So ive had a congo for 7 years, for the first few he seemed great. Then i made a few mistakes having to leave the house in a rush and needing to put him in his cage quickly. Hes always hated his cage and doesnt seem to like any of the toys you hang up. Anyways i got my first bite putting him up in a rush. Long story short he ended up with his own room so he never had to be locked in his cage. He also bonded to my mother which he always seemed to like more from the start.
he will only gently grab her finger if she upsets him, but if i put my hand near him its attack mode, grinding bite then flying away.
in an attempt to fix this i would open door to his room get him to fly to a dog gate at door, fed him nuts on the end of a straw. Feeding a nut with pinched fingers at head level was hit or miss with him sometimes choosing to just bite me instead. After months of the straw technique and hit or miss hand deliverys I switched to feeding nuts from my palm at feet level. This surprisingly works every time, but if its pine nuts where he eats it as he grabs it, when the nuts run out he looks at my hand like he’s deciding if he should eat my hand next.
fast forward and i make a t stand, and use clicker and point training which i cant do much work with because its just run to the other side touch the stick and heres a treat. He does it, it’s technically training, but i feel like its going nowhere. So then I alternate between trying tosee if he will let me scratch his head, and stepping up.
for the head scratch we have a game where i whistle and tilt my head,then he tilts his head, its our go to game. So its hard to know if he wants a scratch or to play that. I slowly go in and his eyes will slightly pin so i back off, but he will tilt the other way like heres my head. Anyways its a trap or i read him wrong and i get bitten.
for stepping up, i slowly come in and hold watching his eyes.Sometimes he drops his head so i know to back off. If i try baiting with treats in the other hand further away, that causing the head drop quicker so i being the treats in before he gets to my hand or remove my hands. Sometimes his eyes just pin and i know.
so after that happening every time for weeks and weeks, i decide being brave might work, it didnt. I came in slow with hand steady fingers straight and stiff, stopping as he pins slightly. I hold position ask him to step up, he raises one foot, i come in closer he hops on and immediately grind bites me and flys away. My reaction is being still and silent, then targeting him back to the stand, and i give a treat to end on a good note and thats the end. Next day i dont attempt any of that, day after that i try stepping up and he nails me again same way. This time he drew blood i didnt want to shake him off and scare him more or whatever so i did a quick shhhh at moderate sound, he stops biting, he looks at me, takes a deep breath and shhhh’s me back then flys away, again i wait a minute, target him, treat, and leave. I dont know if thats the right thing i just always heard never leave on a negative note, but im basically at my wits end here because i feel like theres no way to progress from here. If i cant get him to step up i cant engage in any other target training really. Im stuck at the door of his room with a t stand. Oh and he used to fly at me when i went in too. Which he landed on my hand once and bite.
admittedly in the past i would make a ouch noise because i heard sometimes they simply dont know the pain they inflict and in some cases that would help, i also would leave right after but again i stopped doing that or any reaction, then just resetting for one more target.
So i have no idea if this is territory issues, or him being scared. When he hopped on my hand he seemed panicked, very quick, ect. But at the same time he eats from my hand, but then wont let me touch him. What in the world is the next step or steps in this process? I heard training in other places can help especially if territory is an issue, but that requires moving the stand with him on it which could cause anger. The other issue is once hes out of the room he has no way back for the most part. So if he bites and flys away, theres no picking him back up and putting him on his t stand. Yes hes bonded to my mom but to involve her puts her at risk of a bite and breaking or damaging their bond. Im just kind of lost here
he will only gently grab her finger if she upsets him, but if i put my hand near him its attack mode, grinding bite then flying away.
in an attempt to fix this i would open door to his room get him to fly to a dog gate at door, fed him nuts on the end of a straw. Feeding a nut with pinched fingers at head level was hit or miss with him sometimes choosing to just bite me instead. After months of the straw technique and hit or miss hand deliverys I switched to feeding nuts from my palm at feet level. This surprisingly works every time, but if its pine nuts where he eats it as he grabs it, when the nuts run out he looks at my hand like he’s deciding if he should eat my hand next.
fast forward and i make a t stand, and use clicker and point training which i cant do much work with because its just run to the other side touch the stick and heres a treat. He does it, it’s technically training, but i feel like its going nowhere. So then I alternate between trying tosee if he will let me scratch his head, and stepping up.
for the head scratch we have a game where i whistle and tilt my head,then he tilts his head, its our go to game. So its hard to know if he wants a scratch or to play that. I slowly go in and his eyes will slightly pin so i back off, but he will tilt the other way like heres my head. Anyways its a trap or i read him wrong and i get bitten.
for stepping up, i slowly come in and hold watching his eyes.Sometimes he drops his head so i know to back off. If i try baiting with treats in the other hand further away, that causing the head drop quicker so i being the treats in before he gets to my hand or remove my hands. Sometimes his eyes just pin and i know.
so after that happening every time for weeks and weeks, i decide being brave might work, it didnt. I came in slow with hand steady fingers straight and stiff, stopping as he pins slightly. I hold position ask him to step up, he raises one foot, i come in closer he hops on and immediately grind bites me and flys away. My reaction is being still and silent, then targeting him back to the stand, and i give a treat to end on a good note and thats the end. Next day i dont attempt any of that, day after that i try stepping up and he nails me again same way. This time he drew blood i didnt want to shake him off and scare him more or whatever so i did a quick shhhh at moderate sound, he stops biting, he looks at me, takes a deep breath and shhhh’s me back then flys away, again i wait a minute, target him, treat, and leave. I dont know if thats the right thing i just always heard never leave on a negative note, but im basically at my wits end here because i feel like theres no way to progress from here. If i cant get him to step up i cant engage in any other target training really. Im stuck at the door of his room with a t stand. Oh and he used to fly at me when i went in too. Which he landed on my hand once and bite.
admittedly in the past i would make a ouch noise because i heard sometimes they simply dont know the pain they inflict and in some cases that would help, i also would leave right after but again i stopped doing that or any reaction, then just resetting for one more target.
So i have no idea if this is territory issues, or him being scared. When he hopped on my hand he seemed panicked, very quick, ect. But at the same time he eats from my hand, but then wont let me touch him. What in the world is the next step or steps in this process? I heard training in other places can help especially if territory is an issue, but that requires moving the stand with him on it which could cause anger. The other issue is once hes out of the room he has no way back for the most part. So if he bites and flys away, theres no picking him back up and putting him on his t stand. Yes hes bonded to my mom but to involve her puts her at risk of a bite and breaking or damaging their bond. Im just kind of lost here