Parrots are wonderful pets. You will quickly find that
these birds extremely smart and their ability to learn make them
fun to train. Keep in mind that any animal that shows signs of
high intelligence can easily get bored, so your job is to train
your pet parrot and spend the time it takes to make your bird
into a wonderful pet. It takes time and patience to train a
parrot, but with the proper training, your parrot will provide
you with many years of friendship.
You can train your parrot when you follow a few steps. Whenever
“school is in” for your parrot, it is always best to remove your
parrot from his or her cage and train in a small quiet space.
Your parrot is more likely to remain attentive and retain
information when it is in a new environment. The next thing you
will want to do, eliminate all distractions in your home. If
your parrot becomes distracted during training, it will not
learn well. That means that you need to turn off the radio,
television and perhaps even the telephone. Also, remember that
parrots are a lot like children. They have short attention
spans, so short training sessions are recommended.
In addition, try to plan your parrot’s training time around
their schedule, not yours. After mealtime is always, a good time
for training because your parrot will be content and will pay
attention. Your parrot will also appreciate plenty of praise.
Even if you find that you were not very successful, do not let
your parrot see your stress levels rise. This makes it an
unpleasant experience for your bird and you will have a harder
time getting your parrot interested in learning in the future.
When you are ready to teach your parrot a new trick, your pet
parrot will respond well to treats and praise. Remember that all
animals respond better to praise than punishment. Try to avoid
punishing your parrot, even if he or she is acting naughty.
Ignoring this behavior is your best bet when training your pet
parrot. Parrots do not understand punishment or negative
reinforcement. In fact, if you respond to your parrot’s bad
behavior, your pet may actually see this as positive attention.
Keep in mind that while your parrot will love food treats as
rewards, try to accentuate the positive and encourage good
behavior with lots of praise and play time. Otherwise, your
parrot may only perform the tricks you want them to when some
kind of food reward is available.
Repetition is the key to successfully training your pet parrot.
Repeating these basic steps repeatedly until your pet “gets” the
trick is the best way to train your parrot to perform. This
works well for basic commands and advanced tricks. If you have
just gotten your pet parrot, start out with very simple tricks,
such as teaching your parrot to sit on your finger on command.
Find a word for each trick and use it every time you train. Most
of all, never force your parrot to train. If you find your
parrot is tired or uninterested, then stop and try again another
time.
As your parrot learns more command and tricks, you can begin
moving your training session closer and closer to the bird’s
cage. As they get better at their new skill, they will feel
comfortable performing in his or her cage and in the hustle and
bustle of your household. Birds learn quickly in most cases, and
sometimes just by listening when not in training, which may
cause embarrassment to you if they learn something
inappropriate.
Training a parrot takes a lot of time and patience. You must
love your bird and have a lot of time and dedication to make
this partnership worthwhile. With patient training and love, you
end up with a fantastic and well-behaved pet that will be with
you for a very long time to come.