Last night, I did my first educational program with my young Green-Wing Macaw, Gracie. We did 3 twenty minute presentations - 4 to 5 year olds, 6 to 9 year olds, and 10 to 12 year olds. They loved it; Grace put up with it, I survived it.
I planned it out pretty good I thought - I built a cabana-type thing out of a beach umbrella with a floor-length curtain sewed half way around it. I could stand behind the curtain while the audience filed in and Grace and I would be out of sight. When it came time to start, I would just rotate the umbrella and the curtain would move to the back and act as a backdrop. I built a nice colorful T-Stand and hung some custom-made parrot toys from it so that Grace would have something to keep her busy. I put down a nice, light-weight drop cloth to catch any mess. My enviroment was set. I was managing the distractions. I had an attractive presentation stage. I had provided things to keep Grace occupied and comfortable.
I spent the weekend training - I had to teach Grace that the T-Stand was safe and fun to be on. I had to convince her that the umbrella wasn't going to try to eat her. I had to show her that the curtain wasn't going to swallow her. We worked slowly - and it all went well. We got to where she was playing happily on the stand underneath the cabana.
Next came the set-up planning. I had 10 minutes from the time the opening ceremony finished at 6:30 until the first group re-entered the hall at 6:40. I had to get everything, including Grace from my car to the stage and all set up in 6 minutes and then have 4 minutes to settle. I enlisted the help of my brother, worked over the details of the setup, and got ready to go. I carefully packed my equipment bag with treats, paper towels, wet naps, target sticks, clickers, and more treats. I checked and double checked.
Ok, bam, 6:30pm - go! Drop cloth - umbrella stand - umbrella - attach curtain - T-stand - adjust toys - treat bag on belt - get Grace from car - everything perfcect so far...
... put Grace on T-stand - and this is where all of the planning falls to the ground. Grace grabs hold of my shoulder, climbs up, and won't budge - for anything. Not for a big nut, not for the traget stick, not for anything. Nothing. Oh well, we will just do the first group with her on my shoulder I guess.
Actually, we did all of the sessions with her on my shoulder - being on my shoulder was more reinforcing than being anywhere else right them. I took questions from the audience.
"Can you make her come down?"
"Well, I might be able to, but I won't unless it is too dangerous. If I try to make her do what I want instead of giving her a choice, it will damage our relationship and make it harder for her to trust me in the future. As long as everything is safe enough, I will let her stay where she is."
"Can you make her talk?"
"No, I can't make her talk. When she does talk, I try to make it really fun so that she will talk more often."
"Can you make her do a trick?"
"No, but I will ask her to do a trick and we will see if she wants to - if she does, she will get this big nut."
It really went ok. They loved it. The adults loved it. I did a lot of things right. I learned a lot.
I need to work on a behavior until it is rock-solid. I need to have the stepping off from my shoulder rock-solid. And, in addition to studying with the best animal trainners I can find, I need to go study with someone who does wild-animal shows.
"Good night everybody! Thanks for coming! Gracie and I will be here though the end of April - tell your friends! And don't forget to buy one of our T-Shirts on the way out. We love you!"
