bit more control, and more direction when they are out flying for their excercise. Then there is the 'taking off because we're scared' scenario. Bad deal. We'd like to get 'land' or 'come' on a cue so that even if they are scared or out of their element they will fly to either Trev or myself.
We've decided to put retrieve on the back burner for now, and teach a few other tricks w/ the clicker. Likely to start those this week.
May 20, 2009
No! Don't Wanna!
Crash and Pippin have started learning 'retrieve' but Mom isn't the greatest teacher. She messed up her shaping behavior, so after memorial day, we'll start over and do it right this time! Both are good at picking up the ring, and holding it, but we're working on bring it 'put it in the hand'. Right now we're learned "back up and fling!". Great game, this.
In the meantime, however, they have both learned a bad habit. Not wanting to go back into their house after playtime, they've decided to fly up on their playtop. For a while, they would step up from there but immediately fly to our shoulders, then back to the playtop. Hard to put them away when they are doing this. After a while, however, they started showing bad behaviors on the playtop - defensive posturing and even biting. At this point, their dad found a phillips and removed the playtop from their house.
We're trying to determine right now if the behavior is becuase that corner is a bit darker (though not dark) than the rest of the room, if the design of the inside of their cage was causing them to not want to go back in, or if this is an adolescent 'what can we get away with'. Biting is not tolerated, however. And since we'll be out of town with a bird sitter this weekend, and they haven't shaped up, they will, unfortunately, have to stay in their cage for 5 straight days. We'll work on the 'go home' behavior when we return.
In the meantime, however, they have both learned a bad habit. Not wanting to go back into their house after playtime, they've decided to fly up on their playtop. For a while, they would step up from there but immediately fly to our shoulders, then back to the playtop. Hard to put them away when they are doing this. After a while, however, they started showing bad behaviors on the playtop - defensive posturing and even biting. At this point, their dad found a phillips and removed the playtop from their house.
We're trying to determine right now if the behavior is becuase that corner is a bit darker (though not dark) than the rest of the room, if the design of the inside of their cage was causing them to not want to go back in, or if this is an adolescent 'what can we get away with'. Biting is not tolerated, however. And since we'll be out of town with a bird sitter this weekend, and they haven't shaped up, they will, unfortunately, have to stay in their cage for 5 straight days. We'll work on the 'go home' behavior when we return.
April 12, 2009
Up!
The last week Crash and Pippin have been working on climbing a ladder. It's their second prop behavior. Crash was quite hesitant at first, not wanting to climb, he wanted to chase the pencil! He likes that one, he's figured it out! So, I lured him up the ladder a few steps at a time, using the pencil and clicked and treated for looking up the ladder, climbing the step, putting a foot on the next step, etc. He went from bottom to top that first day and got a jackpot.
Pippin is our more food oriented bird. He's really wanting those treats. The problem is he's also a bit...absent minded. Ooh look, a pencil! Ooh look, a shoelace! Oh! A foot! And so on... But, he's also so eager to please, and he is less timid than Crash. He tends to catch on faster, but then loose interest faster, too. He made it from bottom to top, much faster than Crash, though he required a bit of luring too.
Skip forward to tonight.
Trevor and I headed to my parent's for Easter, which meant the boys were home alone for two days. They are always very excited to see us when we get back, so first we just let them fly around a bunch. Then we decided to do some training, but didn't feel like putting one back in the cage, as they were so excited to be out. So we put the ladder out, and waited to see if they remembered it. Whalla! Up they went. we started by putting them 1/2 way down and having them climb to the top for clicks and treats. Pretty soon they were going from bottom to top. Then we got out a ring we want to use for their next behavior - retrieve. I started targetting around the ring, so they'd be less scared of it. Then - Crash ran over to the ladder and went up it all by himself! Click and Treat! And note to mom, put away one prop before working with the next!!!
They progressed to picking the ring up from my hand, and setting it back down. We'll work on that trick some more this week. I'm so excited about how fast they are learning!!
