Welcome to Bird Life's Parrot Training Page!

1.Start Simple
Don’t get carried away straight away. Parakeets are intelligent, but you shouldn’t expect them to be able to put together complex sequences of actions on your command. Start with something basic like stepping onto your finger. This is a practical trick to teach and one that you can use every day. It is also a relatively easy trick to teach compared to some of the more challenging ones.

2.Praise and Reward
Parakeets respond to positive reinforcement. Use treats to encourage the movement you want and when your feathered friend listens and successfully performs the desired action, give it one of its favorite treats and offer plenty of praise. Keep offering these positive reactions and, eventually, your parakeet will understand what you want and will be inclined to repeat the process on request.

3.Take It Slowly
Don’t expect too much, too soon. You might be able to teach your bird a new trick in a few days. Or it could take several weeks. Parakeets all learn at different rates, and you won’t know how quickly yours learns until you start training. Try and ensure that you get one trick down before moving on to the next one, to avoid confusion and to increase the chances of both tricks being successfully taught.

4.Turn It into a Game
Spending time with your parakeet should be an enjoyable experience for both of you. It will help build a strong bond between you and it will make learning easier and more successful. Don’t stress out if your bird isn’t picking up a new trick in the first few days and try making training as fun as possible. Use your parakeet’s favorite toys, offer its favorite treats as rewards, and find other ways to make training as engaging and enjoyable as possible.

5.Be Consistent
Be consistent with the commands you use and the training techniques you employ. If you keep changing commands or using different words every time you train your bird, it won’t know what to respond to and won’t know what you expect of it. You can also try training your bird at a similar time every day. Getting into a habit will help both of you and increase the chances of success.

6.Repeat
It will take multiple repetitions of a single command and the associated action to teach your parakeet a new command. Therefore, you need to repeat the training exercise. Try training a command a few minutes a day for a few days and, eventually, you should be able to have your parakeet do what you want just by saying the word.

7.Make It a Daily Practice
As well as being consistent with your methods, you should be consistent with the time you dedicate to training. Start with 5-minute training sessions and keep the practice up every day. There will be times when you won’t be able to train every day. Other commitments get in the way and there may be some days when either you or your bird don’t feel it. If you do miss a day, it won’t set the training back. Just get back on it the next day.

The 6 Basic Tricks to Teach
There are many things you can teach a parakeet, but it is best to start with the basics. This helps you master the training technique, and it also helps your parakeet understand what is expected of it. Some of the basic commands you can teach include:

1.Step Up
This is the first trick that a lot of owners teach their birds. It has the bird step up onto your finger and it is a good way to get your parakeet out of and back into the cage. It can also be useful in other circumstances. Start by holding your finger under your bird’s belly and say, “Step up” or just “Up”. Push your finger gently against the bird’s belly, which should encourage it to naturally hop onto your finger. Offer praise and give a reward when the bird successfully completes the step up. If your parakeet isn’t comfortable getting on your finger, you can start with a perch and move on to the finger later.

2.Wave
Hold a small treat in your hand and just out of reach of your bird. Say “wave” and keep the treat where it is. When the bird takes the treat in its hand, praise and reward.

3.Spin
Hold a treat to the side of your bird. When it starts to turn to get the treat, say “spin” and then keep moving the treat so that the parakeet performs a full turn. When it completes on full turn, praise and reward.

4.Touch
Have your bird touch a target or object by holding that object in front of your bird and saying touch. When the bird touches the object, praise and reward.

5.Play Dead
This can be a little trickier than the tricks you’ve already learned, and it does require a lot of trust between you and your bird. Lay your bird gently on its back and say dead or play dead. When they lay still on their back, praise and reward.

6.Fetch
Hold an object, such as a small bell, in front of your bird and say fetch. When they grab the item, offer praise and give a reward.