TheAnimalBehaviorCenter.com - Thursday I showed a video of me trimming Sunshine's nails. Sunshine is a bird that currently does not like to be touched. I mentioned I would post this video today. This is Koko. Same behavior, different reinforcer. I often tell people, many times the only thing I have to use as a positive reinforcer (R+) with an animal, is food. As my work continues and I continue pairing myself with the positive, it's very common that I soon see the opportunity to be with me become one of the animal's positive reinforcers.
As of last Thursday, Koko has been with us here at the Center for three years. He was guestimated to be between 30 and 35 years old three years ago. He has lost his home at least a few times and as long as I am alive and healthy, he will live the rest of his life with me.
When I first met Koko, he was at a zoo and was labeled as 'unhandelable' and was not let out of his cage. My work with him began as soon as I met him. I began working off-contact with him. I began recall training him inside his cage. The more I worked with him, the more I fell in love with him. He was eager for the interaction and mental stimulation.
As I continued working with him, he began showing behaviors that I thought he might enjoy touch as a reinforcer. I began targeting his beak between the cage bars so I could safely open his cage and touch his head to see if a head rub could be a reinforcer. It worked and I was correct! As soon as I started rubbing his head, he would close his eyes and make a cooing noise. DRI, differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior: he couldn't bite me if his beak was targeted between the cage bars as I opened his cage and rubbed the back of his head. If I moved too fast and he removed his beak from the cage bar target, I would withdraw my hand. He learned that from one interaction and he no longer moved his head from the cage bar target.
We moved from off-contact training to protective-contact training through the cage bars. As he continued to learn through the training, we progressed together. Most of our interaction is now free-contact training.
Koko cannot fly. His wings no longer extend fully due to arthritis. If his nails aren't trimmed, they get caught on his cage bars and he will fall. This bird makes me smile, laugh, and he now owns a huge part of my heart. He loves to be touched, kissed, preened. All highly valued reinforcers.
In this video I am dremeling his nails, and the reinforcer? No pine nut or spoon of banana baby food is as valued as this reinforcer. Thank you for helping me do better, Koko. Another bird bounced from home to home through not knowing better. Let's all do better, our animals deserve it. Join us in The Parrot Project!
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