Huge Grey Training Post
As we all know, greys have a reputation for being "good talkers," and for using words purposefully. As I have an African Grey in my future (September), I've been thinking about ways I'll go about training my bird to understand a variety of commands. So far, I'm planning on using Dr. Irene Pepperberg's "model/rival" method (hey, we just had a post about her and Alex!) Here's a Youtube video of the method in action. It involves two people modeling the appropriate usage of words in front of the bird, so it can learn by observation.
My question is: does this sound like a good way to go about training? It worked well for Pepperberg in her research, but my bird will spend most of his or her time just hanging out with me, not engaged by multiple aides and volunteers every day. And I will be a first-time grey owner, so I want to make sure my expectations are reasonable. Has anyone else tried the model/rival technique, or are there other training methods that have worked for you and your parrots?
As I will need help from my friends and family for this kind of training, and as birds of all ages have the potential to be total sponges for human behavior, I thought it might be a good idea to start early and put together a helpful manual for their reference. Mostly this will consist of the vocabulary I want to teach the bird over the years, such as the correct words to request or identify an item. It's my hope that having a list of these words and their uses will maintain their consistency, clarity, and simplicity.
So here's the kind of thing I'm writing up to help my friends who are, for the most part, not bird people:
What's this?
This is the most important way the bird will learn to identify objects. Most of the other questions and responses rely on the bird using labels learned through this question. When holding a food or toy, ask the model "what's this?" to have them say the label for it. If the model (or the bird) give the correct answer, give them the toy to play with or the food to eat. An example of how this exchange could go might be:
"What's this?"
"Grape."
"Good job! Here's your grape."
It's okay if the parrot immediately drops or throws the item. It's supposed to be a reward, so if he isn't interested in it, don't force it.
Wanna
"Wanna" can be used to request food, items, and actions. Some examples are:
"Wanna nut."
"Wanna scratch."
"Wanna go cage."
"Wanna go shoulder."
Note that being moved from place to place should be referred to as "go ____," but "step up" is a command that can be used any time you want the bird to get onto your hand.
Do you want?
"Wanna" should only be used as a statement, not a question. Feel free to say "wanna scratch" to the bird, but only if you want him to scratch your head. When you want to ask the bird if he wants you to scratch his head, say "do you want scratch?" "Do you want" should be answered with "yes" or "no." If the bird says "no," don't feel rejected. Respect his space and cheerfully respond with "okay." If the bird chooses not to respond, you can try asking again--but if he ignores you a second time, treat it as a no. Some examples:
"Do you want apple?"
"Do you want scratch?"
"Do you want go perch?"
Where is?
This question is used to ask where a person or object is. There are two main ways to answer this question: in or on. For example, if Steve is sitting on the couch in the living room, "where's Steve?" could be answered with "in living room" or "on couch."
This relies on the parrot knowing the label for the person or object being referred to, and the label for the room or place. Some examples of answers to this question could be "on cage," "in kitchen," "on floor," or "outside." Feel free to ask this question not just about other humans in the room, but about the parrot himself! This can bring the bird even more into the activity.
So those are a few of the things I have so far. I'm also making some lists for myself of little things to remember, ideas like scraping cuttlebone over fresh food if the bird isn't interested in eating it, suggestions for birdproofing my new apartment, things like that. So if you have suggestions, please pass them along! Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I've always found my cockatiels such easy birds to care for, all things considered. I don't want to assume my new, much-larger parrot will be just as simple.
I'm also sure tons of other, more casual words and noises will make their way into my future bird's eventual vocabulary, or the just-as-likely possibility that the grey I get may simply not be interested in speaking. But I figure that even if it never opens its beak, this sort of thing will be fun for the bird to watch and will help him or her better understand my behavior.
My question is: does this sound like a good way to go about training? It worked well for Pepperberg in her research, but my bird will spend most of his or her time just hanging out with me, not engaged by multiple aides and volunteers every day. And I will be a first-time grey owner, so I want to make sure my expectations are reasonable. Has anyone else tried the model/rival technique, or are there other training methods that have worked for you and your parrots?
As I will need help from my friends and family for this kind of training, and as birds of all ages have the potential to be total sponges for human behavior, I thought it might be a good idea to start early and put together a helpful manual for their reference. Mostly this will consist of the vocabulary I want to teach the bird over the years, such as the correct words to request or identify an item. It's my hope that having a list of these words and their uses will maintain their consistency, clarity, and simplicity.
So here's the kind of thing I'm writing up to help my friends who are, for the most part, not bird people:
What's this?
This is the most important way the bird will learn to identify objects. Most of the other questions and responses rely on the bird using labels learned through this question. When holding a food or toy, ask the model "what's this?" to have them say the label for it. If the model (or the bird) give the correct answer, give them the toy to play with or the food to eat. An example of how this exchange could go might be:
"What's this?"
"Grape."
"Good job! Here's your grape."
It's okay if the parrot immediately drops or throws the item. It's supposed to be a reward, so if he isn't interested in it, don't force it.
Wanna
"Wanna" can be used to request food, items, and actions. Some examples are:
"Wanna nut."
"Wanna scratch."
"Wanna go cage."
"Wanna go shoulder."
Note that being moved from place to place should be referred to as "go ____," but "step up" is a command that can be used any time you want the bird to get onto your hand.
Do you want?
"Wanna" should only be used as a statement, not a question. Feel free to say "wanna scratch" to the bird, but only if you want him to scratch your head. When you want to ask the bird if he wants you to scratch his head, say "do you want scratch?" "Do you want" should be answered with "yes" or "no." If the bird says "no," don't feel rejected. Respect his space and cheerfully respond with "okay." If the bird chooses not to respond, you can try asking again--but if he ignores you a second time, treat it as a no. Some examples:
"Do you want apple?"
"Do you want scratch?"
"Do you want go perch?"
Where is?
This question is used to ask where a person or object is. There are two main ways to answer this question: in or on. For example, if Steve is sitting on the couch in the living room, "where's Steve?" could be answered with "in living room" or "on couch."
This relies on the parrot knowing the label for the person or object being referred to, and the label for the room or place. Some examples of answers to this question could be "on cage," "in kitchen," "on floor," or "outside." Feel free to ask this question not just about other humans in the room, but about the parrot himself! This can bring the bird even more into the activity.
So those are a few of the things I have so far. I'm also making some lists for myself of little things to remember, ideas like scraping cuttlebone over fresh food if the bird isn't interested in eating it, suggestions for birdproofing my new apartment, things like that. So if you have suggestions, please pass them along! Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I've always found my cockatiels such easy birds to care for, all things considered. I don't want to assume my new, much-larger parrot will be just as simple.
I'm also sure tons of other, more casual words and noises will make their way into my future bird's eventual vocabulary, or the just-as-likely possibility that the grey I get may simply not be interested in speaking. But I figure that even if it never opens its beak, this sort of thing will be fun for the bird to watch and will help him or her better understand my behavior.