Training Update 01/10/2009

I plan on using this blog to track training so here's what happened since yesterday.

With one more session Marnie has learned to turn around to a verbal cue "Marnie Turn". She is still offering it without the cue, but I am not rewarding her for it unless it is done after the cue.

Since she's so interested in learning now we have done one session on learning "Wave".
I started by putting a single finger out as if to ask for a step up and giving the cue "Marnie Wave". She started by lifting her foot to touch it to my finger which I bridged "Good bird" and reinforced her with some pecan. After a couple of repetitions she was quickly moving her foot to touch my finger as soon as I gave the cue. The next approximation was to move my finger an inch higher. She quickly targeted her foot to my finger, so I moved my finger up to her eye level. Again, she quickly targeted her foot to my finger. So for the next approximation I moved my finger slightly away from her head so that she could not reach it with her foot and again gave the cue "Marnie Wave". This time it took a few hesitant lifts before she lifted her foot to her wing level and slightly dropped and raised it again. For this I gave her a jackpot, as she had lifted her foot high, without touching it to my finger and had moved it up and down slightly. I asked for one more repetition which she repeated the last approximation before she started rubbing her beak.
Because I wanted to end on a positive before she got full, I ended the session there.