Book Review: Getting Started: Clicker Training For Birds

by Melinda Johnson

Sunshine Books , Inc. 2004
ISBN: 1-890948-15-2

 

This book is sold alone or as part of a clicker training kit which includes a demonstration CD, clicker and target. Three of our  birds, Bertie, a Moluccan Cockatoo, and Cockatiels, Sassy and Samantha were among the birds featured on the CD. That's why I chose to buy the kit and read the book. I had been a member of author, Melinda Johnson's Bird-Click list for over a year and I was anxious to learn more.

 

 

Although Melinda Johnson is only one in a long history of positive reinforcement trainers, her grounding in clicker training was based on the teaching and coaching of well-known experts in the field such as the Baileys, Karen Pryor and Wendy Jeffries. It was Melinda who recognized the need for parrot caregivers and proceeded to fill it by writing this book.

 

This is a "how to" book, one in a series of Karen Pryor's Clicker Books. The author is trying to teach parrot caregivers how and why clicker training works, the steps in training some easy parlor tricks and how to use clicker training skills to solve some common problem behaviors. The book is well written and easy to understand.

 

The first seven chapters explain how learning takes place and answers many of the common questions that arise during clicker training. The author describes how to find a treat to use as a reward or positive reinforcer. She covers how the clicker works and how to use it. And she explains the methods used in clicker training, like shaping and capturing. Chapters eight and nine teach actual behaviours like playing basketball and rolling over. Four chapters are dedicated to dealing with common behavior problems like biting and screaming. The last chapter lists the many resources available to the clicker trainer.

 

In conclusion, this is an easily understood and compact guide to clicker training. My only criticism of the book is its organization. It takes seven chapters or 79 pages before one starts actual clicker training. At the beginning of the book Melinda recommends reading the entire book before doing anything. However, I fear that a newbie to clicker training would have little incentive to continue reading without doing. Having learned how to clicker train from Melinda's Bird-Click list, I know that one can use and enjoy clicker training without knowing how people, warthogs and parrots learn. You can teach your parrot to retrieve without knowing that the sunflower seed you gave him is called a positive reinforcer. Personally, I enjoyed learning the scientific principles behind clicker training and look forward to training some of the behaviors for which Melinda provides instructions. At the same time, I suggest that, if you've never clicker trained before, start your reading with Chapter seven. And while you are working your way through that, start reading the book at page one.

 

Published in Good Bird Magazine Summer 2008

www.goodbirdinc.com