Are agps very easy to train, like, do you know if you can train them to know where to go and where not to go, and things like that?
The AGP was more or less housebroken when we got her. She's not real reliable, but she will generally indicate when she needs to "go Poopie" by walking over to her T perch or leaning towards it... if we're paying attention, we'll give her a lift. (She squats a bit and waggles her tail before she goes, but by the time you see her doing that, it's too late to move her!) Otherwise, we put her on her perch every half hour or so and tell her to "go Poopie" and she does!
I have read of people teaching their birds to, for example, stay on their playstands and not climb down, but my understanding generally is that you can't teach a bird that certain areas of a house are off-limits. My experience with the AGP, who is as independent as a hog on ice, indicate that a Grey's going to go where s/he wants to. The key, therefore, is to make areas the bird can get to bird-safe: You can't count on teaching a parrot to leave certain plants or the electrical cords alone, or to stay out of the kitchen or bathroom.
Alex is probably the best example of a Grey's trainability, but then, he was an exceptional bird.
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My experience is that Greys are like kids. :-) As you say they're independent and will do what they want - Bruno routinely climbs down the stairs from my office and comes into the living room to look for me, despite my best efforts to get him to learn that his cage is where he should stay unless I bring him with me somewhere. However, if you model good behavior for them, and make sure they know the boundaries, they'll behave reasonably well while continually testing you. Just like kids.
ReplyDeleteGreys are also extremely clever and have good intellect, and this makes them trainable. The "model rival training" (google that phrase) that worked so well for Alex will work for your Grey. It's worked for ours. :-) Do note, though, that the level of training depends entirely on how much time and consistency you put into it.