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Pyewacket gets dressed

by Eva Sargent

Well, actually Pyewacket is still naked. Not oh-no-he’s-pulling-out-feathers-naked; he’s just without-a-harness naked. We all know that training is a slow process requiring diligence and patience, but I want him wearing that harness yesterday.

I’m not a patient person. I want to be taking Pyewacket to work with me, and to the park, and to the vet, and to stylish cocktail parties with understanding hosts. I bought the aviator harness and the accompanying video is so compelling. If you ever get the chance, watch those macaws flying on their leashes at the end. It is amazing and inspiring. But the training part doesn’t fit my style. We see a macaw being rewarded for tolerating three moves that will eventually be used to put on the harness: a hand sliding over the face, wings being lifted (to slip through the harness) and being pushed off balance (to tighten the belt). This young bird then hardly notices when the harness is put on. My Pyewacket is a bit more playful and full of himself, so I’m hoping to use more of a step by step approach to get him to love getting into the harness. I took those behavior mini lessons at the ParrotBAS yahoo group, and so I know that little steps that make up a behavior are called approximations. The idea is that I break it down into these simpler steps and then reward Pye as he learns to do each one. Here’s what I’ve go so far, but I’m hoping one of my readers (and you’re out there, right?) will know about the aviator harness and help me with this.

1) Pyewacket comes toward me when I show him the harness.
2) Pyewacket lets me touch him with the harness
3) Pyewacket stands still while I touch him with the harness
4) Pyewacket lowers his head and stays still while I pet his face (in the motion of slipping the harness over)
5) Pyewacket stays still while I slip the harness over his head and remove it immediately.
6) Pyewacket stays still with the harness around his neck
7) Pyewacket allows me to lift one wing
8) Pyewacket lets me pull wing through harness
9) Pywacket stands still with one wing through harness
10) Pyewacket allows me to pull other wing through harness
11) Pyewacket stands still with both wings and neck through harness
12) Pyewacket stands still while I tighten the belt
13) Pyewacket says “Let’s go!” (okay, maybe this last step isn’t really necessary)

Meanwhile, I’ve had an odd week with Pye. He hasn’t wanted me to touch him – turning around quickly and hitting my hand with his beak when I ask if he wants a tickle. He’s even added a squawk if I persist in trying to touch him (we humans can be awfully dense). I was feeling pretty low about it, thinking that I hadn’t been spending enough time with him. Then tonight I put him to bed, and instead of sitting in a chair and singing to him (I can’t sing at all, but he doesn’t know that, and so he seems to like my silly made up lullabies), I stood by his perch and sang right to his face. He was delighted, bopping his head excitedly and letting me pet his face (in, of course, the exact motion needed for the harness).

So it goes, one step forward and one back. But I have a plan, and I have sunflower seeds, and one of these days he’ll be dressed and ready to go out.

Send me those comments and suggestions!

Posted by Eva Sargent on 09/23 at 10:50 AM
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Pyewacket rolls over—despite complete lack of DVDs

by Eva Sargent

My two month foster period with Pyewacket is over, and of course I’ve been giving the future lots of thought. I don’t get to spend weekends away anymore, because he needs those fresh vegetables every morning. And I’m pretty sick of sweeping up mesquite leaves and pods from his oh-so-natural playthings. Who knew he’d be so much work? I’ve actually cut down on work trips out of town, but the few times I have had to go, I’ve had a hell of a time finding people who aren’t afraid of him, and who can show up twice a day to feed and amuse him. And I can’t use my ceiling fans (in Tucson!) and so have had to crank up my air conditioning, which induces eco-guilt. You can’t imagine the time I’ve spent analyzing the ceiling fan issue. A cat was a lot easier. Hurumph.

The problem is, I’m completely in love with Pyewacket. With his laughing, his bizarre mumblings, his repeating my name over and over, his sweetness and his many mysteries. I could never give him up! So I am no longer his foster buddy; I’m now his friend for life.

