O.K., so maybe I've gone over the deep end, but I never was considered the most stable bird on the planet (by some who are "slip sliding" toward that quicksand pit themselves!).
Yesterday while I had Roscoe on the play perch he was wanting to preen me & snuggle up against me so I decided to use that time to start teaching him a song.
I figured I'd throw in some of this "positive reinforcement" training I've been learning from my workshop parrot video. I am attempting to teach Roscoe to have his wings clipped without having to towel him. I do have to give Sondra most of the credit for my idea after reading about her friend who taught her macaws to raise their wings for inspections at the airport by telling them to "stick 'em up".
Sooo, (I am drawing this out, ain't I) here goes. This is the song I came up with & bear with me, the words & tune just literally popped into my head as I was giving Roscoe neck & face scritches.
This song is sung to the tune of: "If your happy and you know it, clap your hands." (sorry, had to steal the tune, I'm not that good to come up with my own.)
And here is my rendition: My intro for the song is: Sing for Mommy. 1, 2, 3
If your dirty and you stink, raise your wing.
If your dirty and you stink, raise your wing.
You'll be happy that you did,
And your stink you will be rid.
If your dirty and you stink, raise your wing.
When I sing "raise your wing" I lightly touched the underside of Roscoe's wing and he would raise it. Before we were through I was getting him to spread the feathers some. Of course he isn't repeating any of it yet and he was looking at me as if I'd totally lost my freakin' mind, but...if it works in the future, I will get hubby to video it & try to figure out how to post it for ya'll. :twirl:
I know the words are better suited for showering, but that is what my "throwed off" mind came up with & I couldn't get it out of my head. :dufus:
Sorry 'bout the double posts. My internet is acting stupid tonight & first wouldn't load it & then was loading & loading for several mins. I told it to stop loading & then I tried posting it again & I guess the other one posted when I did that. I'm not so computer smart, but the weather reeks havoc over my net sometimes.