Previous issues with Jasper have been all over these boards, so I'll not repeat them in depth. Short version is that my mom looked after him for five weeks and undid all my 'you don't have to bite hard to get your point across' interactions with the J-bird. That was back in summer. I've been crazy busy in my last 
year of vet school, so re-training that has taken a back seat to, well, everything. I've pretty much just been avoiding all situations where that would be an issue at all, which is at least better than practicing the wrong thing. This means I've had him step up onto my hand all of once in something like 5 months.
I've had time to breathe and work on it recently with the Jasper though, and it turns out that positive reinforcement training is at least as reinforcing for me as it is for him. I've been letting him beak my fingers more lately since I am more relaxed (me stressed = him stressed = less than ideal) and he's been good. He's pinched me a couple of times, but that has always been normal and something I'm happy to live with.
Tonight I was inspired by the folks here for some one-on-one time. 
I sat on the table/play area and he came over to hang out next to me and get some scritches. We were both nice and relaxed so I grabbed some sunflower seeds, knelt down and put my arm on the table and asked him to "come'ere." He came over and stood by my arm and got a treat. Beaked my hand gently and got a treat. I upped the ante on him and asked him to "step-up"/lured him he got a treat and lots of praise for putting one foot on my arm. He wasn't concerned/overly excited by all of this and was putting good weight on that foot, but I was totally 
inside. I asked him to move away (he did, got a treat), then we did the same thing again. He was so good and gentle and completely chill, just eager to get those seeds!
I am still
! I think this is WAY more exciting for me than for him, but it's super reinforcing. I know 90% of bird-dealing-with (or other animals) is the human element, so this is great for me to rebuild my confidence. I've had a bit of a mental deal with the whole bite-rather-than-step-up thing, which sucks because HE WILL bite rather than step-up if he thinks that a person is hesitant or nervous. How's that for a bird-owner combo, 
perfectly at odds. Soon I'll be asking him to put BOTH feet on my arm. Crazy, huh?
Bonus picture of upside-down feather-butt bird
year of vet school, so re-training that has taken a back seat to, well, everything. I've pretty much just been avoiding all situations where that would be an issue at all, which is at least better than practicing the wrong thing. This means I've had him step up onto my hand all of once in something like 5 months.I've had time to breathe and work on it recently with the Jasper though, and it turns out that positive reinforcement training is at least as reinforcing for me as it is for him. I've been letting him beak my fingers more lately since I am more relaxed (me stressed = him stressed = less than ideal) and he's been good. He's pinched me a couple of times, but that has always been normal and something I'm happy to live with.
Tonight I was inspired by the folks here for some one-on-one time.
I sat on the table/play area and he came over to hang out next to me and get some scritches. We were both nice and relaxed so I grabbed some sunflower seeds, knelt down and put my arm on the table and asked him to "come'ere." He came over and stood by my arm and got a treat. Beaked my hand gently and got a treat. I upped the ante on him and asked him to "step-up"/lured him he got a treat and lots of praise for putting one foot on my arm. He wasn't concerned/overly excited by all of this and was putting good weight on that foot, but I was totally inside. I asked him to move away (he did, got a treat), then we did the same thing again. He was so good and gentle and completely chill, just eager to get those seeds! I am still
! I think this is WAY more exciting for me than for him, but it's super reinforcing. I know 90% of bird-dealing-with (or other animals) is the human element, so this is great for me to rebuild my confidence. I've had a bit of a mental deal with the whole bite-rather-than-step-up thing, which sucks because HE WILL bite rather than step-up if he thinks that a person is hesitant or nervous. How's that for a bird-owner combo, perfectly at odds. Soon I'll be asking him to put BOTH feet on my arm. Crazy, huh?Bonus picture of upside-down feather-butt bird
this is great news!!
Is this why we love them?