"Bird Whisperer?"
A question on training birds using affection as a motivator rather than food
led to an interesting discussion on a Yahoo Group. Training birds using food, a
predator/prey relationship or affection was being debated. The following
question developed from that discussion:
"Why is it that current leaders in avian training cannot (or will not) teach a
hungry public how to train birds? I guess everyone is more interested in being a
"bird whisperer" than a teacher".
My response is as follows:
Why can't you do both :-) ? I get the feeling that the idea of understanding the
animal and being connected with it is thought of in a strange way with respect
to training the animal.
I am sure this will stir up some thoughts that I am some kind of nut,
(Nothing New There) but a connection with animals that can be used in training
that has nothing to do with food as a motivator (as much as I see and agree with
some of the food based training being discussed here) is, in my opinion, very
possible. Also, the predator/prey concept still has me baffled. The idea that an
animal looks at us as either a predator or as potential prey does not seem to
enter into my thoughts on training.
I want to share some of my own experiences (not in any particular order) that
convince me that there is some unknown connection between human and animal that
trancends the ideas of food as a motivator and seems to make the predator/prey
concept a little muddy.
I'm interested in your thoughts on these things with relation to training.
1) Peek-a-Boo - One of the things That I do is teach my birds to play
Peek-a-Boo. I teach each bird a different way to play the game so that the bird,
if it is ever lost or stolen, can be identified by me. Each bird learns from me
without using any food as a reward.
Examples, Max an Umbrella Cockatoo lets me cover his eyes and when I remove
my hands, he yells Peek-a-Boo. Max will then cover my eyes and when I pop up,
he'll also say Peek-a-Boo
K.C. a brown-throated conure hangs his head down,
then pops it up and yells Peek-a-Boo.
Dutch, a lovebird, hunches his body
down, takes a leap up, and flaps his wings and makes his Peek-a-Boo sound (not a
word yet) and so on.
They learn this game from me without food being used as a reward. I just use
praise, fun and affection.
The birds will then play Peek-a-Boo with each other, but each plays the game
the way I taught it to them. They have not changed the game to mimic another
bird.
The point in this case is that learning has taken place using only affection
and attention as a motivator. I'm not sure about the idea that they are rewarded
by food when I put them back because they don't eat anything when I place them
back on or in their cage. (It was suggested that the birds were motivated by
food if they ate after I put them back in their cages after the training
session)
2) Sarge - This one is a simple story to indicate some unusual connection
between an animal and myself.
Sarge is a mean German Shepherd who has a
record of being nippy. Actually he bites. He also barks and shows major signs of
aggression. His stance and the hair on his back raises when he is dealing with
most anyone.
Sarge got out of his enclosure in my neighbors back yard. This neighbor lived
some distance from where I was. I knew of Sarge's reputation and I did not know
he was loose as I was sitting on my porch. I saw him approach and thought that I
was going to be in serious trouble. I made a choice. I sat there and without
hesitation , this dog that should have been incredibly aggressive just came and
sat at my right hand.
I told him to sit and stay as I went into my home to get a leash so that I
could walk him home.
That sounds like no big deal, right? Well, when I got to
the owner's home with Sarge, I was greeted by an astounded look. I was asked how
I got him back home. I said that I told him to sit and stay. Then I put a leash
on him and walked him home.
The owner told me that I should have been bitten, yet I was petting Sarge. He
then told me that Sarge has never been taught to sit and stay. He also told me
that Sarge has never been on a leash, yet he walked back with me perfectly.
The point is that here was a dog that has never been trained (these were the
only owners so they knew Sarge was never trained) and I had him trained to do
things he'd never done before within minutes. By the Way, he repeated the things
I taught him for others and myself at later times. It is also important to note
that no food was used as a reward, only praise was used. I should have been prey
in this example and yet I was not so it seems that a predator/prey relationship
had nothing to do with Sarge learning from me.
3) The Goose - I once worked at a wildlife sanctuary. Each year, the geese
would migrate back from the north. These were definitely wild geese and what I
am describing only happened to me. No one else had this kind of a relationship
with this goose in the way that I did.
I was standing in a field and there was
a group of geese that had recently come down for the winter, These were guys
that summered in Canada. They were quite a distance away and I had no contact
with these geese prior to this moment.
I saw one goose making a beeline toward me. I thought I was in for it as
Canada geese can be pretty aggressive. I stood my ground figuring I was either
going to get bitten or get the goose to back off.
Imagine my surprise when
this goose came to me, craned his neck, and laid his head down on my shoe. The
top of his head was against my shoe and his throat was exposed to me. (What
happened to predator/prey here? ) Furthermore, he wouldn't leave. He stayed
there until I reached down and gave him a scratch on the underside of his neck.
At that point, he picked up his head and went back to the flock. He did this
every single day, only to me, until they flew back up north. He was definitely
seeking affection but not continuous affection. He wanted a greeting at the
beginning of each day. It was on his terms. Why ?
Year after year, that goose
would seek me out.
Let me short circuit some ideas.
Even if this guy was
imprinted on another human, why did he pick me and only me to do this with?
I
did not teach him to do this and I did not motivate him with food.
Affection
was the motivator and he wanted it, I didn't seek it out, the goose did!
Again, with many people working here, why did he single me out?
