When I started my research prior to getting my first parrot I was told, "if you are really serious, read Companion Parrot Handbook by Sally Blanchard - it is the text book for companion parrots." So, I bought it right away and started reading. Unfortunately, I don't think it is the manual that I want to recommend.
I really hesitate to say anything negative about a book or product unless I really think it is bad - I don't think this is really bad, just not that great. Hey, I will probably run into the author some day and our relationship won't start out that great if I didn't like their book. I also know that none of us stay where we are - we grow and learn and change and an author my not still believe what they wrote by the time I read it. On the other hand, one reason that I read all of the books and watch all of the videos is because someone needs to do it and then make recommendations so that you have a chance to focus on the best ones.
Here's why I think this is not one of the best ones:
- It is too long. It is 244 pages of 8-1/2 x 11 paper formatted as one column. Visually it is hard to read. There are a lot cartoons and illustrations, but it is still too long. Even though it is broken up into chapters, each page reads like its own little article - the book looks like 200 short articles. The problem for me is that a lot of the articles repeat information from other articles - you end up reading the same information over and over ...and over and over. If the information were better organized and edited, I think it could have been a 6 x 9 size 150 page book or less and would have been much easier to read.
- The information is basically positive but still rooted in what I consider to be "old-school" animal training methods. The book talks about not using punishment (which is good) but still spends a lot of time talking about dominance and the need for the bird to obey your commands and the effectiveness of the "evil eye" in gaining compliance.
- The book does mention operant conditioning and clicker training - but in a negative context! It states that these methods can be effective for trick training but are not really the best way to develop a good relationship with your parrot. Well, what can I say? How could I recommend a book that specifically denigrates everything we have learned from professional animal trainers like Karen Pryor and Barbara Heidenreich and the others?
- One section of the book deals specifically with the tendency that some people have to try a little bit of everything - the author says that you need to choose an expert that you can respect and then quit ignoring some of what they say and mixing in a bunch of other teachers. I agree whole heartedly! I am going to stick with the operant conditioning and clicker training and learn as much as I can from those teachers.
- I enjoy an author who can tell me stories about their years training animals in zoos and wild animal parks as well as in homes and who have experience with a lot of different kinds of animals. This book is full of anecdotal stories from the author's years trying to figure out pet parrots - it isn't quite the same.
Overall, I would skip this one based on point 3 above and I would justify it with point 4. There are better, easier to read books in my opinion: books like Don't Shoot the Dog, Good Bird, Clicker Training for Birds, and the Parrot Problem Solver.