Pippin is our more food oriented bird. He's really wanting those treats. The problem is he's also a bit...absent minded. Ooh look, a pencil! Ooh look, a shoelace! Oh! A foot! And so on... But, he's also so eager to please, and he is less timid than Crash. He tends to catch on faster, but then loose interest faster, too. He made it from bottom to top, much faster than Crash, though he required a bit of luring too.
Skip forward to tonight.
Trevor and I headed to my parent's for Easter, which meant the boys were home alone for two days. They are always very excited to see us when we get back, so first we just let them fly around a bunch. Then we decided to do some training, but didn't feel like putting one back in the cage, as they were so excited to be out. So we put the ladder out, and waited to see if they remembered it. Whalla! Up they went. we started by putting them 1/2 way down and having them climb to the top for clicks and treats. Pretty soon they were going from bottom to top. Then we got out a ring we want to use for their next behavior - retrieve. I started targetting around the ring, so they'd be less scared of it. Then - Crash ran over to the ladder and went up it all by himself! Click and Treat! And note to mom, put away one prop before working with the next!!!
They progressed to picking the ring up from my hand, and setting it back down. We'll work on that trick some more this week. I'm so excited about how fast they are learning!!
April 5, 2009
On Target
Crash and Pippin are happy to report that they have figured out that:
1. The pencil with an erasure at the end is NOT an bird-eating-monster
2. That they get a click and treat each time they touch said erasure and
3. That training is buckets of fun!
Trev and I did some more training sessions with the birds on targeting over Friday-today. We used the mechanical pencil one more time, on Friday's session. The first time we let both birds be out, and one watched the other train. This got trickier as they began to realize what click-treat meant... For round two on Friday, we put Pippin in the cage while crash trained on the other side of the room from him, but in plain sight. There was some calling back and forth from Pip, but crash was intent on learning how to get treats. He ran a few steps for the pencil, and got his jackpot. When we took Crash and put him in the cage, and brought Pip over, there was more calling back and forth. It took Pip a bit to calm down enough to train, but then train he did. He's such an enthusiastic little trainee! He figured out the pencil, and chased it up and down trev's leg, and got his jackpot.
Saturday we did the total clean of the boy's cage, and rearranged their perches and toys. While we were doing this, Crash and Pippin were playing on the floor. Pippin went over to the big, scary, regular type pencil, and picked it up! Oh, if ONLY I had the clicker ready! Still, from that moment we've switched to the erasure end of the reg. pencil. Saturday we did two training sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. By the evening session, both birds are running at least 6 steps towards the target. Their attention span isn't 100 percent yet, as they will often stop to look for treats that 'fell off' the bit of millet sprig, but they are doing well.
Today we will continue to teach targetting, and begin...'climb the ladder' - their second prop behavior. They are very excited. They like ladders, and treats.
1. The pencil with an erasure at the end is NOT an bird-eating-monster
2. That they get a click and treat each time they touch said erasure and
3. That training is buckets of fun!
Trev and I did some more training sessions with the birds on targeting over Friday-today. We used the mechanical pencil one more time, on Friday's session. The first time we let both birds be out, and one watched the other train. This got trickier as they began to realize what click-treat meant... For round two on Friday, we put Pippin in the cage while crash trained on the other side of the room from him, but in plain sight. There was some calling back and forth from Pip, but crash was intent on learning how to get treats. He ran a few steps for the pencil, and got his jackpot. When we took Crash and put him in the cage, and brought Pip over, there was more calling back and forth. It took Pip a bit to calm down enough to train, but then train he did. He's such an enthusiastic little trainee! He figured out the pencil, and chased it up and down trev's leg, and got his jackpot.
Saturday we did the total clean of the boy's cage, and rearranged their perches and toys. While we were doing this, Crash and Pippin were playing on the floor. Pippin went over to the big, scary, regular type pencil, and picked it up! Oh, if ONLY I had the clicker ready! Still, from that moment we've switched to the erasure end of the reg. pencil. Saturday we did two training sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. By the evening session, both birds are running at least 6 steps towards the target. Their attention span isn't 100 percent yet, as they will often stop to look for treats that 'fell off' the bit of millet sprig, but they are doing well.
Today we will continue to teach targetting, and begin...'climb the ladder' - their second prop behavior. They are very excited. They like ladders, and treats.
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