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I Scared My Quaker Parrot Doing This! How I Resolved His Fear to Get Back On Track

Oh no! I scared my Quaker Parrot doing this! Let me tell you about how I resolved his fear to get back on track to building a great relationship.

In the process of target training the Quaker to touch the target stick, I saw him getting scared! With each time he touched the target stick, he seemed more cautious and reluctant to touch the target stick again. He would touch the target stick quickly and then back away. This seemed odd because he didn't seem scared of the target stick itself. In fact, it turned out that he was scared of the sharp sound of the clicker instead!

Whenever the Quaker would touch the tip of the target stick, I would click the clicker and give him a treat as I customarily do with all other parrots. He is the first parrot I've ever worked with that was actually scared of the clicker. In fact, he was getting so startled of the clicker, that he was starting to avoid the target stick in order to avoid the noise.

This is a setback. But, it's not a reason to give up on clicker training because in the long run it is super effective.

You see what happened is I made a mistake! I rushed! Instead of taking 3 clicker conditioning sessions as I typically recommend, I started target training him after just 1 clicker conditioning session. He has been so spirited and quick at picking everything up I'd previously introduced him to that I figured we can breeze through the easy step of clicker introduction and jump ahead to target training. Well, I was wrong, and it caused some set-back in the target training phase.

Luckily, I caught this very early and did not proceed further! As soon as I realized the clicker sound was scaring him from targeting, I went back to basics! I made up the 2 additional clicker conditioning sessions that I skipped. During those sessions, I followed the clicker introduction recommendations I set forth:

1) Click from far away so they can hear the sound
2) Use the clicker behind my back to quiet it
3) Click and give treats until totally comfortable with the clicker anywhere

This is not a reason to skip the clicker or replace it. In general, a crisp loud clicker is great for parrot training! Parrots are noisy so it can penetrate the noise from that or other parrots in the house. During flight training, I may have the bird fly away from me and click when landing on an intended spot. I only need a quieter clicker briefly during the initial introduction. So, clicking from afar or muffling the sound inside a sleeve can help it be less startling at first. Once the bird is familiar with the sound and excited to receive the treats that it signifies, it doesn't matter that the clicker is loud and is in fact a benefit!

Once we were back on track where the Quaker was completely calm around the clicker, I reintroduced the target stick. However, to ensure he doesn't couple it with any previous clicker discomfort, I skipped using the clicker at first. Whenever the Quaker Parrot touched the target stick, I simply removed it and gave him a treat. After he showed no fear of the target stick, I resumed pairing the act of touching the target stick with a click from the clicker and he took it like a champ! No more fear! Totally solved. He's terrific at following the target stick anywhere I point.

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