The delights of peanut butter

Wednesday was cool and rainy.  I had  a list of places to go and things to do and I didn't do any of them. I spent a wonderfully relaxing day sitting around in fleecy clothes drinking tea and watching videos. Luckily there was enough spinach left so Odie could have his regular dinner. Grocery shopping could wait until Thursday.

Somewhere along the line I thought it would be a good idea for me to go back and read all my previous blog posts.  I've been worried that they might become repetitive. Once I started I became immersed in the task. They provide a pretty good record of what has happened in our lives since I retired and of how my focus and my thinking have changed. The most repetitive theme has been, "Oh dear, I should be writing more often."  That shouldn't surprise me since I've been singing that song for at least the last 35 years.  Note to Self: Just shut up and write without comment regardless of how frequently or infrequently the writing actually gets done.

The birds have hit to blog quite often and this might be a good time to reflect on Odie's progress. At the vet's Christmas party I got talking to a couple of people from the parrot club.  I asked if they knew anyone who worked to help owners train parrots, or more properly, who helped train owners. I got a name and spent quite a bit of time crafting an email about our life with Odie.  I didn't want to sound like I was whining and I did want her to know that we were serious about achieving a better relationship with our little feathered companion.  Robin answered with  a very encouraging email. She said we had done a lot of the hard work in that we had specific goals and that we seemed good at observing Odie's behaviour. We were thrilled.  Regardless of how well-meaning the people who had tried to help us were, we usually ended up feeling frustrated, stupid and inept. Robin suggested that she come to the house
and we arranged for a visit in January. Robin spent about an hour with us and worked with Odie pointing out some of the body language we hadn't noticed.  She also gave us specific suggestions to help with the training. For the first time since we got Odie I felt it really might be possible for Odie and me to get along.

Robin paid us a second visit which was invaluable. She said that what we needed to do was to find a treat that Odie loved so much he would do almost anything to get it.  We tried apple.  It was okay.  We tried millet which was also okay. One day I decided to give peanut butter a try.  Bingo!  It didn't take Odie long at all to touch the target stick when peanut butter was the reward. It because very easy to get him out of the cage by offering the target stick for him to touch.  Getting him back in was a bit trickier. How could I get him to understand that he had to be inside the cage to touch the stick and get a treat. After a few attempts where he went around the outside of the cage to touch the stick, I positioned my body between Odie and the door of the cage and put the target stick so the tip was just on the inside of the cage by his food dish.  Odie doesn't usually want to go past my whole body when it blocks his path.  Then I looked pointedly at him and then at the end of the stick which was inside the bars.  I stared at the stick for maybe 30 seconds and then Odie got the idea,  went to the door, climbed into the cage and touched the stick from the inside. I gave him a long lick of peanut butter off the end of a chopstick.

Since then I have had no trouble getting him in and out of the cage and have no worries about feeding him and cleaning his cage when Richard isn't home.  Occasionally Odie still lunges at the chopstick but when he does the treat and the target stick go away for 10 seconds and then we try again.  If he lunges again I walk away and stay away for a few minutes.  He still lunges occasionally but he doesn't often do it more than once. The downside is that he now waits outside the cage for the target stick and the PB.  When we've done a couple of touches outside the cage I can easily target him in.

We have many more goals.  I'd like to have Odie reliably step onto a perch so I can transport him to various locations in the house.  If we can get that down, he can spend much more time out of his cage and can hang out with me in my study while I work on the computer or in the living room while I practice piano. He likes to be with the flock so and I think he'd enjoy the change of scenery.  I'd also like to be able to put him into his travelling cage without trauma for either one of us. I don't think we'll ever be best buddies but I'm more hopeful that we may be able to come to a better working relationship.

Cross your fingers and pass the peanut butter.