Article by Chris Biro, all rights reserved.
CHRIS BIRO WROTE ABOUT GETTING STARTED: Simply condition the
clicker (click, give treat, repeat several times) then offer target stick (chop
stick, straw, pencil, PVC Pipe, etc.) and click the bird when he reaches out and
touches the end of it. It does not matter why he touched it or what he does
afterward. If he is afraid of it then hide most of it behind your arm and hand
and try again. Often they will touch it out of fear or curiosity, again it does
not matter why, so long as they do it. Make sure you have really desirable
goodies present and ready and that the goodies are not too large or time
consuming to eat and also that the bird is hungry and not already satiated with
recently eaten lunch. Do this a few times per session and then quit while the
bird is still interested, ending on a high note. Repeat sessions 1-5 times per
day. That should get you started.
Hi. I have just subscribe to this list and am very very confused and
have several questions.
Also., regarding the above forwarded message about targeting, I get
what you are suppose to do, but can someone please tell why you would do this.
I understand clicker training in terms of teaching your fid to step-up, come,
tricks, etc. but not sure what "targeting" is.
Also there are so many posts, etc. is there a good place for a newcomer to
start? I just started reading the mail but do not have a clue where to begin.
CHRIS BIRO'S ANSWER: The answer to both of these questions "why
target?" and "where to start?" has to do with much more than
stepping up, come, and tricks. You sound like most people, who think of certain
behaviors and problems that need to be fixed. At this point in the game though,
I want you to forget about those behaviors and problems and focus more on
learning how this works and teaching your bird how this works. From there you
will find answers to your behavioral problems and ways to train the select
behaviors that attracted you to this training.
So Why someone trains targeting has several answers. One being it is a very
simple behavior to start with. That has benefit simply because both you and the
animal are not confused by shades of gray or other complications to training
said behavior. The bird has one simple task to do to earn the click, touch the
end of the target stick. As such it is easy for the bird to learn what the
clicker is all about. Then you can begin expanding this behavior to require the
bird to have to move a distance to reach the target stick. The point is that
through this process you can teach the bird how to learn through a series of
simple steps. Targeting of course is not the only behavior that could work for
this but it is the most common behavior used for the first behavior learned.
Not only does the bird need to learn this process, so do you. Every behavior
that is reinforced is more likely to reoccur. This fundamental concept sounds
very simple but is not that intuitive for most people - our society focuses
mostly on aversives to change behavior so positive reinforcement methods are a
bit alien to most people. Training a few simple behaviors like targeting helps
train you to think in terms of "what is being reinforced". This
process also lets you see the light bulb come on a few times and that
is very reinforcing and motivating to you as the trainer.
And since training targeting usually only takes a few minutes, you and the bird
gain much from this simply exercise and are usually quickly ready to move on to
other basic behaviors. In short, this process should help you be ready to tackle
those tougher behaviors and problems faster than if you started directly on the
tougher issues.
Parrots: More Than Pets, Friends For Life
Chris Biro