success!!

[steptoe91(tozie)]

yup! this evening we had our first outside experience with a harness!! yay!!    surprisingly it was skittles who allowed me to put it on first. he and i had gotten to the point where we slid the head hole over his head and let it sit for a few minutes then lots of praise later we remove it and have some more fun. so tonite i got it on him all the way and went for the wings.... which he was fine with. so we immediately went outside. even as i was tightening up the belt. he was a bit nervous about that belt but once he realized we were going outside he was fine... tho it must've felt weird cause he would mouth the belt every couple mins... with me putting my fingers in his beak going "nonononononono" i have a couple cuts on my thumb and pinky for that little manuver... but it kept him from biting the harness.    so anyway outside for almost an hour. walking in the yard, standing in the sun, playing in the grass, met a couple neighbors, thrilled a group of children, and amused one guy walking home from work. as the guy walked down the road skittles was yelling "hello? hello?? HELLO!!! HELLOOOOO!"  and i told skittles "he's gotta go bye bye" so skittles yells "bye bye!! good boy!!!"    oops, make that 3 cuts on my thumb... and one on my middle finger. so all went well... til it was time to take it off.    ya see, i'm clumsey on a good day. and apparently this wasnt a good day! so i put skittles on my lap, the same place we put the harness on, and begin loosening the belt. he doesnt like that and decides he's leaving. well, of course i cant let him just hang out on his perch with the harness on. so i restrain him. well that pissed him off. so i'm trying to quickly take the harness loose. and he's not a happy camper so he's not liking momma moving his wings. well after much squawking, i get his wings out. and he's had all of this he's gonna take and begins climbing to the floor. so i get him on the floor and get the neck loop and start to pull it over his head.... well, it has seated itself under his feathers so i'm  having to pull his neck feathers up to get it and it must've pulled a bit under his beak cause about this time he completely freaked. it took a towel over his head and pulling the harness off as i pull the towel over his face. whew! to be sure he wasnt scared of the harness i immediately put it back over his head a couple times and told him how wonderful he is. he was fine with it. i think his problem with it was that i'm a clumsey human and just couldn't move it well. i hope it'll be okay if we do this everyday for the next week and everytime spend a good hour outside. not only will he get to understand that if he can tolerate momma's clumsey fingers he gets to go outside but i'm hoping that with practice my movements will get smoother.

[BPMar]

   Awww you did good, you both did!  I bet the neighbors enjoyed that, esp the guy walking home!  I would love to see something like that around here!  We only tried a harness once with Kito.  Scared the daylights outta me and Kito and we never tried it again.  I bet Squigg or Chico would do well.  You did make some good accomplishments so be proud! party

[Debz]

success indeed! good job! how did the other 2  react to the commotion?

[wishforabird]

aw, this is WONDERFUL news!! the first time is the hardest, you did so good~~ he will remember the harness is OUTSIDE TIME and will likely cooperate even if he doesn't "like" the harness... did he have a serious nap after?? so much stimulation they usually konk out, LOL.. I hope you go out again SOON, I want to hear how it goes :) 

MOM BROWNIE POINTS!!! ********

[Sondra]

Fantastic job!!     
As Wishy stated, as soon as he realizes to associate the harness with going out he'll be more accepting of it. May I suggest that you put him on a hard flat surface to put the harness on & take it off, somewhere where he can't grab onto anythng as it will go faster and smoother for both of you. Open the loop ALL the way to put wings in and take wings out, he'll be beaky about it but it's easier on them if you do it. I bet you will find him putting his head into the head part by himself to take it off. So funny to see them duck their beak into that loop to "help" you take off the harness.

[BuffaloParrot]

 

[steptoe91(tozie)]

yup! day two!! it went much much smoother! i got home from work, 8 1/2 hours of running back and forth, around the store, on my feet, the whooooole time. and put the groceries in the fridge. let marley out. put ollie on his perch. let twiggy out. skittles was on his totem pole watching all this calmly. i put on a t-shirt. picked up the harness and asked skittles "ya wanna go outside?" he kinda perked up, looked at me like "i'm not sure i heard you right. could you repeat that???" so i said, "c'mon if ya want we'll go outside." he says "bye bye??" i said "yup. ya gotta put on your harness." now i've found its much easier for me to do it with him in my lap. so i get it set, put him in my lap, and it goes on quite well. yesterday putting it on wasnt the really hard part, tho. so we went out. we walked around the block (cause i havent walked enough today!    ), met a family walking home from the store. a couple small children and young mom and dad. the kids were just tickled pink when they said hello to skittles and he said hello back.    talked to one of the neighbors, skittles loves to talk to new people. it just excites him to death to meet new people.... as long as they dont get into his "personal bubble."  he wasnt ready to go in yet so we walked around another block. met some children out riding their bikes. one was a bratt, i had to tell her 3 times to stay back cause he bites very very hard. but all and all, it was a nice little outing. skittles enjoyed it alot. he didnt try to chew on the harness as often. he's getting used to it. then it was time to take off the harness...     :couch:  so i get him in my lap, loosen the harness completely, pull the extra loop over and he's still patently standing on my lap. so i get his first wing out. and he must've thought i was done and tried to get on my shoulder. i told him, "not yet. almost done." and got his other wing out. now for the head hole... this was the hardest part last nite. as a bit of background, skittles and i often play with a towel and cover his face and growl. so i put the towel over his face, and when i pulled the towel off, i pulled the harness over. it worked like a charm! and he dipped his head to "help" get it off, too! very smooth, no new cuts, briuses, or crushed bones! we'll do this again tomorrow. maybe even go for a ride in the car.
deb, the other birds pretty much ignored the commotion... i think. honestly, my attention was pretty well focused on skittles so i cant really be positive, but they didnt do anything that got my attention off skittles.
wishy, he immediately went to his bowl for a refreshing snack. yesterday didnt end as smooth so he went up to his swing, i think he was pouting. i finally had to tell him several times "its okay, momma's not mad at you." before he'd come down and sit with me for a few mins. i guess he thought i was mad cause he bit me a few times.

[Mi Amore]

good job.. sounds like things are good well .. i will be working with my fids and the aviator soon myself hope i am as lucky as u are!

[steptoe91(tozie)]

make sure you follow the video. it really does make a big difference. i even practiced on a suffed parrot... and my ears. lol! and take it really really slow.

[Sondra]

Great job!! So now whatcha gonna do when he expects this everyday? And what about when it rains? I can see you and him outside in the rain! 

I take Powder out when it's a nice warm, gentle rain, he likes it and spreads his wings and showers on my arm. LOL!!

[wishforabird]

AWESOME!!! 


the video really DOES make a difference, the guy is really nice.  we excahnged a few emails about the harness, this really is his pet project.. he is a serious bird lover. I am SO glad it is going well, I bet it gets better every time!