There are lots of articles out there about how to train your parrot. So what I’d like to do is show you how to make it fun. When you bring out that bag of treats your bird should dance with excitement and when you say “wanna train?” they should fairly leap onto your hand.

Here is the secret, be a cheerleader. Cheer, clap and croon to your bird when they’ve done even the easiest thing. Start small and make sure they succeed. I start with c’mere, holding the treat an inch away. When they touch the treat, click the clicker and cheer! “Good baby!” “Good boy!” or “Good Bird!”.

They call that loading the clicker. Associating the clicker with great stuff. Guess what? It also loads you. You become associated with treats, accomplishment and loud words of praise. Very cool, yes?

At first this may startle him, but keep it up. Keep it simple and remember the point of training is to improve your birds confidence and improve your relationship with your feathered friend.

Now for the tough love part. Ignore bad behavior. I know that’s tough to do. My Amazon screamed for 45 minutes at a time! I thought my hair would fall out. I had to just leave the room and wait it out. I’m happy to report that his normal vocalization (not screaming) sessions are now about 10 minutes perhaps twice a week.

Name what you are doing. If your bird talks, say it backwards. “I want food” as you feed them, is a good example. Now put it all together, when they ask instead of scream give them what they want. For a while, you will feel somewhat used as they take advantage of their new power. Keep rewarding good and ignoring the bad and soon it will even out. When you are finished, you will have a friend you will truly love.

The future happiness of you both depends on you being consistent, loving and staying the coarse. Hold that rudder steady and stick with it, I know you can.

Keep in mind, that it's likely that your bird will out live you. Make this a joyous and happy bird that will also be joy to the next generation. Leave an amazing legacy, I just know you can.