- Joined
- 3/7/19
- Messages
- 624
My quaker, Gus, came to us knowing this phrase, and at first, I did the same thing everybody does who hears it for the first time... I said it right back. Over time, his interest waned, and he said "whatcha doin'? less and less, preferring to focus on other, newer, words and sounds.
Then I decided that instead of responding with the same words, I'd actually tell him what I'm doing when he asks, so we have a lot of conversations along these lines.
"Whatcha doin?"
"Cleaning. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Cleaning. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Getting water. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Cleaning. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Changing paper. What are YOU doing?"
Etc.
Since I started giving actual answers, he's begun asking "Whatcha doin'" constantly. It's his new favorite phrase.
(Lately he's also begun abbreviating it to "wotcher," which makes him sound adorably British).
So far he hasn't picked up any of the words in my responses, so I wonder if he likes saying it just because it elicits a fun variety, or if he's actually starting to associate the different responses with my actions.
Completely anthropomorphizing him, it reminds me of when I lived abroad with a very limited vocabulary and half my questions began with "how do you say XYZ?" I'd like to think he's analyzing my responses and slowly building his understanding of English, but I can't really say for sure.
I'm betting people here have done similar things in the past with their birds. What were your experiences? Did they eventually pick up other words and seem to gain understanding/anticipate situation-appropriate answers? Is there a good way to segue this into more formal training?
Then I decided that instead of responding with the same words, I'd actually tell him what I'm doing when he asks, so we have a lot of conversations along these lines.
"Whatcha doin?"
"Cleaning. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Cleaning. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Getting water. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Cleaning. What are YOU doing?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Changing paper. What are YOU doing?"
Etc.
Since I started giving actual answers, he's begun asking "Whatcha doin'" constantly. It's his new favorite phrase.
(Lately he's also begun abbreviating it to "wotcher," which makes him sound adorably British).
So far he hasn't picked up any of the words in my responses, so I wonder if he likes saying it just because it elicits a fun variety, or if he's actually starting to associate the different responses with my actions.
Completely anthropomorphizing him, it reminds me of when I lived abroad with a very limited vocabulary and half my questions began with "how do you say XYZ?" I'd like to think he's analyzing my responses and slowly building his understanding of English, but I can't really say for sure.
I'm betting people here have done similar things in the past with their birds. What were your experiences? Did they eventually pick up other words and seem to gain understanding/anticipate situation-appropriate answers? Is there a good way to segue this into more formal training?
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