Training A Parrot

Parrots make wonderful pets. You will find that they are incredibly smart and fun to train. Keep in mind that any animal of high intelligence can easily get bored, so spend time with your bird and supply plenty of toys. It takes time and patience, but with the proper training, your parrot will provide you with many years of friendship.

You can train your parrot when you follow a few steps. Whenever “school is in,” it is always best to remove him from his cage and train in a small quiet space. Your bird is more likely to remain attentive and retain information when it is in a new environment. The next thing you will want to do is eliminate all distractions. If he becomes distracted during training, he will not learn as well. This means that you need to turn off the radio, television, and even the phone. Also, they are like children and have short attention spans, so make your training sessions quick and fun.

Try to plan your parrot’s training time around his schedule, not yours. After mealtime is often a good time for training because he will be content and will pay attention. He will also appreciate plenty of praise. Even if you find that you were not very successful, do not let your parrot see your stress levels rise. This makes it an unpleasant experience for him, and you will have a harder time getting your parrot interested in learning in the future.

When you are ready to teach your parrot a new trick, he will respond well to treats and praise--all animals respond better to praise than punishment. Try to avoid punishing him, even if he is acting naughty. Ignoring this behavior is your best bet as birds do not understand punishment or negative reinforcement. In fact, if you respond to bad behavior, your pet may actually see this as positive attention. Keep in mind that while your parrot will love food treats as rewards, try to reinforce the positive and encourage good behavior with lots of praise and play time. Otherwise, he may only perform the tricks when some kind of food reward is available.

Repetition is the key to successfully training your parrot. Performing these basic steps repeatedly until your pet “gets” the trick is the best way to train. This works well for basic commands as well as advanced tricks. If you have just gotten your bird, start out with the simple trick of teaching your parrot to sit on your finger on command. Find a word for each trick and use it every time you train. Most of all, never force your parrot to train. If you find he is tired or uninterested, then stop and try another time.

As your parrot learns more commands and tricks, you can begin moving your training sessions closer to the bird’s cage. As he gets better at his new skill, he will feel more comfortable performing in his cage amidst the hustle and bustle of your household. Birds learn quickly in most cases and sometimes just by listening when not in training. 

Training a parrot takes time and patience. You must love your bird and have time and dedication to make this partnership worthwhile. With patient training and love, you end up with a fantastic and well-behaved pet that will be with you for a long time to come.