@Karen and
@OK Mike Thank you! That picture made me smile, Karen!! Pamela had similar advice. She showed me how to position my hand and arm like that, and said to start with just practicing step up and immediately down. He's got 30 years of sitting on somebody's shoulder, so it will be a LONG process with plenty of positive reinforcement. Now that I've got more time, I'll share the goals and rules for this week.
#1 Use his fruity Zupreem only for foraging or mixed in chop, and offer Harrison's High Potency in his bowl. Later, this will be switched to Adult Lifetime. She said his diet needs to be low in sugars and fat to help curb the hormonal behavior, so easy on thr fruits and peanuts (his ultimate favorite!)
#2 Remove his love bell. He calls for it if it's not around, he mates with it, he feeds it, and he sits on it like an egg. She says that in time, the goal is to have him so focused on other things that the need for a constant mate will diminish. He will still have hormonal times, but having this bell which he has a type of relationship with isn't helpful.
#3 Walk away when he makes advances, even if I don't give in. I only ever pet his head, but sometimes he leans on me and closes his eyes. She said that I need to be more platonic with him, even eliminating preening for now, so that we can reinforce that a pair bond to me is not acceptable.
#4 She said that based on what we've described, he flat out doesn't like Daniel. Not surprising, based on the bite he got the other day. So when Dan comes home and Chipper is crazy, she said to prevent it. Put him away before Dan gets home. After he's calm, Dan can do target training through the cage.
#5 Reward every cued behavior AND every good behavior. I'm buying a waist treat bag tomorrow so I have treats at all times. Reinforce nice noises, playing with toys, sitting quietly, stepping up, stepping down, literally ALL that is good.
We talked SO much about him. We discussed station training, keeping him off the floor, his interactions with the girls, EVERYTHING. And it was only an hour and a half, so WELL worth the money for a bird who could live for another 50 years. The biggest take away, was the permission she gave me. I told her that he's out for 7-8 hours a day, even if he's kind of crazy, because I'm so afraid of him destroying his feathers more and it being my fault for having him in his cage for too long. She told me to put him away if he is not being a good citizen, and to never hold myself hostage in an effort to save his feathers in the short term. She says that reducing his hormonal behavior and replacing his feather picking with other more reinforcing things for him will help in the long term. So focus on the long term, and stop feeling guilty about each snipped feather. I feel a huge weight lifted.
And I definitely need to say thank you to all of you for every piece of advice I've ever received. She told me today that she was amazed at my knowledge of the birds, and was in the top 2% of people she's ever worked with. She said that with time and consistency, we'll have an incredible working relationship that benefits all of us. I couldn't have learned what I know without all of you, and I've still got a LONG way to go.
I'm super emotional about it all tonight, I feel so grateful and relieved and happy. And tomorrow begins a weird week for Chipper as his bell goes away, and so do his long preening sessions. But we'll work through it all together!
It's awesome finally being able to understand and see things in a whole new perspective! So glad you decided to take her course! 
