# Pros and cons of clicker training?



## hennaredlady (Aug 3, 2012)

I've be really interested in hearing from those of you that have used clicker training..... was it effective? Do you know of any other threads that talk about this more specifically? Why use clicker training versus the normal talking to them, working on step up.... Was there anything that didn't work? The only thing I've read as a con is that if a bird is mimic you can hear lots of clicker sounds!

Also would a clicker be more beneficial for different kinds of birds, ie bold or shy birds? Can you use it from the beginning with a non tame bird or is it best for tame birds to learn further tricks?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Clicker training (aka positive reinforcement) can be used at any time with any bird except for unweaned babies. It speeds up the training process because the bird is getting a reward that it values in exchange for the behavior you want, which improves the bird's motivation. I have an article about it on my website at http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/info/taming-clicker.html


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## tammya (Jul 21, 2012)

I am reading a book right now called Clicker Training for Birds by Melinda Johnson and it is awsome. It explains everything in layman's terms and is very easy to understand. I definitely recommenced giving it a read!!


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## RedQueen (Feb 21, 2012)

I've used (and still use) clicker training with my Galilea. I have some videos on youtube of the tricks she's learned this way. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKlAAcT4nfU&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c5oGjNS-KY&feature=context-cha
We've also taught her "shake" where she puts her foot on your finger and lets you give her a gentle "hand shake". She's also target trained, which means she associates a straw we use for her trianing with a reward and will follow the straw around. We then used the straw to teach her to spin and to fly to us on command (although she'll only do it when she's int he mood for treats lol). Here's a good video on clicker training:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z-yiDIjn2s
Basically if you teach your bird to associate the sound with a reward, then you can provide instant feedback that it's doing something right when you're training. Your bird knows it's done well when it hears the clicker and instantly knows it will get a reward for it, and then you actually give it the treat. Galilea knows this really well now. If she's done something we wanted her to do, we use the clicker and she runs to get her treat. Instant rewarding is key to good training.

Also key to teaching tricks (or any training) is to take slow steps. With the ball trick, we had to teach her first to pick it up and she would get rewarded (she picked it up on her own but we taught her to also associate that with a treat), then rewarded only when she held it longer. Then I would take the shot glass and put it right under the ball when she held it and if she dropped the ball and it landed in the shot glass she would get a reward. Eventually we moved on to rewarding only when she put the ball in the shot glass herself. If she doesn't get it right away, take smaller steps, otherwise if she's trying and not getting rewards for her efforts (even if they don't produce the right outcome) she just gets frustrated and gives up.


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## smays810 (Dec 27, 2011)

I started clicker training my bird a while ago but had to stop because we were moving and I haven't picked it back up because shes still trying to adjust to the new place (which is an apartment and its alot louder then our other place) I was trying to get her to associate the clicker sound with getting a treat and my question is how long did your bird take to understand that concept. It seemed like Lexi wasnt really getting it.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> I am reading a book right now called Clicker Training for Birds by Melinda Johnson and it is awsome.


This is an excellent book, and Melinda is one of the owners of the clicker training group at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/ You don't have to buy the book to belong to the group. But members are expected to do some reading on their own, and the book is a lot easier to read than the group's free Files.


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## hennaredlady (Aug 3, 2012)

What do you use for treats? My tiel doesn't seem particularly food motivated at this point...


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## smays810 (Dec 27, 2011)

I use millet but my bird is food motivated you could try giving the bird attention or a scratch on the head when they do something you like. You will just have to try different things. Also you may want to try different kinds of foods like carrots or other types of veggies and see if he responds to those types of foods.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Does your bird like mirrors? A peek into a mirror that you're holding in your hand can be used as a reward for some birds.

Does your bird like sunflower seeds? If so, you can remove all the sunflower seeds from the seed bowl in the cage and use them as training rewards. You can move along a little faster if you buy raw unsalted sunflower seed with the shells already removed, and use half a seed for each reward.

My birds love dried cantaloupe seed, and that's what I usually use as a training reward. It's not available commercially, but it's pretty easy to make your own using the seeds from a fresh cantaloupe.


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