ive read so many posts and watched so many videos on target training but no one really shows or tells about how they started off teaching their bird how to do it...
today i got a clicker because ive read so many good things about them...
i then got my bird, the stick, the clicker and some treats and we sat down i started off getting her use to the stick which went well. i held the stick and said 'target' and a couple times she walked to it and nipped it i clicked and went to give her some treat but she would run away... i tried again but she kept climbing on me and wasn't very interested in what i was trying to do... obviously i know it takes time and so on and im going to keep trying and not rush her.
i used strawberries as a treat because shes never had them before but i dont think she likes them ... what sorts of treats do you use when training?
if ANYBODY has any stories or advice about target training i would love to hear
I think the first step is conditioning your bird to the clicker. So before you start, you need to know your bird's fav treats. Mine seem to like variety. If I overuse one treat it starts to lose its value.... and by overuse I mean day after day after day - it's ok to use the same food for a whole training session. To find out what your bird's fav foods are, put a mixture of things in a coop cup and watch which ones they go for first. IRNs are neophobic (scared of new things), so even if your bird will like strawberries, if she has never seen them before they may be more likely to scare her.
My bird's fav treats are peanuts, grapes, sunflower seeds, banana... there are more, but that's a start.
When you are ready for a training session, you need to cut the food reward item really small. I use sometimes use granulated dessert nuts as these are already really small. Other times, I just cut fruit up really small.
To start your clicker training, you need to start conditioning your bird to the clicker... you do this before you begin target training.... so, when you click the clicker, you give your bird it's fav treat.... you do this many times... you don't need to do it for a particular reason, you just need to get your bird looking forward to hearing the clicking noise because it knows a treat is coming next.
Once your bird is looking forward to the clicker's noise, then you can start target training. Start by just showing the target to your bird and let it reach out to inspect it with it's beak... as soon as the beak makes contact with the target, press the clicker and offer the reward.... if you do this over and over, eventually the bird will know that touching the target with it's beak will cause the clicker to sound and it will then get the reward. As your bird learns this, you can then move the target further away.
ohokk thanks heaps hahah i wasnt sure how you got them to understand the clicker and that its leading to a reward but that makes a lot more sense now
I find my bird loves apples and grapes the most but she usually eats everything i give to her. i ended up leaving the strawberry in her cage with her and she ate it so im guessing she was just unsure at first.
She really liked the target, i usually find when im doing assignments or writing things down she will sit on my shoulder chasing my pen so i think thats why she doesnt mind the target at all.
i tried again but she kept climbing on me and wasn't very interested in what i was trying to do... obviously i know it takes time and so on and im going to keep trying and not rush her.