HOW TO TRAIN YOUR PARROT (Chapter Four)

Chapter Four: Clicker Conditioning Teaching Your Bird The Rules of The Game 

What is a clicker?  

A clicker is a small handheld device that makes a sound—a clicking

sound.  It marks the instant that a parrot, or other animal, has done

something correctly.  It is the signal to your bird that he is going to

get a reward.  Of course it doesn’t have to be a clicker, you could

make a sound with your mouth, whistle, hand clap.  But a clicker

works best because it is accurate, quick, and repeatable.  

A clicker needs to be precise and consistent because it is the signal

that your bird is right on target!  This is why it is so important that

you are a good clicker!  

Clicker Conditioning Yourself 

Timing is critical for your parrot.  You need to realize that your parrot

doesn’t understand what you want him to do. It may sound obvious, but he doesn’t.

  

If you want your bird to wiggle his left toe when he waves, instead of 

his right toe, then you need to make sure you practice and develop a

consistent clicking style.  By this I mean that you need to try to click

the very instant your parrot has made enough progress towards the

goal you want him to reach.  You can’t get sloppy and click too late,

or too early and you must always think of clicking from your bird’s

perspective. 

Remember, we will be training your parrot to recognize the clicking

sound of the clicker as the signal you give him at the exact moment

he’s done something correctly.

In this exercise you’re going to work with a friend of yours to hone

your clicking skills.  It’s a lot of fun, and if you feel stupid about doing

it, grab a young kid and have them play along, they’ll love it, and

you’ll get to practice without looking silly. 

It’s important that you grab a person that has never played this exercise 

and ONLY tell them this one rule.

Tell them… “The goal of this game is to work for clicks.”

That’s it!  Don’t tell them anything else.  It’s likely that the person will 

ask you for more details.  But always respond by saying, “all I can tell

you is that the goal of the game is to work for clicks.” 

The reason this can be the only thing you tell the person playing the 

game with you, is because my goal from teaching you this game is to

teach you what it’s like to train an animal more effectively.  

And when you first start training your parrot, he won’t know the rules of

the game either.  In fact, your parrot doesn’t even know as much as the

person you’re playing this game with.  Because your parrot doesn’t know

that the name of the game is to earn clicks.  We still have to teach him

that.  But more on that later. 

The point that I’m trying to teach you is how to train a living being to do 

something in a completely different way than you are used to.  This game

takes away all of the ways you can cheat, and only gives you one way to

communicate; with a clicker. 

You can’t give little hints, you can’t point to things, and you probably 

shouldn’t use facial expressions either.  Only use the clicker!

What do you use the clicker for?  Good question.  Here’s how the game 

works.  Start in a room with the partner you’ve chosen to play this game

with.  And in your head think of something you’d like to get your partner

to do.  It could be anything.  Maybe you want to get them to walk over to

the TV and turn it on.  Or maybe you want them to walk over to the refrigerator,

grab a gallon of milk, pour you a glass and bring it to you.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.  It just has to be something that is within 

the physical limitations of your partner.

But here’s the catch. Your only means of telling you partner what task

you want them to do, is by clicking the clicker. 

This forces you to think like Dr. Skinner and the rat he wanted to train to 

touch the lever on its food bowl.  You need to think of small progressive

movements you’d like your partner to perform, gradually reward him,

and tell him that he’s moving in the right direction by clicking every time he makes progress toward the end goal. 

For example, if you’re wanting to try the getting you a glass of milk task, 

which I highly recommend, you’ll need to first click your partner for any

movement made towards a glass in the cupboard. 

Keep in mind that you’re partner has no idea of the task he’s supposed to 

do, and you’ll be forced to be very clear, and precise with your ‘clicking’to make sure he doesn’t get confused.   

Remember, ‘click’ every time he moves towards your goal, and com-

pletely ignore any actions not moving towards the goal.  Soon he’ll realize

that you’re shaping his path towards a desired action or goal.

But be patient, because it could take him a few minutes to understand what’s earning him the clicks.

Just like your bird won’t understand what the clicks mean in the beginning either.

You’ll also notice that the game gets a lot harder when you have someone do more specific tasks.

For example once you’ve got your friend to grab the milk out of the fridge, you’ll have to think of ways to click and reward your friend for tipping the milk jug, into the corresponding glass.

  

So remember to click for small movements.  Just like you’ll be forced 

to reward your bird for small movements, your friend will need the

same.  Even a slight tipping of the milk jug towards a tipping over motion,

even if its just an inch, is progress towards the end goal, so remember to ‘click’ him for it and all other progress, until the game is complete and the task has been accomplished.

I strongly recommend that  you take the time to practice your clicking 

before you begin training your bird.  Incorrect clicking can confuse

your bird and make training an unhappy time.  It’s supposed to be fun! 

Once you know how to click correctly, it’s time to teach your bird the 

rules of the game. 

Clicker Conditioning Your Bird

Let’s begin by assuming that you have a bird that already takes treats from you. Your first step is to walk quietly over to your parrot’s cage click the clicker and hand him his favorite treat. Repeat this exercise ran- domly throughout the day. He will quickly begin to equate clicks with treats.

Now you’re ready to move into trick training!

However what do you do if you have a parrot that is too afraid to eat from you?  This happens often. Here are a few ways to handle clicker conditioning an aggressive or frightened bird:

First, will your bird allow you to put a treat in the cage and walk away? If so, then do that. Click and leave a treat in the cage. Eventually he’ll gain trust in you and you’ll be able to hand feed him. Don’t force it, let him come to you.

If your bird will not let you near his cage, then you need to tackle this another way. You need to give the bird what it wants. In this case your bird wants to be LEFT THE HELL ALONE.  He doesn’t want a sun-

flower seed, he wants to be left alone. Click and then leave him alone.

Come up to your parrot close enough to slightly agitate him but not freak him out. Once agitated, wait for him to show a sign of calming down. When he does that, click and leave.

You’re training him to relax when you come near his cage. He will be- gin to associate clicking with leaving. Ten feet between you and your bird will eventually become 9 feet then 8, 7, 6, until your close enough to touch him or touch his cage.  You overcome your bird being afraid to have you near him. Now you can introduce treats and the training diet.

WARNING:  Be careful about getting a bird on a training diet whose

diet is restricted too much. You don’t want your bird to associate hunger with training. You want him to be hungry but not starving. If he’s starv- ing and grumpy, he won’t want to train. In fact, he’ll learn to hate training.

 Once this final step is accomplished you are in great shape. You have a clicker conditioned parrot who can understand what you want from him and what he gets in return. He knows the rules of the game as you have established them. He has to earn treats. You’re the boss. Your bird is not.

The good news is that the more you train your bird, the more your bird will understand and anticipate the tricks and behaviors you want him to

do. It gets easier!