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Clicker Training for Beginners - Lesson 3

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BraveheartDogs

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Clicker Training for Beginners - Lesson 3
Ok, it is the moment you have all been waiting for, we are going to add our birds to the mix!

At this point you should know what your birds most highest value reinforcers are. You should also feel pretty comfortable handling the treats, clicking the clicker and delivering food. So, we are going to start working with our birds.

Charging the Clicker
The first thing we need to do is build an association between the clicker and the reinforcer. We want the bird to learn that a click = a treat for him, every time. You must always treat after you click or your clicker will lose it's power, so be thoughtful about when you click.

It is ok to use praise, verbal encouragement, scritches, petting and other things that the bird finds reinforcing for training BUT the clicker always means a food reward, nothing else. I see people all the time want to click and then do other things and nothing drains the power of the clicker faster. Part of the reason is that many times people are confused on what is actually reinforcing to the animal. Sometimes what feels good to the human is not necessarily reinforcing to the animal.

To start you will need to decide where you will train. Will you train with your bird in his cage, or take him to another spot, like a certain playstand where you will train? If the bird is not aggressive or fearful I will usually train on a playstand.

Get your reinforcers (treats) together before you start and have your clicker ready. Count out 10 treats, then click the clicker and then deliver a food treat. Do not hold your clicker up high by your birds face. Do not move your hand or any other part of your body when you click. Do not reach for the food before you clicker. Do not roll treats around in your hand. ALL of these become signals to the animal. Simply click and then give a treat. Do this 10 times and then put your clicker down. At this time you can think about how it went. Do you need to put all your treats in your hand or reach for them one at a time? Does the bird mind the clicker? Is your bird already look excited when you click? That is what you are looking for, that bit of excitement or eagerness when you click because they know food is coming. Count out 10 more and repeat. Practice clicking and delivering from both hands.

Remember at this time ALL we are teaching is that click = treat so we don't care what the bird is doing. We are just teaching association right now.

Please let me know how it goes. Part of the point of the class is to share and discuss how things are going.
 

Saemma

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so ... if I understand correctly... I should click and then give a treat for doing "nothing".... :huh:

Just so they associate the "click" sound with treats? Am I on the right track?

For now.. 10 clicks and 10 treats? :huh::):huh:
 

BraveheartDogs

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so ... if I understand correctly... I should click and then give a treat for doing "nothing".... :huh:

Just so they associate the "click" sound with treats? Am I on the right track?

For now.. 10 clicks and 10 treats? :huh::):huh:
Yes, that is correct. Click and feed just so that they learn the relevance of the clicker. That click = treat. And yes, 10 clicks and 10 treats, take a break and then you can do another 10 and so on:)
 

Saemma

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Vicky how many times do you recommend that I do this in a day? How many days?:) I'm so happy you are offering your wonderful best practices.:hug8:
 

BraveheartDogs

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Vicky how many times do you recommend that I do this in a day? How many days?:) I'm so happy you are offering your wonderful best practices.:hug8:
You can do several sessions in a day, but it probably won't take too long for them to make the connection. Just keep them very short! Try for five sessions for two days.
 

Saemma

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Thanks.:hehe::)

Now... this means... :chin:

I'm going to have to cut out some of the usual treats or else they're really going to think it's Christmas or some special holiday.:lol:Must think about what to cut out...:)
 

KimKimWilliamson

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We clicker trained our Boston Terrier, as well as touch target training but I didnt even realize I could do it with my bird. What would you use this skill for in a bird further on down the line? Like recall or tricks or something? (Sorry, new to Parrots - Not so much to dogs - Getting an IRN in June and want to be VERY diligent with obediance and training). Would you say there is much differance in clicker training a ird compared to a dog?
 

Oknuma

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Vicki, thank you for this next instalment.
DD and I are a bit behind being that we are going to spend this friday afternoon on lesson two and hopefully by sat we can be on lesson 3.
 

BraveheartDogs

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We clicker trained our Boston Terrier, as well as touch target training but I didnt even realize I could do it with my bird. What would you use this skill for in a bird further on down the line? Like recall or tricks or something? (Sorry, new to Parrots - Not so much to dogs - Getting an IRN in June and want to be VERY diligent with obediance and training). Would you say there is much differance in clicker training a ird compared to a dog?

You can use it for anything you want to teach your bird to do. Management things like stepping up or down, recalls, tricks, anything. Because there is no force it is also great for trust and relationship building and just conditioning the animal to associate you with good things.

With my WF Amazon sometimes he won't step up, but if I get his target stick and we do some training he immediately becomes eager and willing.
 

Saemma

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Truthfully, haven't started yet.. It's a bit difficult to do this during working days.:o:
Will commence tomorrow. My plan is to work on Sachi. She is my hard headed one. I will do it twice tomorrow.:dance4:
 

Oknuma

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our plan was to set up a quiet spot downstairs away from tv or little brothers for RB and to train batman in her cage. For Rosie-Blush the location was great but batman would not respond in her cage at all. best laid plans and all that LOL

anyway here is how it went....

we have just sat down and had our first lesson with Rosie ( my daughter , rb and myself ) which went well. I wouldnt say we saw excitement but she certainly seemed to get it.
we are having a break now and in a few hours will do again before its bedtime for birdies.

being the weekend we will do it again another 3 or 4 times tomorrow and sunday too.

