Behavior Training

[Mamma Soke]

Ok, so I've got this pigeon (Pugsley), he's 7-8 weeks now I guess. We've been sucked in and will keep him as a pet, everybody knows the drill...

How do you train a pigeon?

I dont want to make him do tricks but simple things like "dont land on the couch" type stuff. Potty training is (from what I understand) physically impossible, but how do we teach him its not proper or acceptable to land on someone's head. Shoulder is legal but the head is off limits? Teach him not to peck at the eyes when standing on someone's shoulder. I know better than to try to keep him off the jewelery, I've just stopped wearing that because I imagine it would be asking too much to demand he leave the shiney sparkley's alone. I can do a dog and a cat but a bird? This is new... All the pigeon training hits I'm getting in google are related to training your bird dog or using pigeons in behaviorial studies at University Studies instead of rats...

Any help/suggestions are appreciated!

Thank you!
Ma

[PigeonFinder]

Originally posted by Mamma Soke:
How do you train a pigeon?

Does your bird like treats? There's nothing like reenforcing good behavior with treats. Set aside some time each day for training. Every time your bird lands on your shoulder, praise him and give him a treat. If he lands on your head, give him a firm no, then put him on your shoulder and give him a treat. I've also heard that clicker training can be used with birds. There are webpages devoted to clicker training, which is usually used for dogs, but it can be applied to birds as well.

That said, I've tried training my pigeon, but he's not very treat motivated. If I offer him some crushed peanuts or other such food, he just starts cooing at it and does his tail-dragging mating dance (he's almost a year old, and very much in the throes of puberty ). If your bird is like mine, maybe someone else has some suggestions?

Eden

[maryco]

I don't know how to train a pigeon but my Tooty never pooped on
the couches..We bought new ones and my mom said no way is he going on
them.
After awhile she let him on the couches and even when he wanted to
poop he would go to the edge and poop onto the floor or carpet (For
me that was smart enough!)..
I used to wear a necklace that my great aunt bought me but once Tooty
snuggled up to my neck and wanted to hug me and his whole neck got
twisted into the necklace, he almost died!
My sister was there and I simply could not get him out as he was
stuck to the necklace that I was wearing and if I moved it would
tighten...My sister got if off from the back and he was out :0
From then on I never wore a necklace again.
Eyeballs? Mom and one of my sisters got poked afew times...As for me,
yes I did get poked too once..Tooty was angry that I was not paying
attention to HIM so he by mistake poked me(He felt bad though) It
really hurts and I went the whole day with a blurry eye.

I like the reward idea, I seemed to be able to train the 2 ferals that I have here and am caring for them until I release them.
They escape from their cages but now if Sporty escapes I just point to the cage and he goes back in

Stink-o will go in her cage also when I put it on the dresser.
Even afew days ago, I sat in the room watching them and then let Sporty out, he just sat on top of the cage and then I said "Come here, food for you!!!" and he opened and closed his mouth(Kind of like when you lick your lips when thinking about food) ... Then he looked onto the floor but no food.
So I took some food and said it again, this time I put food onto the floor and waved my hands back and fourth like I am scattering seed.. He looked down and again opened and closed his mouth and wanted to fly down but was still afraid of me!
He remembers when he was a young pigeon who used to come to the balcony and I would say the same thing and scatter food(How smart!!)

All my pigeons in the flock know when I say food they come running..it's amazing!

[AZWhitefeather]

Good afternoon Ma,
Sounds like things are progressing normally. lol.
I never had Whitefeather peck at our eyes, that would have been a big no! no!.
I agree with the 'treat' method as well. Just be sure to have them available.
As far as the furniture, pigeons are a lot like children, they have to be told or shown what they can & can't get on.
I had a parakeet for 11 yrs. & she would go back to her cage to 'poop', most of the time anyway. That will probably be your biggest challenge.
Keep us posted.
Cindy