Peaceful mornings? Not so much

I have a Senegal named Sydney. He's a cute lil' buggah, when he's not throwing himself around the cage or screaming for attention. Ok.. so he doesn't do this 24/7, only when he first wakes up, or occasionally when we all move to another room during daylight hours. And I've come very close to slamming him.

His breeder sent me a great link on training parrots. This week I've been trying to spend at least 15 minutes in the morning and then in the afternoon on getting Sydney to understand "HALT". (I'm using "HALT" instead of "STAY" because the latter confuses Ollie.) Well, yesterday morning Sydney had other thoughts about his training, which eventually led me to locking him in his cage while I made my lunch, which led Sydney to start his screaming -- to which I immediately ducked behind the counter (out of sight out of mind). And lo' n' behold, the buggah silenced himself.

That day I started to think about whether I have the patience to work though this training and considered talking with the breeder about finding him a new home. But then I thought about having a child and the crying and it needing to be around me 24/7. If I am thinking of getting rid of a bird because I want 'my time' or peace and quiet, how the hell am i going to deal with a kid -- for whom i can't return -- when it begins one if its fits.

Therefore Sydney is staying. I'm turning the situation around from hopeless to character building. I'll find as many techniques as necessary to curb his screaming, as well as a few for me to keep my sanity. Some techniques I've already been trying include leaving the room when he starts screaming, ignoring the scream when we're in the same room, whistling to him from another room--so he knows i'm still around-- and hiding behind counters. Perhaps training him with vocal cues might also help. You know, "I'm going to work" "I'm back from work" "I'll be right back" etc. Stimulating his play time might also help--learning what toys gets him excited. I've discovered the wooden toy with the bell on it interests him.

We'll see how well we both progress in a couple of months.

If anyone has other suggestions, I'd be more than appreciative to hear them.