14 PsittaScene February 2009

P.E.T PagesP.E.T Pages

This issue's contributor Barbara

Heidenreich, has been a professional

in the field of animal training since

1990. She owns and operates Good

Bird, Inc., (www.goodbirdinc.com)

that provides behavior and training

products to the companion parrot

community. Products and services

include Good Bird magazine,

consulting services, behaviour and

training workshops as well as books

and videos. Several of Barbara's titles

are available via WPT.

© Copyright 2006. First appeared in

the Volume 1 Issue 4 Winter 2005

Good Bird™ Magazine. Revised with

permission.

“Look. It’s just a string bean. See? It won’t hurt you.”

Have you ever found yourself having a similar conversation withyour parrot? You could replace “string bean” with whatever objector situation causes a fear response from your bird. It’s reallyincredible what some parrots find frightening! However, as silly asit might seem to us, to our birds it is serious business. Fearresponses are no laughing matter.

Preventing and reducing fear responses inyour bird has many potential benefits. It has thepotential to create a more engaging companionparrot. It can also lead to the reduction of stress. Irecall visiting a home for a consultation to discovera very wide eyed, trembling Umbrella Cockatoo.This sensitive bird showed fear responses to almosteverything. The slightest movements by anyone inthe area created a reaction. This bird also exhibitedfeather damaging behavior. It is certainly possiblethat the bird used such behavior as a stress copingmechanism. Fortunately by giving this cockatoo achance to experience the world through positivereinforcement training strategies, it was given a newlease on life.

Positive Methods to Reduce FearPositive reinforcement strategies involve focusingon kind and gentle methods to teach your birdthat circumstances that were once frightening nowresult in desired consequences. To betterdemonstrate how to apply the principles let’s workthrough an example. Imagine trying to introduce anew toy into the cage of a bird that responds withfear behaviors.

As you approach the bird’s cage with the new toyyou observe a fear response: the bird quicklymoves to the back of the cage away from theapproaching toy. Instead of putting the toy in thecage anyway, you take a few steps back until he

Nothing butFear itself

It is our job to learn to be sensitiveto the body language that indicates

whether or not our parrots arecomfortable with a situation.

February 2009 PsittaScene 15

What does a fear response look like?

When frightened, parrots will oftentry to move or lean away fromwhat they fear. Their eyes may beopen wide as they present dartinglooks in search of an escape path.Many parrots will stand tall andslick their feathers down tight totheir body. Parrots with crestfeathers often raise their crests.Feather quivering, slightly openmouth and rocking side to sidemotions may also sometimes beassociated with fear responses.

shows behavior that indicates comfort. You thengently and slowly place the toy on the floor in thebird’s line of sight. Each day you move the toyslightly closer to the cage, paying attention towhether or not the bird displays any behaviorindicative of fear. If you notice fear responses,you move the toy away from the cage until thebird shows calm behavior. Over time you are ableto get the toy right next to the cage. Next, yougently hang the toy on the outside of the cageaway from food or water bowls (you don’t wantyour bird to be driven away from his resources byfear). This process is known as systematicdesensitization. It is the idea of gradually exposinga subject to fear producing stimuli, starting with

the least frightening situation and working towardsthe most frightening while the subject remains in arelaxed state.

After you have achieved this success, you can nowfocus on using positive reinforcement to train yourbird to approach the new toy. An easy way to dothis is to use a target. Targeting involves teachingyour bird to orient a body part towards something.The target can be the end of a chopstick, a closedfist, or any object you choose. Usually parrots aretrained to orient their beak towards the target. Ifyour bird knows how to follow a target, you canpresent the target to the bird in the cage awayfrom the toy. Gradually move the target closer and

closer to the new toy. Each approximation isreinforced with food or another desired positivereinforcer. If your bird is especially fearful, manysmall approximations may be required. It may takeseveral training sessions for your bird to move closeenough to the new toy to touch it.

