# Tips for Tricks



## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

The subject has come up so often that today when Spike singing in the shower sent on a little youtube tour I came across this guy. He was clicker training a bird and having it step up without biting. He seemed to have lots of good information to share on his website and does sell CDs but puts many tips for training on his site. I'm sure there a lot of folks who could solve many of their problems with the kind of techniques he is using.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh8OTrRRSk8&feature=related


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Thats a good video  I have got a clicker for Spike but have not used it yet. You have to click than give treats for a few days, which is called loading the clicker. I have heard of lots of people getting great results with clicker training.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Yes! That's exactly right. I used to train dogs. Apparently there is no difference in the method of training.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

That's the infamous Chet Womack - he's notorious for his hard-sell marketing techniques. He's not the best-respected trainer in the business either, some of his techniques are OK and others are iffy. People like Barbara Heidenreich are much better regarded.

Clicker training works very well with birds. The basic principles are the same for any animal species, but there are some differences in the way different species respond so it's helpful to make little adjustments. There's an excellent and inexpensive book on clicker training for birds at http://www.amazon.com/Clicker-Training-Birds-Getting-Started/dp/1890948152/ You can also get the same information for free (but not nearly as well organized) by joining the Yahoo group at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/ The author of the book is one of the owners of the website.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> You have to click than give treats for a few days


Not for a few days - just for a few minutes! Birds catch on very fast although they may not give you any sign that they've learned to connect the click with the arrival of the treat. I've been told that it takes much longer to charge the clicker with dogs but it's easy to tell when the dog has figured it out. That's one of those little adjustments for different species that I was talking about.


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