Tricks

[Kirsty]

I hear you can actually teach your lovebirds tricks which can altar their behavior and make them more tame. How do I train my lovebird?

[Janie]

I have no idea if you can teach your lovebirds tricks. I've never tried and I have a feeling mine wouldn't be interested. I've seen articles in BirdTalk Magazine about teaching tricks to much larger parrots but never to parrots as small as lovies.

[Bekah]

Well I have a lovebird who knows to spin on cue and to come to me when I call him. He is learning summersault right now. I use a clicker. What I do is I get a piece of millet [his favorite treat] and guids him to what I want him to do. If he does what I want or close to it I click the clicker and give him a treat.

[BarbieH]

We do lots of tricks in our household. :rolleyes: They cheep and I fetch! Or let them out. Or bring birdy bread. You get the idea of who's trained who over here? :lol

Seriously, for the one bird whose behavior needed modification (Gracie the One-Time-Biter), I had mixed results trying to teach her anything. I tried the clicker; she fell in love with it. (Sounds like a male lovie, I guess.) I tried to get her to do step-ups and alley-oops from her dowel; she would do them if she wanted to, but if she was nesty she only tried to shred the dowel. I suspect that training may be more effective with male lovies for this reason; just a hunch on my part.

What is the behavior you are trying to modify?

[Janie]

We do lots of tricks in our household. :rolleyes: They cheep and I fetch! Or let them out. Or bring birdy bread. You get the idea of who's trained who over here? :lol



:rofl: Same here! They've taught me so many tricks! :D Good thing I'm a fast learner! ;)

[DebSpace]

Personally, I had better and quicker results training parakeets than I have with lovebirds. I enjoy both breeds, make no mistake, but lovebirds have a higher intellect and more of an individual personality. As such, they seem to have a mind of their own and use it to their benefit most of the time and not ours. :lol Teaching them "tricks" probably isn't impossible, just improbable. They have been known to imitate sounds and I also agree with Barb; if you have success, it will likely be with a male vs. a hen. Best wishes...

[ottermom]

I've heard about people teaching lovies to do such tricks as rolling a ball across a surface or ringing a bell on command. I seem to recall that they used praise or food. Clicker training sounds great, but at least with dogs you have to pair the clicker with something good before it'll work.

Training animals is all about patience and making it worth the pet's while to do what is wanted. Training sessions shouldn't be marathons, either. 3 to 5 minutes several times a day so the bird doesn't get bored. Keep it positive and playful and you'll both enjoy it. Most of my experience is in training dogs but it seems like the same principles would apply?

[butterfly1061]

The only "trick" I have ever taught my birds is to fly to me. I pat my chest and say "Fly to me (name)". Be sure you teach your bird this. You never know when you may need to rescue them from a situation where they have flown too high or escaped to a tree and you can't reach them. :2cents:

[BarbieH]

I believe the principles will apply, but they might need to modified somewhat with parrots. As Deb observed, they have very strong personalities; but what may be more critical for something like clicker training, is that they are not domesticated. No species of bird is domesticated. Training, therefore, requires a true partnership between human and bird, and respect for the bird's boundaries.

If a bird isn't in the mood to do something, it cannot be forced. That would only set back the human-bird relationship. I would start any kind of training by giving positive reinforcement to good habits you want to be repeated. I've found that it really helps if the bird thinks that what you want it to do, was actually the bird's idea. :)

If you can modify clicker training for lovies with respect for their non-domesticated brains, I would love to hear about it. :) It's a very interesting topic!

Best wishes,

[Z28Taxman]

The only trick Ditto does on command is something he did anyway. When he's happy he'll do this little dance. He'll lean foreward and sway from side to side really fast, then nod his head a few times and sway again. I started saying are you doing "The Ditto Dance" and he'd get really excited and dance some more. Now if I say "wanna do the Ditto Dance" or "do the Ditto Dance" he turns into a dancing fool. :cool:

The dance is sometimes followed by him strutting around like a pigeon. :rofl:


He will fly to me and of course step up but he does that anyway since I'm his favorite perch and the palm of my hand is his favorite sleeping spot.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Teaching a bird to do tricks is much like teaching a cat to do tricks. I'm sure someone out there knows how to do it. But I can't figure it out and I've never known anyone who was successful at it.

Of my two, the male is more likely to cooperate with me so he's the one I've tried to work with. I say "Give momma a kiss!" and Milo kisses me. Or not. Depends on his mood. :roll:

[Z28Taxman]

Teaching a bird to do tricks is much like teaching a cat to do tricks. I'm sure someone out there knows how to do it. But I can't figure it out and I've never known anyone who was successful at it.

Of my two, the male is more likely to cooperate with me so he's the one I've tried to work with. I say "Give momma a kiss!" and Milo kisses me. Or not. Depends on his mood. :roll:

Oh I forgot the kissy thing. If I put my nose on Ditto's beak he'll make a kissey noise. Sometimes he'll walk up and put his beak on the tip of my nose and do it all on his own. :cool: He also does it as he hops in the happy hut at bed time. I didn't teach him any of that either. He started doing it all on his own. :cool:

[Kathryn]

Aw...Ditto loves you!!

Mollie takes a sunflower seed when offered and chirps "Thank you"...at least I think that's what she says with her two tone chirps.:whistle:

[dmagbal]

Hi,
I have 5 month old white pied. The 2 tricks she has learned so far, probably are the simpliest "up up up" and she will step on my finger and "down". But yes, she does many funny things:
1) dance crazy
2) run back and forth
3) presses her beak on your lips
4) bathe in my glass of water
So far, those are good enough for my family to watch and enjoy!
Am gonna try the clicker...problem is I dont know where to find it here in the Philippines. Are these available in the pet store?
Deo