Harness Training | Training Tutorial

[@theparrotsvoice6143]

You should truly win an award for this video! Thank you for showing the absolute right way to harness train a bird. Harness training takes time and patience and many repetitions as you have so beautifully demonstrated. There are too many videos on KZbin with people manhandling their birds and forcing on the harness. This video will save a lot of birds from feeling stressed and traumatized. And those who love their birds will be less stressed too!

[@lorencronin6231]

THANK YOU for the tip about rewarding outside the harness and establishing that positive reinforcement with the harness and not the treat lure. You hit the nail on the head with getting stuck at the point where my bird will put her head though and then immediately yank her head out. I understand why now! Time to start over from square one.

[@heatherhoward8462]

There is so much good advice here! I see now I've been making all sorts of mistakes and misinterpreting my tiel's behaviour. We've been consistently harness training daily for almost two years now with barely anything to show for it. I thought I just needed to be patient. Now I see that her willingness to put her head through the loop wasn't because she was comfortable with that step, but because I was baiting her with treats. I can't believe I misunderstood that, it seems so obvious now. I must have been stressing her out so much the poor thing. Back to square one we go. Thank you for this excellent tutorial, I'll be sure to keep referencing it.

[@FlockTalk]

❤️ body language can be so hard to interpret sometimes!! I really hope these new tips help you make some new progress!

[@lenaspannknebel713]

It's really cute how excited Newt seems to do training

[@BirdNerdSophie]

This is a great training tutorial! Most of the harness training videos on KZbin are people just forcing their birds in to it and saying 'ta-da'! Nice work! 🦜

[@DukemBurd]

By far the best guide i've seen! Harness training is a difficult and lengthy process (which I an struggling with) so I appreciate you going so in depth into the process. tysm

[@kashmirichai123]

most thorough harness trainign video ive seen, thank u so much!

[@FlockTalk]

🫶

[@kackmalwieder]

I decided to use a journal to record progress. It helps me to stay patient and remember timeframes of certain steps.

[@yamunadevi68]

Such a great video, you explain the process so well along with excellent footage of newt being harness trained. So much information in there. Thanks for taking the time to share this long process. ❤

[@opalsbeaknplay]

Thank you very much for the tutorial. Very detailed explanation. My BFA is eight years old. I bought my harness for him when he was little. I put him on his harness once. After the first time experience he hate the harness. So never use it again. I think i can bring him out on next summer. ❤

[@nightmarecreature4489]

omg i bought my tiel a harness last year and it also took me 8 months to train her! currently im waiting for the temperature here to go up so i can take her outside for the first time :) but until then we're still practicing every day and also do recall training in the harness indoors!

[@globalcitizen5310]

The best video on harness training. Excellent!!

[@gpotokar3636]

This video is so amazing! I've already made so much more progress because of it, thank you so much! Any tips for getting them to go through the loop without a target stick? Im having a hard time moving past that step

[@lorencronin6231]

I have been using these techniques with my GCC for the past 10 days and have seen HUGE improvements already. So excited and really feel like we are on the right track this time. Question @flock-talk - at one point in your video you transition to using the head loop and start pinching the loop from top and bottom. How did you make the transition from having your bird touch the target stick and holding the harness with one hand to holding the harness with two hands and not using the target stick anymore?

[@FlockTalk]

That’s so great! You gradually phase the target stick out first- I usually start to hide the stick more behind my hand until the stick is no longer visible as the first step. Then I transition to presenting the harness first and the target hand second, over time they anticipate the targeting hand following the presentation of the harness and will start to put their head in before the target hand has shown up!

[@lorencronin6231]

@@FlockTalk thanks so much for the reply!

[@lorencronin6231]

We are about to start work on duration! 🎉 I’m so excited with her progress.

[@FlockTalk]

🙌 so excited for you!!!

[@lorencronin6231]

I’m struggling a little bit with transitioning from using two hands to widen the head loop to using one hand. She will consistently put her head through when I’m using two hands to widen it. Trying to do it one handed so I can ask for duration is a little iffy right now. Sometimes she goes through but more often she tries to go through the wider wing loop to the side.

[@kate_is_great]

So glad you are back on KZbin. I've learned so much from you. Do you buy any chance do professional training consultations for birds?

[@FlockTalk]

I don’t since I’m not certified in parrot behaviour but I’m more than willing to answer most behaviour questions through Tumblr or Instagram DMs!

[@kate_is_great]

@@FlockTalk thank you. 🙂❤️

[@kackmalwieder]

great tutorial. Best I have seen so far. I have to adjust it somehow to a tutorial of wearing diapers. Its for a dove. Could not find any good tutorial about it. Also great you have mentioned it took you 10 months and I would call you an experienced bird trainer... Many thanks. Its definitely incouraging. I noticed there is at least as much to learn for us as for the birds during training.