Now my lil troublemaker batman is another whole story.
Batman loves millet. in a bowl with anything else the millet is always the first to be pounced on.
batman however has never eaten from my hand and often instead of taking food will run past it to bite. (why i thought millet would be the best and safest option for this)
as per usual though my girl has decided now that millet is nasty and showed no interest in it while in the cage.
I moved her downstairs, just her and I in the quiet and tried there. It wasnt very successful with her flying off more than staying but she did nibble a few times after a click so i figure some progress is better than none and more importantly there was no aggression or biting of any sort. So we will have a few more of these sessions over weekend and then twice a day.

I always thought batman would take quite some time being a naturally aggressive type of bird but I have all the time in the world if it helps her settle and gives us some bonding time.
 

Saemma

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Well..:o: Here's an update. today I attempted to apply the assignment TWICE with each of my parrots.

Clicker exercise with Emma was a very good experience and Emma was very interested both times.:p

Clicker exercise with Sachi was not bad the first time.. and 2nd time it was "obvious" that she felt the treats that I was offering did not have "very high value".:eek: She usually loves pecans. :huh:
Not sure if it was the treats, or the fact that I was offering it to her in thin slivers.:shrug2: She even took the treat from my hand and then dropped it and walked away.:huh:
Sachi's definitely going to be the harder one to crack.:sad11:
 
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BraveheartDogs

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our plan was to set up a quiet spot downstairs away from tv or little brothers for RB and to train batman in her cage. For Rosie-Blush the location was great but batman would not respond in her cage at all. best laid plans and all that LOL

anyway here is how it went....

we have just sat down and had our first lesson with Rosie ( my daughter , rb and myself ) which went well. I wouldnt say we saw excitement but she certainly seemed to get it.
we are having a break now and in a few hours will do again before its bedtime for birdies.

being the weekend we will do it again another 3 or 4 times tomorrow and sunday too.

Now my lil troublemaker batman is another whole story.
Batman loves millet. in a bowl with anything else the millet is always the first to be pounced on.
batman however has never eaten from my hand and often instead of taking food will run past it to bite. (why i thought millet would be the best and safest option for this)
as per usual though my girl has decided now that millet is nasty and showed no interest in it while in the cage.
I moved her downstairs, just her and I in the quiet and tried there. It wasnt very successful with her flying off more than staying but she did nibble a few times after a click so i figure some progress is better than none and more importantly there was no aggression or biting of any sort. So we will have a few more of these sessions over weekend and then twice a day.

I always thought batman would take quite some time being a naturally aggressive type of bird but I have all the time in the world if it helps her settle and gives us some bonding time.
Great feedback! Good job on everything. Did you try a spray millet that was kind of long? Sometimes those can work well. Another option is to sort of pull the millet apart and then drop little pieces into a bowl. I can't wait to hear how your following sessions have gone.
 

BraveheartDogs

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Well..:o: Here's an update. today I attempted to apply the assignment TWICE with each of my parrots.

Clicker exercise with Emma was a very good experience and Emma was very interested both times.:p

Clicker exercise with Sachi was not bad the first time.. and 2nd time it was "obvious" that she felt the treats that I was offering did not have "very high value".:eek: She usually loves pecans. :huh:
Not sure if it was the treats, or the fact that I was offering it to her in thin slivers.:shrug2: She even took the treat from my hand and then dropped it and walked away.:huh:
Sachi's definitely going to be the harder one to crack.:sad11:
That is GREAT about Emma! Keep it up!

Ok, Sachi, my little one:heart: It could be that there is just too much pressure or maybe that the clicker is too near her when you click. You can try holding it behind your back so it's muffled. Did you say that you were using a pen? I would also try changing your position. Maybe don't face her head on, don't stare at her, turn your body slightly and try to avert your eyes a little bit. You might also try just using a verbal marker at first. When I use a verbal marker I use the word "Yes!" said in a very distinct tone. Once she understands the game she may get more comfortable.
 

BraveheartDogs

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I thought I would post up a video of my daughter and RB doing their 3rd attempt at lesson 3 ( we have called it lesson 1 i think in the vid so hope i dont confuse everyone)

YouTube - Clicker Training - Charging the clicker part 2 RB and Jaydey .wmv

Oh my gosh, this was fantastic. I am SO glad you posted this. Your daughter is so pretty and her clicking and treat delivery was really nice. Tell her well done! I think my only critique would be to do less reps with RB because she was starting to get a little bored towards the end. Also, I didn't mention this before but I realized it more when I watched this, I usually will completely remove the millet for each click. So it's click, present millet for bite, take it away, even out of sight so that it becomes very clear click makes the millet come. :dance4::dance4::dance4::dance4:Yay for you that was brilliant!!
 

BraveheartDogs

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Really nice feedback and work so far. I am going to give you all a couple of more days on this so that everyone is really comfortable with it!
 

Saemma

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Thanks Vicky.:) I kept the pen at my side, not at all in her face.:hehe: I will keep plowing along and persist in the face of resistance.:lol:.

:) Apparently clickers have a distinct and sharp click. Is that correct? I just found out that Rosie Toys has them. Perhaps I need to buy one or can I stick with my ball point pen?:)
 

BraveheartDogs

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Thanks Vicky.:) I kept the pen at my side, not at all in her face.:hehe: I will keep plowing along and "break" her if I have to.:) Apparently clickers have a distinct and sharp click. Is that correct. I just found out that Rosie Toys has them. Perhaps I need to buy one or can I stick with my ball point pen?:)

Good job on keeping it low. No, I don't think you need to get a clicker. She is probably not comfortable with the sound and it's just all new to her, so I would just keep doing it with the pen which is probably quieter. Just take your time and don't feel like you have to break her, it's really just about her needing to realize that it's a GOOD thing and to get comfortable with it:)
 
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