Harness training
Harness training is a rewarding exercise. It brings new freedom to your relationship and allows your Eckie to travel with you on many adventures outside the home.
Many of our Parrot Haven Eckies are harnessed trained. Our clients love to share stories of their latest outings. For example, Shell takes her boy, Wally, everywhere. Wally is terribly spoilt. He goes camping most weekends, is a regular at farming expos and adores four-wheel driving. He recently went caving for the first time. Shell said he was enthralled by the stalactites and loved it when they turned the lights out. Their fellow cavers were delighted when Wally wolf-whistled in the dark. His next adventure takes him on the high seas, as Wally has been invited on board a friend’s yacht. I’m sure he will enjoy himself thoroughly.
The benefits of harness training
Harnessing your Eckie enables you to leave them fully flighted. This means that you don’t have to clip their wings. They are able to maintain a good flying regime, thereby staying fit and healthy.
If your Eckie takes flight while harnessed, you have the security of knowing they are safely tethered. If another animal surprises your Eckie, you can maintain a gentle firmness on the tether. If they fly off in surprise, they are at no risk of injury because the tether will gently reign them in.
Harnessing your Eckie means you don’t have to worry about a large gust of wind accidentally catching your Eckies wings and giving them lift. A clipped parrot can fly a remarkable distance in a strong wind.
Slow and steady
Harness training takes time patience so don’t rush your Eckie. Never attempt to put the harness on, hoping they will get used to it. This will only terrify them, create mistrust and fear of the harness and potentially leave you bloody and bruised.
This is a small excerpt from our book: The Ultimate Guide to Eclectus Parrots. This chapter provides step by step instructions on how to safely and gently harness train your Eclectus. Our technique has been used by many Eclectus owners and it works!
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Hi I’m Jayda I love my Parrot Leo he’s an African Grey, but he is the most badly trained bird I have ever seen infact he hasn’t even been trained at all. The person who owned him befour had no idea how to train a bird,all he had ever taught him to do was fly and talk. When the previous owner had a fight and split with his girlfriend Leo, was so lonely he started to pull out all his featheres especially his beautiful Red tail featheres.Physical communication seems to be a problem also training,petting,stepping up,flying on command, basic training,potty training and he won’t accept treats out of the cage.We give him them he spits it out, so it is practically impossible to train my bird.And when I got your harness I added to the list.Maybye you could send me emails telling me how to basic train my bird Maybye how to get him used to treats out of the cage videos if you had any courses or DVD’s we could sort out shipping and I will try my best to tame my birs even though he’s a terrified adult grey
Hi Jayda,
I’m so sorry to hear about that. The best training DVD’s that I recommend to all of my clients are the ones that Barbara Heidenreich has produced. (http://www.goodbirdinc.com) She is the ultimate in avian behavioural training and she has helped so many people. Check out her website when you get a chance. And if you like you can always join a forum for additional tips and tricks. I hope this helps and I sincerely apologise for the delay in my response – I deal with a lot of spam comments 😉