[@heathersault5006]

This is fantastic, I've been working on training my 66gram gcc and she's doing really well so far, but I'm using size petite as recommended, it's a struggle over her head, I see you're using xs size, it seems so much easier over the head 🤔

[@lubowei1489]

Amazing guide, thanks a lot❤

[@hexane8]

You need better SEO for these excellent videos, it took forever to find you again! Thanks for the excellent fid vids

[@Denuhm]

Extremely helpful video thank you so much

[@Keish03]

As usual, great tutorial 😊

[@FlockTalk]

Thank you ❤️

[@claudiapawlak3971]

Was looking forward to this video! Is your parrotlet harness trained? I have the smallest Aviator harness for my lovebird and wow, that head hole is TINY! Was there anything different you did with your parrotlet + a smaller harness?

[@FlockTalk]

She is but I don’t use it for her, I find that the harness is still to heavy and doesn’t quite fit right on Mia so I don’t harness her. The training process was very much the same although she learned it many years ago when I had less behavioural knowledge so I made some of the luring and continuous feeding mistakes I mention in the video!

[@ChoiAdruati]

Ahh! Same here! I've beem attempting to get my love ird train for years now but no luck! I've beem doing the whole treat in front of the hole etc so no progress! And it's quite hard to find videos for lovebirds size harness training! Excited for both of us!!

[@FlockTalk]

I hope the rest of your training goes well!!

[@jodibernard8275]

Thank you for this awesome video!

[@Goople77]

Thank you so much! Will this work the same way for lovebirds? Lovebirds tend to be moving a lot and have shorter attention spans so they don’t stay still for long 🥲❤

[@FlockTalk]

Yep it’ll work just the same. You may spend more time at the beginning stages teaching stillness but the process is the same

[@staceysflock]

Love this video, thank you so much!

[@rajatcn]

I NEEDED this! Thank you, now I know all the little things I did wrong when I tried to teach Mango - I'll start again soon :) If you don't mind answering - 1. Was this video a recreation of harness training or was Newt actually harness trained for the first time during these sessions? 2. Just to get some idea, how many days/sessions did it take you? Thanks again!

[@FlockTalk]

❤️ newt was being harness trained for the first time (I aim to make all my tutorials this way so everyone can get a true visual of their body language throughout the process) I truthfully don’t know how many sessions it was, it was 8 months with one session a day minimum, occasionally I’d take a day off or take a short break so it was probably around 200 sessions, 5-10 minutes each!

[@rajatcn]

@@FlockTalk Wow thank you so much for the quick reply! Honestly, Newt's body language clearly seemed like he got accustomed to the harness as the sessions went on, but the reason I asked is because I believe I've seen your past video with you out with your birds (though I could be wrong) Also, 8 months? Respect to your legendary patience! No wonder Mango wasn't harness trained in 8 days with me going "c'mon boy chop-chop!" lol jk

[@FlockTalk]

I had taken Zeeby and Mia out in harness before! Newt would only go out in a carrier ☺️ he definitely adjusted to the harness pretty quickly and that’s all to do with how it was introduced, if you work under their fear thresholds then they’ll be making plenty of positive associations which results in them really having no reason to be uncomfortable with the harness training process! It’s a load of work but definitely worth it!

[@rajatcn]

@@FlockTalk I KNEW I wasn't talking outta my butt when I said I remembered it lol, but thank you for clarifying. Just one last question before I stop bugging you anymore - every time I try to get Mango used to the harness by bringing it within reach, he just wants to chew on it - what should I do about that?

[@FlockTalk]

Depends on how he’s chewing it, if it’s like he’s lunging and really chomping down on it this could be fear based so you may want to present it further away. If it’s light and calm chewing then this is generally exploration- how a bird would examine something to determine if it’s safe. I allow the gentle chewing - newt didn’t do any damage to it with these chews - so the bird can gain information about the harness and feel safe. (This is where having a knockoff or a DIY harness may help; even just getting some ribbon of a similar texture and colour to explore could help them generalize safety to the harness)

[@mytrinitylifeonearth9339]

Can u tell me what size of harness I need for turquoise yellow side conure please?

[@lovehealingreiki]

I LOVE this! and wish you would have done it sooner. as I was SOOO doing it Wrong.....I have an aviator harness but my head loop is not as loose as yours seems to be. I have a little Pineapple Green cheek I have to use 2 of my hands to help her get out of it. Supposedly it was the correct size (petite). Anyway, question NOW that I'm seeing how I should actually train her Do you think it would be possible to re-train? She'll put her head through the loop but then she wants it off to get a treat..... and then sometimes she'll try biting me ( I know NOT good). Any advice would be awesome!!!! THANK YOU for and OUTSTANDING video!!!

