So that your bird can spend as much time as possible out of the cage with you and your family, you'll need to teach him to accept a few simple requests or 'commands' from you and other members of your household who wish to interact with him. Once trained to accept these requests, you will be able to ask your grey to fly to and from you, or leave certain places by using a verbal request. This allows you to have good control of your bird while he is out with you and means he will be reasonably easy to supervise. In most cases using reward-based training methods, a bird can be taught these requests in five to ten days. It is suggested you teach your bird the following requests in the order set out below.
Assuming your bird can fly, make sure that you teach these next requests as well:
Where should you train your bird?
In most cases, you can train your grey in the same room as the cage. However, if your bird is aggressive around the cage, it may be easier to teach the first requests to step on and off your hand away from the cage or in another room. You'll need to have some way of getting your (untrained) bird to another room. In most cases, you can wheel the cage in to the other room, encourage the bird to leave the cage, then remove the cage before starting the training session. Nervous birds should always be taught in the same room as their cage. It is best to arrange things so that the bird is asked to step up and down from places which are between waist and chest height, so the back of a chair is usually ideal. If this is the first time the bird is to be loose in the room, you should remove any objects or ornaments he may try to land on.
Birds should be asked to leave any
unsafe places such as light fittings.
unsafe places such as light fittings.
A trained, trusting grey will learn to fly to you
on request - a special food treat offered as a
reward is the key to teaching this request.
on request - a special food treat offered as a
reward is the key to teaching this request.
