Preparing to train your Amazon.
It's important to understand that while there are a few theories on animal training the one which provides lasting results and creates a unified and trusting relationship are training methods based on positive reinforcement. Beside the obvious animal cruelty issues with negative reinforcement training methods, they tend to create more problems than they resolve and the training efforts do not last.
Seriously, would you respond well to someone who screams at you or hits you or would you prefer to receive praise when you do something right? Guaranteed, your Amazon will respond much better with praise. Additionally, you'll avoid breeding horrible aggressive behaviors which commonly cause owners to give up their beautiful birds.
Tips and strategies for training your Amazon Parrot.
Time it right. Timing is everything, right? When it comes to training your Amazon Parrot a schedule helps them to know what to expect. Take some time to determine what schedule works best for you. It's important to know that your Amazon may respond better before meals. They're hungrier and more motivated to learn for treats. This means that before breakfast and dinner time meals may be the best time to train. It's very important to make sure your Amazon gets enough to eat though.
Additionally, pay attention to how long your training sessions last. Too long and your bird will become bored or tired of the training.
Start small. Playing dead and rolling over are fun tricks to teach and to show off to your friends and family however they're definitely not beginner tricks nor do they do anything to curb and prevent unwanted behaviors. The best task to start with, particularly if you and your bird are new to training, is target training.
Target training is a tool you will use time and time again and it's a great way to introduce your bird to training. It's the perfect trick for fearful or aggressive birds. Another trick is the step up and step down trick - which makes retrieving your Amazon from their case easy and stress free.
Once your Amazon Parrot has mastered the basics then you can move onto training your Amazon to talk and other fun and delightful tricks. However if you're dealing with unwanted behaviors like biting, screaming, and feather plucking
Training to prevent and eliminate aggressive and unwanted behavior.
If an Amazon hasn't been properly socialized they may become fearful and potentially aggressive. Additionally aggression can surface during maturity or it can be the result of habits which have formed in your household.
For example, if your Amazon screams when you come home because they want to be let out of their cage and you proceed to let them out of their cage, you've trained them to scream. It happens quickly and then you're stuck with a behavior which drives you nuts.
Trick training is the absolute best way to eliminate fearful behaviors because it builds a bond of trust between you and your bird. Additionally, trick training teaches your bird the rules of the house and that you're the boss. It creates a system your bird can count on and trust.
Quite often bad behaviors are caused by boredom. This is particularly the case if you have a very intelligent bird like an Amazon Parrot. Trick training keeps your bird's amazing brain stimulated and challenged. Trick training engages your Amazon's problem solving skills. It keeps them busy and eliminates boredom, thereby reducing or eliminating behaviors caused by boredom.
To discover more Amazon Parrot Training Tips and Techniques, sign up for Dave Womach's free parrot training newsletter where you'll discover how to fix dozens of parrot behavior problems.
parrot training: training parrots
parrot training: teach parrot to talk
