BlueHairBob's blog

Last night, we had a great time with him starting to eat gently from my hand and sitting with me in my chair and all of a sudden this morning at breakfast we hear, "What does the kitty say?  MEOW!"  When we tested it by replying "Kilo, what does the kitty say?" he replied, "BOW WOW!"

Melinda Johnson said the most incredible thing; I didn't believe it at first.  She said, "Bob, I don't have any scars from being bit by parrots." 

I have read several books on positive reinforcement training, but I had not read "Don't Shoot the Dog" before - and I was surprised when I did!  First, the book is great!  And, second, it isn't about dogs!

One day I put out my hand for him to step up - since he appeared to want me to - and he bit my finger!  I looked at my hurting finger and immediately remembered the words of Bruce Lee, "It is like a finger pointing to the moon - don't look at the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!" 

When I first got Coco, I was just a little afraid that even though I believe that just about any parrot can be tamed with abundant positive reinforcement that I might not be able to pull it off - but we have.