4) Benjamin - Benjamin is a big double yellow-headed Amazon Parrot who
belonged to a pet shop owner. It was my first time in a particular pet shop, I
introduced myself to the owner. I also explained that I had written some
articles for a bird magazine Companion parrot Quarterly) that he had available
for purchase. He knew who I was and was not uncomfortable with my following
question. I guess he was feeling me out.
I asked If I could ask Benjamin to
step up. His owner said, "If you can get him to, go ahead" he continued to tell
me that in the 17 years that he has had Benjamin, the bird has never stepped up
onto anyone other than him. Hundreds of people have tried.
I looked at
Benjamin for a moment, put my hand in front of him,(on his cage) said step up,
and had Benjamin on my hand instantly. Benjamin then proceeded to climb up onto
my shoulder and preen my hair.
John, the owner was astounded. He said that
Benjamin never connected with anyone like that before!
Benjamin stayed on my
shoulder for the duration of my visit and then nicely stepped up onto my hand
and let me put him back on his cage.
Sunny "D" - a similar experience with a sun conure that has shredded the
hands of his owners and anyone else who tried to rescue him.
I went to rescue
The Big "D" as I call him because of his vicious temperament and biting ways. A
neighbor who had tried to hold him showed me her ripped up hand. The owner's
hands were all sliced up. Five minutes after I was there, I had Sunny "D" on my
hand, up and down from my shoulder and voluntarily lying on his back so I could
tickle his tummy. He's been with me for five years now and is a great bird!
"Birdy" - (Named by his former owner), is a cockatiel that was cage bound and
never learned to step up. He was in a cage for more than seven years as he lived
in a house where Boxer dogs were bred. In the home, and in front of the owners
while Birdy was being relinquished to me, I had him stepping up and giving
kisses in less than 15 minutes.
How are these things possible without some kind of "bird whispering" . I was
not influencing these birds with food. Affection and an instinctual "way with
birds" was all that I needed to gain his trust.
5) The Deer - At the same wildlife sanctuary,(remember, this was a sanctuary
for wild animals, not a zoo) the deer would come to me. They were not tame and
other persons working at the sanctuary would rarely even see them although we
were in the same areas all the time. It was not a "time" thing as we would be in
different places at different times throughout the day.
Anyway, the deer
would walk out of the woods to be with me. I had no food, I never fed these
animals, they were not fed by humans. We didnt even put out salt licks. There
was no motivation other than the fact that they wanted me to talk with them and
spend time with them
I am talking about does, bucks, fawns etc. . One wild
buck was huge and was once less than a half inch away from me. ( I told you that
you would think I was nuts!!)
What was their motivation for attention? Food was not a motivator. Also,
these deer were used to the predator prey theory as they were legally hunted so
why did they not view me as a predator?
6) Chipmunks - I had a back yard full of chipmunks that were wild, I didnt
feed them yet after talking to them and getting them comfortable with me, many
would climb up on me and sit on my lap. I gave them little scrootches the same
way as I would for a small bird. That was their only incentive. They were not
fed by humans. I knew where their nest was and I watched them forage for their
own food. They were not getting treats from humans. I would sit and talk to the
squirrels the same way.
What happened to predator/prey? What happened to food
as a motivator?
7) Otis - Otis is a puppy. He is not my puppy. he is part Pit bull and part
Labrador retriever. I have nothing to do with this puppy except for the fact
that for some strange reason, he wants to be with me. Anytime he gets loose, he
is here. His urge is so strong that He actually pushed his way into my house the
other evening just to be here. He had to dig his way out of his yard about a
half block away, find his way to my house and then run headfirst into the door
to open it. (The door was slightly ajar to allow a cord for Christmas lights to
go through the doorway)
He has not been trained by his owners to sit or walk
on a leash yet he does both for me as if he has been doing it for years.
There is no food used as reinforcement. He crashed into my house for affection
and companionship.
Horses - When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle owned trotters. They raced them
all over the eastern seaboard. These are horses that are trained to trot and not
to run or gallop. They are very high strung and as a result shouldn't be ridden
with a saddle. They normally pull a surry. For many of these horses, (Not all)
it is a major sin to ride one as they can be untrained to trot.
To make a
long story short. They could not be ridden by anyone but me. They wouldn't let a
saddle near them unless I was carrying it. They also would gallop for me and
handle beautifully as I rode them. They also never lost a step in a race. It's
as if they knew how to ride with me and work when the time came. This is very
unusual for a trotter.
I did not feed these horses as my uncle had payed staff
to train, groom and feed these horses. They enjoyed their time with me and I
could handle them as no other person could.
Why? Food was not a motivator, I
think it was fun for them.
As corny as it sounds, I feel like I was able to
"connect" with them.
While I am not training lions and tigers and bears, (No I won't say OH MY ! )
I've played with adult blue-jays, catbirds, mockingbirds, owls, red-tailed hawks
and others. I even taught starlings who were out in the wild to step up. There
was no food used as a motivator, just attention and fun.
I question this
predator /prey thing and I still wonder about affection and attention as
motivation. Yes, food probably produces a quicker result and it has an extremely
important role in training but how about this other stuff? How about a need for
attention? How about a need for affection? How about a need for play?
I
could never prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these things are strong
motivators but my own "connections" with animals indicate that they are a factor
in teaching them.
Can a person be a teacher and an "animal or bird whisperer"
? I think so!
I look forward to your comments...Come on, Rip me to shreds :-)
Have Fun, Bill
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