Courtney's Training Journal

[iovaykind]

I'll be honest and the first to admit that she was an impulse buy.. in fact, I didn't have adequate housing for her but now she's doing better :)

On July 5th, first day- she didn't sing, didn't move around.. just stayed on top of the box she came home in, and ran away from my hands.

July 6th, day two- She is still afraid of me, and doesn't know that I'm here to give her food and take care of her! First thing I did was buy some millet, and I put it in her cage and sat with her while she ate it so she can associate my face with food :p She sings so much!! I play her many youtube videos and she sings whenever she hears another parakeet sing :D

Today, July 7th, day three- She is now comfortable with my hands on top of her cage right about 4" away from her head. I can move slowly and adjust her swing and millet without her moving around and fidgeting. My dad and I trimmed her wings today so she is getting used to hopping around and not exactly flying. She is still afraid of my hands on the side of the cage.

Tomorrow I plan to continue to just stay around her often so she'll begin to recognize me and my hand more.

(The second day I got her)
YouTube- Meet Courtney, my parakeet.

[EA1088]

Good job so far, keep up the good work :)

[iovaykind]

(One Week)
YouTube- Courtney Playing in her new cage

Today, she finally accepts small pieces of millet from my finger.. I hope to make her stand on my finger for millet soon but that should be in about a week or so.

She also started to mess with me! Drinking water and purposely throwing water and seeds everywhere by flapping her wings.. cute!

[iovaykind]

(First time out of cage today)
YouTube- Courtney- first time out of cage


(Accepting millet w/ my finger as perch)
YouTube- P1010410

[iovaykind]

Haven't really been "training" her lately, just really bonding.. waiting on my clicker to arrive to start clicker/target training. Is it okay to just bond, and will bonding itself create trust for her?

[iovaykind]

She's been really good lately, she recently even climbed on my shoulder (yeah, I lured her with millet) At least she does have the trust to come out of her cage and walk around the room exploring.

Clicker arrived today, followed the guide and did 4 sets of 10 to condition the clicker.. will continue to condition the clicker tomorrow morning, then afternoon will condition the target stick.

[CaptainCarebear]

I've never tried clicker training. This should be interesting to see how it goes. :)

[Robo Hip]

Wow - great thread - keep us posted please x

[iovaykind]

Just did another 10 reps to condition the clicker.. I think she got the idea now. In an hour or two I will begin to try and do target training with a target stick. Have to condition the target stick and I think it'll be much harder for her to catch on but I will try to have her understand it's purpose by the end of the day.

[iovaykind]

Did target training with a red chopstick.. maybe like 5 times today, she eventually caught on. She's still not ready to move around to touch the chopstick, but when it's within reach she'll peck it for some millet. Here's a video: YouTube- Courtney- Target Clicker Training

I hope to be able to have her follow the target stick within a week with constant training every day. Also hoping to take her out once in awhile so she can do it outside her cage.

[Rachel Keeth]

Your doing great! She is so pretty!

[iovaykind]

Major set back :[

Ever since she's been target stick training she bites everything that comes near her, especially fingers. However, when it's the target stick she isn't aggressive. With fingers, she really tries to aim and hurt you. :[ I don't know what to do.. I have to tame her again, she wasn't like this before..