Clicker Training for Beginners - Lesson 7
At this point, hopefully, your bird is able to follow a target stick. Once you have taught this, you can do a lot with it.
Here are a couple of things to play around with:
Step Up
You can position your hand just in front of the target stick so that your bird has to step up to reach the target stick. You will need to hold your clicker in the same hand as your target stick so that you can offer your other hand as the step up. Click and treat after your bird steps up.
If your bird is fearful of hands, you will need to do some desensitization and counter conditioning so that he is comfortable before doing the step up. DO NOT try the step up with the target stick if your bird is afraid of hands because you can end up "poisoning" the target stick training AND treats if you pair it with something very frightening (hands) for the animal.
Moving around the cage
You can use the target stick to move your bird around the cage. This is very good for birds who have cage aggression issues.
Present the stick to the bird and once he gets there, click and treat. You can build this into stationing by continuing to feed in the "station area" once the bird gets there.
So, you would present the stick where you want the bird to station, click and treat when he gets there and continue to feed once he gets there so that he remains in that area.
Spin
If your bird is really good at following the target stick, you can start teaching a spin. It is easiest to do this on a t stand or a swing that is open below the bird depending on where you hold your target stick.
With the bird on a t stand present the stick just past his head, but over his head. As he turns bring the stick around and click and treat just before he finishes the turn. The click will help him complete the turn. If your bird is uncomfortable with the stick over his head, you will have to work on that. Or you might try doing it on a swing and having the stick move under him instead of over him.
If your bird doesn't complete the turn, the just present the stick and click just for turning towards it. And, you can build it from there. This is how I would train this anyway, using shaping and baby steps.
At this point, hopefully, your bird is able to follow a target stick. Once you have taught this, you can do a lot with it.
Here are a couple of things to play around with:
Step Up
You can position your hand just in front of the target stick so that your bird has to step up to reach the target stick. You will need to hold your clicker in the same hand as your target stick so that you can offer your other hand as the step up. Click and treat after your bird steps up.
If your bird is fearful of hands, you will need to do some desensitization and counter conditioning so that he is comfortable before doing the step up. DO NOT try the step up with the target stick if your bird is afraid of hands because you can end up "poisoning" the target stick training AND treats if you pair it with something very frightening (hands) for the animal.
Moving around the cage
You can use the target stick to move your bird around the cage. This is very good for birds who have cage aggression issues.
Present the stick to the bird and once he gets there, click and treat. You can build this into stationing by continuing to feed in the "station area" once the bird gets there.
So, you would present the stick where you want the bird to station, click and treat when he gets there and continue to feed once he gets there so that he remains in that area.
Spin
If your bird is really good at following the target stick, you can start teaching a spin. It is easiest to do this on a t stand or a swing that is open below the bird depending on where you hold your target stick.
With the bird on a t stand present the stick just past his head, but over his head. As he turns bring the stick around and click and treat just before he finishes the turn. The click will help him complete the turn. If your bird is uncomfortable with the stick over his head, you will have to work on that. Or you might try doing it on a swing and having the stick move under him instead of over him.
If your bird doesn't complete the turn, the just present the stick and click just for turning towards it. And, you can build it from there. This is how I would train this anyway, using shaping and baby steps.