Now that your bird is close to the toy, you can workon teaching him to touch it. One strategy toencourage this action is to place treats on the toy. Atthis stage in the process the bird might be willing totake the treat off of the toy. This behavior can befurther encouraged with more reinforcers offeredfrom your hand after the “bait” is eaten. After thebird retrieves several treats placed on the toy, it islikely he may touch the toy without the need for atreat as a lure. At this point a bridge and positivereinforcer can be offered after the bird makes theeffort to touch the toy. If touching the toy isparticularly challenging, a treat can be held in such away that the bird must accidentally touch the toy toretrieve the treat. If needed, approximations cancontinue to include touching the toy for longerperiods of time or actually manipulating it with thebeak.

Another teaching strategy that can also be beneficialis modeling or observational learning. At a distanceat which the bird is comfortable you candemonstrate interacting with the toy yourself. Youcan also have your parrot watch another birdinteracting with the toy.

If your bird knows how to target,you can use this behaviour to helphim learn to approach a new toy.

Article and Photos by Barbara Heidenreich

16 PsittaScene February 2009

Common PitfallsUsing positive reinforcement to address fearresponses has been shown to be effectivetime and time again. However, it can presentchallenges, especially if the companion parrotowner is anxious for quick results. Impatiencemay lead to compromises in trainingstrategies. This in turn can lead to failure.Fine tuning your sensitivity to recognizingfear responses is an important component inthe training process. A “little afraid” is a“little” too much. Avoiding creating fearresponses is important to success withpositive reinforcement strategies. This fearresponse is often increased when owners tryto use force to create the behavior. Forcing abird to remain in the presence of a highlyfeared stimulus until fear responses subside iscalled flooding. This process is extremelystressful and traumatic for the bird andcertainly not required to get the desired resultas the example presented demonstrates.

The example presented is just one situation.There are many different scenarios whichmight create a fear response in your bird.Therefore it is helpful to think through theapproximations for the particular situationyou are trying to address prior to training.Apply the recommended “Do’s and Don’ts”in each situation.

Do

� Learn to recognize the slightestindication of a fear response inyour bird

� Use systematic desensitization –gradually expose your bird to whatis creating a fear response

� Train the desired behavior withpositive reinforcement

� Use small approximations

� Reinforce calm behavior

� Allow the process to take time

� Pair positive reinforcers withwhatever is creating a fearresponse

� Use modeling – you or anotherbird can demonstrate the desiredresponse

Don’t

� Don’t create even the slightestfear response

� Don’t use flooding

� Don’t force a bird to participatewhen it is frightened

� Don’t rush for results

Fear Responses and Young ParrotsYoung parrots offer a unique opportunity toprevent fear related behaviors. Breeders that areable to expose young birds to new environments,new people, objects and materials they mayencounter later in life (such as kennels, nail clippers,towels, etc.) can make a big impact. Very youngbirds are typically receptive to the introduction ofnew things. Care still should be taken to introducenew things slowly as well as associate positivereinforcers with the new items. This is because abird’s first experience with something can havelasting impact. For example if the first time a birdwent into a kennel was because it was shoved orforced into it, it will be more challenging to trainthat behavior with positive reinforcement in thefuture. If a bird’s first experience with entering akennel was based on positive reinforcement trainingstrategies and at some point the bird needs to beforced into the kennel, it is more likely the behaviorwill be easily recovered. A young bird provides agreat opportunity to create a wealth of positiveexperiences with new objects and differentsituations. Take advantage of this critical timeperiod.

Paralyzed with fear? Unlikely. Parrots are moreprone to seek opportunities to escape or avoid asituation they find frightening. Avoidance iscertainly contradictory with the goal of trying tocreate the best relationship possible with acompanion parrot. Focus on showing sensitivity tofear responses and using positive reinforcement toturn a fearful feathered friend into aconfident companion.

Systematic desensitizationcan help your parrot learnto accept new toys.