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Post by santinoandmondo on Jan 5, 2014 23:50:55 GMT
Hi everyone,
I read with great interest on another thread by Pammy that someone has budgies who actually fly to them when called (Emma's owner?). How do you do that, especially from a distance? Is this much harder to do when you have a two-bird household? I think our birds are approx 4 years old. We were given the birds about 8 months ago by a friend's daughter who moved into a no-pet apartment. They were not trained previously. They will sit on our fingers for "step up", eat small bits of millet from our fingers occasionally for treats and hop back inside their cage for "inside" if we put them near the cage door.
thanks!
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Post by lisamarie on Jan 5, 2014 23:56:22 GMT
What you could try to do is if they do fly to you, call their name in the process then reward them. I have no idea if this actually works at all but I'm basing it on techniques people use to train dogs. Another way would be to show the treat, call their name and if they fly over reward them. I think it sounds much easier than it truly is
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Post by santinoandmondo on Jan 6, 2014 0:06:46 GMT
They don't fly towards us except to land on our heads occasionally  . |
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Post by rdkntriker on Jan 6, 2014 0:24:07 GMT
I believe this could be done, but would take a lot of work and time. When training any animal to do a task, you must make it fun and like a game to them. With dogs you say name then give the command. Now here is the hard part if training a bird. With a dog after the command you would use the lead to make sure they obey and then reward with food or praise or both. With a budgie you would not have a lead, thus the hard part. I would start out very close to the bird, say name then command. Then even if they are in step up range reward them. Do this as long as it is fun for them. 15 mins max. You can repeat a few times a day. When they obey always at that distance move back a little. This will take time to get them to come from across the room, but is great bonding time for you with your birds. I also would not use come, but find a word for each bird that is their own. For my dog her word she must obey is front. For my bird I would use a word much different then front. In any event it will be fun for you and the birds.
Lucky is learning this in a way now. When I put hand in cage she goes to a certain perch and then reaches out with her foot for my hand. She will hop to it if needed. Good luck and have fun.
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Post by gmcgoy on Jan 6, 2014 0:52:20 GMT
I agree with rdkntriker to start by just having the bird step out to you for a treat and then add distance. But you don't want to name your command until the bird is doing it. When you have your first short flight as you would just be out of reach, then name the command as the bird is coming. That way you are pairing the word with the action you want. That sounds like fun! Gail
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Post by santinoandmondo on Jan 19, 2014 22:04:12 GMT
Hi, thanks for the tips. Do you have suggestions for little reward treats besides little bits of millet? I used to have dogs too and had successfully trained them to obey hand commands but budgies don't have little leashes . Maybe I'll try "fly" preceded by their name so it would sound like a unique command. |
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Jan 21, 2014 2:34:05 GMT
I use seeds lol
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Post by santinoandmondo on Jan 21, 2014 14:40:04 GMT
Do you mean that you hold tiny seeds from their food to give as a reward? or some other type of seeds?
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Post by santinoandmondo on Jan 22, 2014 14:32:55 GMT
Had some success earlier with the training!
I tried one bird at a time while they were out for their exercise. I had cut all the little "balls" off a spray of millet to use as rewards. I held a little millet in my thumb and middle finger and had my forefinger extended and let her taste or see the millet. I said "Santino,fly" and held my hand about 4" away and she flew onto my hand knowing that there was food! I did it several times with each bird saying "Santino, fly" or "Mondo, fly". I did it for about 15 minutes and by the end of that time, if one bird saw the other on my hand, she'd fly over to land on my hand just to investigate! Will try extending the distance past 8" with the command next time. Yeah!!!
Maybe someday I can say "Birds, fly" and they'll fly over!
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Jan 22, 2014 14:35:02 GMT
yes, from their food. its more precious to them because they only get it for dinner time. that is what you need to do  just increase the distance after a few |
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Post by Pammy on Jan 22, 2014 20:40:38 GMT
I use sunflower seeds for Mistletoe, for treats. For all of the birds, I can use a teeny piece cut off a peanut or sometimes they like a bite off a nutriberry.
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just increase the distance after a few
