Answer

You're right that birds are unique when it comes to what they respond to in training. Dominance with them is threatening and instead of having a nicer bird you'd have a fearful one. A fearful bird is loud and bites. In nature they often use their calls or shrieks to frighten away predators they see (and it works!) - an insecure bird gains security by biting in order to exercise some control over their environment. They can effectively make humans and other animals leave their space when they bite.

Paulie knows that his beeping gets a certain reaction, or even a variety of reactions and he's counting on it. To a bird, any attention is good attention.

You were on the right track in ignoring him or putting him in a time out. The only way these efforts really work though is if you monitor the amount of time. More than 5 minutes is a wasted effort - the bird may forget why they're in the time out and that's not good.

You're also right that Paulie will be an attention hound non stop if he could be. - for a parrot there's rarely any such thing as too much attention. His beeping gets that. To be honest, stopping this isn't going to be easy or quick, but given that Paulie should live into his 60's, he's got nothing but time. The question is whether you have the patience.

Consistently doing the exact opposite of what he wants when he beeps can help discourage him, but you need to pick a non-reinforcement and stick with it. If you're going to walk away or leave the room - do it every time, no matter what.

If you're going to move Paulie out of the room, do so calmly and without expression or any comments. Don't look at him, don't change your facial expression, move with purpose.

And remember, no longer than about 5 minutes - from the time he stops beeping that is.

Covering him in the cage he's in might also work. Make it an opaque cover that blocks light so he's not getting tempted by seeing shadows moving around.

Again - once he stops beeping - remove the cover, lavish on the praise and offer a treat.

When it comes to his preference for certain people - it makes perfect sense that he's more comfortable around someone who has had 'a few'. This relaxes the person and inhibits many facial expressions. Birds see thousands of combinations of facial movements that we aren't aware of at all. It's these subtle little things that we're conveying that make them uncomfortable around certain people. The ones he bites are somehow telegraphing doubts, fears, etc. and the bird gets that.

When it comes to petting, I've found that very few birds, no matter what kind they are or how they were raised, actually "like" it. A hand coming in from over their eye level is too much like a predatory move that all their instincts tell them to avoid or stop.

"Petting" is more acceptable in the form of scritches to the back of the neck, approached from under the eye level and slowly coming up - perhaps touching the feet, legs and wing first.


You're really on the right path with him - you just have to pick a lane and stick with it.


Most importantly, continue to be patient. You're doing a very fine job


You can find even more tips for 'screaming and biting' modification here

4AnimalCare


Good luck and keep it up!