[@FlockTalk]

I also have to use both hands to remove it, the scenes where I’m using one hand I’m using a larger harness to further help the transition to the proper sized hole! The proper sizing should be quite tight to ensure the harness is escape-proof. You can absolutely start over, I would ensure to break everything down from the beginning in to very small steps so you can re-shape the behaviours altogether instead of having them struggle to understand and mix the new and old methods together in their head.

[@lovehealingreiki]

@@FlockTalkI'll giveit a try! Thanks!!!! and Thanks for your AWESOME video! 💞💞💞

[@TrumpieTheBird]

I Have A Very Small Parrotlet Named Trumpie, And I've Been Wanting To Take Him Outside. Do you have any small leash that he can use, If you do then that will be a blessing. If you want to see how small he Is try checking 1 of my videos of him, I dont exactly know how small he Is.

[@lolwolf1344]

Have you tried out the EZ harness? I might just grab the aviator harness this seems “easier” to train not sure yet tho

[@FlockTalk]

No i haven’t! To me it looks like a lot of extra material, hardware which my birds would want to pick at, extra weight, and a lot of fiddling around which my fingers would definitely struggle with. Kinda gives a leather vest biker jacket vibe which is so funny and cute though 😂

[@Jessica-xt5qs]

This video is very helpful, but I have a Caique that becomes really distressed when I use treats, because she anticipates the treats (she's too darn smart) and it creates a bit of a difficult response in her. I have tried training at all different times (before, after partial and after eating) and I have tried all different treats. She only responds to seeds and coconut slivers, but then she gets squacky after the first treat is given, because she acts like she is begging for food, similar to baby behavior with squacking and wing flapping. I can't seem to get past this. Then she holds out on her food, because she wants the seeds. She does great with the first few steps of getting comfortable with the harness, but I can't seem to get through many of the sequences, because of this behavior.

[@FlockTalk]

If the bird is over a year old at this point it may be worth taking a step back to address this behaviour directly. You may want to have a session of just teaching her how to take treats where you offer snacks in exchange for calm and relaxed body language- ending the session if she becomes overstimulated or offers that baby begging behaviour. It can take quite a bit of time to alter their response to food but is definitely worth while to help them become more relaxed and stable! (Newt here used to get overstimulated and bite when food was offered in training! It is possible, just takes time!)

[@Jessica-xt5qs]

@@FlockTalk Thank you so much for the response! I have been randomly asking her to do a trick and at first that was working to catch her off guard, and she would take the treat nicely then I would have to stop, because she would become agitated after that first treat. Now, she's gotten even smarter, and when I ask her to do anything, she does the trick and then squacks even before she bites the treat, which feels like reinforcement of the behavior. Grrr. I can't win, lol. She is literally smart enough to know what is coming, so I had taken a little break from training, then tried again yesterday, nope. She got agitated and then didn't eat enough all day. She lost a few grams which I know she will gain back today, but she woke super upset, because she was hungry. It's a horrible cycle. She knows all the tricks too - spin, wave, step up, she is target trained and we were working on others. She is just 6 months old, maybe it's too soon?

[@FlockTalk]

@Jessica-xt5qs at 6 months I wouldn’t be too overwhelmingly worried about the behaviour, no it shouldn’t really be happening much anymore but they’re still very much baby brain so it’s not totally unheard of. Instead of asking for a trick then rewarding I would literally just hand her treats randomly throughout the day for her doing nothing. This way you’re working exclusively on reinforcing calm behaviours and not building up that anticipation where she’s expecting the treat following a trick!

[@Jessica-xt5qs]

@@FlockTalk Got it! I have done that a little bit too. Great, thanks for the tips! I appreciate you. 😘

[@kime6922]

Thanks for uploading this video! What size harness do you use for a Conure?

[@FlockTalk]

Newt wears the petite! Important to note that the harness we use at the beginning is a knockoff and a size larger to make learning the head hole easier, totally doable without the larger size but it can make the transition easier for some birds!

[@kime6922]

@@FlockTalk thank you 😊

[@ruthturner3425]

This video is so helpful!! Thank you for all your hard work, and thank you Newt for your hard work too! 🦜💚🥰

[@dustin10weering20]

Hi! I've got an aviator harness for my cockatiel, but the harness nilon band seems to flip around her and you can't undo the flip. Is it supposed to be like that?