You know that honeymoon period everyone talks about with parrots? I’ve been waiting for that to come to a screeching halt, for the screaming or biting or whatever to start. And it hasn’t. I’m no behavioral genius, I’m lucky. For those of you who aren’t so lucky, I’ve been discovering all kinds of resources to help. Not surprisingly, many of them are connected in some way to WPT. Have you checked out the Ask an Expert section? You’ll find amazingly impressive and experienced folks to answer your questions. I’ve been learning a lot just reading other people’s questions, and their stories are sometimes fascinating. I found out that Susan Friedman has an entire course on parrot behavior that you can sign up for, and while you are waiting for a class, you can try the ParrotBAS discussion group (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) which has “mini lessons” where you and your classmates learn to analyze behaviors objectively and figure out how to change them. I’ve started the mini lessons, which I see as both preparation for the day Pyewacket turns into a little devil, and as some sort of karmic insurance against that happening (you know -- if you’ve spent hours boarding up your house for a hurricane, it will make landfall 50 miles north of you). ParrotBAS also offers one on one help with your pesky parrot. They assign someone to help you make a plan for modifying behavior, and this person will follow through with you until things are solved. Perhaps you all know about these resources, but I didn’t. Of course if you’re like me, you’ll be tempted to buy DVDs from parrot “experts” on the internet. I’m a real sucker for programs and systems that seem very organized and complete – the idea that a box will come in the mail and have everything I need, and have it all laid out step by step, is enormously appealing. And spending real money might be the push some of us need to commit to working with our birds. But before you buy, think about this. I googled the name of one of these costly self-proclaimed parrot gurus, and found him being lauded as the star student of a system for marketing things on the internet. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with marketing your product and doing it well, but it certainly caused me to pause and consider other ways to find information.

I started the above just to tell you what I’ve been thinking about recently as Pyewacket settles in, and I’ll end with a Pyewacket update. I’ve taught him to pretty reliably come to me and climb on my arm when I say “Here.” He was averse to the phrase “step up” for some reason, although he definitely understands it. He still doesn’t like to ride on my shoulder much, so the perch on wheels has become his taxi. I roll it over to his tree and say “taxi” and he runs to climb aboard. He knows that “tickle?” means he should lower his head if he wants to me to scratch him. He even said “tickle” once himself. Alas, he hasn’t shown any interest in “I’m Pyewacket. Meow” although he occasionally says “Pyewacket” in a sort of tentative way. Twice he has rolled over and let me tickle his belly. The hilarious part is that after just a few seconds he seems alarmed at his own willingness to do this, and hurriedly gets back up. I even think he looks a little embarrassed.

But when a parrot lets you tickle his belly, even for a second, life is good.

Posted by Eva Sargent on 07/03 at 09:54 AM
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Pyewacket goes to the dogs

by Eva Sargent

I want to make clear to everyone at my local parrot rescue group that – just like I said on the application – I don’t have any dogs. It’s my boyfriend Randall who has dogs, Sparky and Cholla. Sparky is a pit bull mix and Cholla is part German shorthair. They are great dogs, but not the kind who snap to attention and unfailingly do what they are told. Before Pyewacket moved in, the dogs were at my house almost every weekend; A. P. (after Pyewacket), they had been staying home, awaiting the big day when I got up the nerve to introduce them.

In the meantime, barking dogs in my neighborhood always set Pyewacket off on a screaming binge. Granted I have no experience here, but he didn’t seem upset by the barking, but like he wanted to join in. I didn’t know if he had dogs at his former home, and I was worried that he would be terribly afraid of these big furry predators. I had confidence that I could train the dogs to behave around him, but I knew I could never teach him not to be afraid.

Finally the dogs came over. Sparky came inside first, pulling at his leash to get closer to the big bright bird – nothing like the quail he chased at his house. Pyewacket wasn’t scared; he was looking on in fascination. Sparky got to the cage and Randall held him still – I mean really still – Sparky was locked between his knees, and Randall had hold of both his leash and his collar. Pyewacket was on top of this cage, and he started to squeal and run. He was moving as fast as his feet and beak would carry him, climbing DOWN his cage toward Sparky. I was pleading “No, don’t get on the floor, please don’t get on the floor.” He stopped inches from Sparky’s face and leaned toward him saying “Hi, Hi, Hello” and squealing and whistling, delighted that a dog had come to visit. I was a little jealous; after all he doesn’t climb down his cage with a squeal of joy to meet me!

