Do you really enjoy living with your parrot? Or does he bite
you and/or other family members, scream excessively, or pluck out feathers to the point
that he looks ready for the oven? Does he adore your husband and hate your guts, despite
the fact that you clean his cage and feed him lovely things? Is your family threatening to
move out if you don’t get rid of him? Is he wonderful when it is just the two
of you, but HORRIBLE when you have company – screaming and throwing food and
embarrassing you in front of friends? Is your landlord threatening to evict you? Do you
really love him but deep down inside, are you sorry you got him?
This sad situation is more common than you might think. A day
doesn’t go by that I don’t get a call from someone in any or all of the
situations described above. What is important to understand is that things don’t have
to stay this way. Parrots don’t know how to be a good pet unless someone like you
teaches them. Your parrot – even if born in captivity [domestic-raised] – is
genetically no different from his relatives that are still flying free in the rain forests
of the world. He may be domestic-bred, but he is not domesticated. Big
difference, there. Your parrot has absolutely no idea how to adapt to the environment of
your living room, unless you teach him how. To quote Sally Blanchard, a parrot that
has behavior problems is one that "has too much control of his life and no idea what
to do with it."
Teaching people how to teach their parrots how to behave is
what Liz Wilson does. Once people get a better understanding of what a parrot is, and is
not, they often find it a lot easier to deal with them. Parrots are not dogs with
feathers – they are parrots – and they can be nothing else. They are
extraordinarily intelligent creatures, often described as being on the same intelligence
level as a chimpanzee or dolphin – that of a five year-old child. Unfortunately for
us, they are also on the emotional level of two year-old children, so they can often be
quite a handful!
What is a consultation and what does it
entail?
A behavior consultation with Liz seeks to identify and change
the source or cause of a behavior problem in a companion parrot. There is nothing to be
gained by blaming anyone, but human behaviors often need to be changed before a
parrot’s misbehavior will change. Using her background in psychology and education,
Liz will make multiple suggestions as to how to deal with various problems that arise,
delivered with gentle tact and humor. She will then teach the human caretakers how to
train their parrots using Blanchard’s nurturing guidance training technique –
one that she finds extremely effective in non-aggressively training a parrot about manners
and controls and the bird’s rank within the human flock.
When Liz does a consultation with parrot people, she does
more than just talk about behavior. Time also needs to be spent dealing with management
issues such as hours of sleep, size and location of the cage, bathing opportunities and
nutrition. Due to her experience as an avian technician, she is especially concerned with
the diet a parrot eats. According to avian veterinarians, malnutrition is still (STILL!)
the underlying cause of about 80% of the medical problems seen in parrots in the U.S. So
she spends inordinate amounts of time with clients, discussing diet and various techniques
to use to teach a parrot how to eat a more nutritional diet. Diet can also have a direct
effect on a bird’s behavior – for example, high sugar intake [as in lots of
grapes, oranges and apples] can result in hyperactivity, just like some people think it
does with children. Since management is closely related to an animal’s behavior, she
feels these issues need to be addressed in detail.
The New Baby or New Bird Consult
Did you just get an adult parrot that needed to be rescued,
but you aren’t sure how to integrate him smoothly and happily into your home? Or did
you just get a baby parrot, and you want to help him grow up to be the very best, happiest
companion parrot in the world… but you aren’t sure how to go about accomplishing
that goal? Then a consultation with Liz or one of her colleagues might be extremely useful
to you.
Guarantee
Since Liz cannot make people follow her advice
in dealing with their parrots, she cannot guarantee that a consult with her will change
companion parrot behaviors. However, if people do choose to use her advice and
implement the changes and training she recommends, she can guarantee her clients will end
up with a happier, better behaved parrot with which to share their lives.
How
much does a consultation cost?
Because
of the time involved with management issues, Liz charges differently for a
consultation. Unlike her colleagues, she charges on a flat fee basis, not by
the hour. Consultations are charged in the following manner:
Phone
consultation for one bird: $175.00 [on
your phone bill]
In-home
consultation for one bird: $175.00 plus travel [50¢
@ mile + tolls, round-trip - and Liz lives in the Philadelphia, PA
area]
Each
additional bird: $75.00
That
flat fee covers the consult itself, which will last about 4 hours, plus unlimited
follow-ups by phone [on your phone bill] or e-mail for
4 months from the date of the consult,
as long as they are regarding the original problem. After
that initial 4-month period, follow-ups will be charged at $50 per hour.
Payment
must be made by check or money order, or via credit card through PayPal.
NOTE:
If Liz does not receive any follow-ups from you within a month of the
initial consult, then any further contact will be considered a new consult,
along with the appropriate fee.
Therefore,
timely follow-ups are critical.
If
you have any questions about doing a consult,
contact Liz at her NEW email address: lwilsoncvt@att.net
or [215] 946-5964.