[@FlockTalk]

The belly strap will rotate around the bird so that the bungee is oriented well while they’re flying and not causing tension at a funky angle that could impact flight but everything else should lay flat and snug against the bird! If anything else is askew I’d recommend emailing the aviator company with some pictures of the problem so they can assist you!

[@MadelineKokol]

This is a great video, I’m following it to the T, but I’ve been running into an issue with my green cheek and I need some help. He keeps attacking the harness. If I guide him through the loop with a target stick, he’s fine, everything is chill and he can do the rep, but in trying to phase out the target, I’ve been bringing it in a little later, and when the target stick is not immediately on the other side of the loop, the little guy goes nuts and just attacks the harness. As soon as I bring the target back in, he’s fine. I’ve tried going a few steps back and he does fine, but we keep getting stuck at this point. Any advice?

[@ПопугайЖориккитайскийкольчатый]

Спасибо, классный канал у вас❤

[@danyco5425]

Thank you for this incredible tutorial! My cockatiels respond well but keep biting the harness to play, should I discourage thia behavior and how? Because if they put the head on the loop they always bite the harness 🙄

[@lynnemurphy2424]

Greetings! Do you also recommend the Aviator Harness for a parrotlet?

[@FlockTalk]

I used it a handful of times with mine and found that the harness just wasn’t suited to her size very well. It was far too heavy for her to wear safely. I know others that have done it successfully but it just wasn’t the best for my parrotlet

[@lynnemurphy2424]

@@FlockTalk way back, I think like 8 years ago, you did a review of the mini wings parrotlet harness, any feelings on that for outdoor use? Thank you for your prior prompt response

[@mvanhavel]

What treat are you using? It is such a quick treat that I want to try it. 😊

[@FlockTalk]

I’m primarily using the smallest size of Harrison’s hot pepper pellets

[@mvanhavel]

Thank you!!!

[@KimDoNascimento]

What harness size do you use for your conure ? I have a crimson bellied conure and I would like to start harness training him.

[@FlockTalk]

Newts wears the petite!

[@bd_624]

Is that an X-small? It looks bigger than the petite. I got a petite for my green cheek but I feel like the recommended size for the hole to the harness is pretty small even though the petite is made for the green cheeks.

[@FlockTalk]

I start the training with an oversized harness and finish with the petite! The head hole has to be pretty tight in order for it to lay flat on their chest- a bigger head hole results in the fabric creating a little loop bend which would make it easy for them to sneak their head under and out! It definitely Feels like it’ll be too small but it does fit! I found it helpful to open the head hole over a water bottle cap for a bit to help hit hold open for training instead of being so stiff!

[@mrjayd]

are you using a clicker while training for this or just the stick and a treat? And how long do you train each day?

[@FlockTalk]

Ideally the clicker would be in hand as well but it can be quite the handful! If it’s too much to manage using a marker word like “yes!” Works just fine so long as your bird knows that word means treats are coming. I train according to the bird, if they don’t seem as in to it I cut the sessions short, if they’re really getting it and wanting more I’ll keep going. You want to end a session while they’re successful and having a good time. I usually go 5-10 minutes for challenging tasks like this

[@mrjayd]

@@FlockTalk thanks I have a 3 year old Hahn’s macaw that’s is very smart that I have taught quite a few tricks. He was totally scared of the harness when I brought it out but within 10 minutes he was nipping it and I had him putting his head through grabbing a treat. We quit on that high note. More tomorrow but I think he will be wearing this by summer. 😁btw, I am holding the clicker in my left hand with the harness and treating with my right hand. Thanks again for your great video.

[@alkaptenltrpetalasapher]

روعه ابداع ا

[@blue9946]

How do you teach your bird to enjoy being outside? Mine is terrified whenever I take him out in his carrier. I did this a chunk of times over the summer and he didn't ever seem to become desensitized and start enjoying it.

[@FlockTalk]

I can do a video on this when the weather is nice enough to start taking Newt out! Generally speaking you want to stay under their fear threshold, if they’re too scared they won’t be able to learn and make positive associations so I would start inside with the door open just watching things and gradually work closer to the door until you’re able to sit just outside of it calmly! Additionally thinks like natural shade/ blockages and a blanket over the top of the carrier may help them feel safer and less exposed

[@ALDEA2008]

❤❤

[@krystalannawilliams2653]

6:34 about he understands

[@Featherfriends04]

I don’t know what is my birds treat.. how would i know?

[@himis265]

Try peanut

[@Featherfriends04]

@@himis265 does cockatiel eats peanut ?

[@lunchbox179]

I wish you could do in person classes lol

[@MrSuperj1one]

This is hard