Sparky, bless him, was interested but not obsessed. After just a few minutes he laid down and went to sleep two feet from the cage. Cholla got the same reception. She was a little scared of this beast who talked, but soon she too was bored and went to sleep. Both dogs were taken aback when Pyewacket let out a high-pitched ear splitting squeak. I hope he noted their reaction and now knows how to make them back up fast.

When Sparky first met my beloved cat Rocky (RIP), they launched toward each other so fast I couldn’t stop them. But Sparky had play bowed first, so I relaxed. From that day on they were best friends. They wrestled and chased each other and just when I thought Rocky was fed up (like when he was backed into a corner and hissing), he’d start it all again by chasing Sparky across the furniture, both of them bouncing off the walls. Rocky learned how dogs move, and Sparky learned to out box cats, much to the consternation of the strays in the yard he tries to play with.

And so it may be with Pyewacket. I’m not about to let them wrestle or back each other into corners, or be unsupervised, but Sparky did play bow to his big-beaked friend, and that’s the right start.

Bulletin: Pyewacket stepped onto my arm from his cage for the first time! Thank goodness I had a walnut in my pocket.

Leave me some comments below – tell me about your birds, or give me some Pyewacket tips.

Posted by Eva Sargent on 05/28 at 12:04 PM
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Are Macaws Good Talkers?

by Eva Sargent

Yeah, I can talk.

The plethora of conflicting information about parrots extends to talking -- macaws are very good talkers, or very poor talkers, or not as good as amazons or a little better than amazons. Hopefully all this ambiguity in the literature and on the web reflects individual differences, rather than ignorance or arrogance or parrot speciesism. In any case, they certainly speak macaw well.

I can tell you that I never cared whether Pyewacket spoke English or not. It was way down on my rescue parrot wish-list, below liking me, not screaming too early in the morning, not biting, being able to be alone while I was at work, etc. The first time I heard him talk was in the quarantine room at the rescue – he suddenly said “Hi” in a loud and lurid man’s voice, the kind of man who would say “Hi, little girl. Want some candy?”

Once he got to my house, he started saying “Eva” all the time, with all kinds of inflections and intonations. My name (which is pronounced with a short E) turns out to be a natural macaw vocalization, but it is hard to shake the impression that he is specifically calling me (and maybe he is).

Last week I was in the back of the house, far from his cage (that he lives mostly on top of – another story and challenge for another day), when I heard a woman’s voice say “Hi Honey.” I crept into the hall and listened. He was practicing talking, saying over and over “Is it good? Mmmmm, good” with an occasional “Hi Turbo” thrown in. This was a wonderful discovery, not the talking per se, but my sudden realization that his former owners, who had given him up at age 3 because they had (human) babies to care for, spent time with him and taught him things. That night I gave him a bite of corn, and he said “Is it good? It’s good,” a slight variation on what I had heard earlier. This was delivered loudly, very clearly and completely in context. Even having heard him practicing earlier, I was floored and delighted.

I’m taking it slow with Pyewacket. He doesn’t like to step up off his cage, but I’m working on stick training him. I don’t force him onto my arm. We play little head-swaying parrot games but I stop when he gets really wound up. Sometimes he lets me scratch his head, but I only do it for a few seconds. I let him try some carbonated water and he was full of joy – laughing and getting his head wet and drinking more and more. I’m falling under his spell for sure, and I figured out why people want their parrots to talk, because it makes me laugh and laugh. I’m tempted to get one of those parrot speech courses (you know the guy – he’s discovered the secret and it’s guaranteed to work in 15 minutes a day or your money back). If nothing else it would give me a new game to play with my big blue friend.

Right now we are working on “I’m Pyewacket. Meow.” He’s only had that name for a week, and this morning I heard him say “I Pyewacket.” So, if you ask me, macaws are good talkers, and even better squawkers.

Over the weekend, Pyewacket met some dogs. Tune in next time.

Posted by Eva Sargent on 05/19 at 11:04 AM
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