How Do I Teach My Parrot to Step Down

Question: How Do I Teach My Parrot to Step Down

Answer: General Tips

• Practice in short, frequent sessions
• Use lots of positive reinforcement; never hit or scream at your bird.
• Always end your training session on a positive note -- if your bird is struggling wait for a successful try, reward your bird lavishly, and move on to something else.
• Once your bird has some practice, have all members of the family practice "step up" with your bird.
• Once your bird has mastered the step up skill, practicing the step up in a relaxed and fun way is an excellent way to give lots of positive attention to your bird.

How to Teach Your Parrot to Step Down

1. Choose your command. As with stepping up, the actual word or phrase doesn’t matter, as long as you are consistent (e.g. “step down,” “down,” “off” etc.).
2. Hold your bird slightly below the level of the surface or perch you want him or her to go to, and give the command. Birds naturally want to climb to a higher surface.
3. If your bird tries to climb up your arm instead, use your free hand to intercept your bird, giving the step up command as you do this. Then, go back to the step down command and try again.
4. Once successful give lots of praise. Treats are particularly helpful for training this skill as your bird may be quite reluctant to get down if it signals the end of playtime. Reserving a special treat for the end of playtime may be helpful in training and maintaining the step down skill.

Once your bird has practiced a bit, get all family members involved in training, or your bird may only cooperate with the person who does most of the training. Remember, the key to success is to keep the training fun and positive.