- Hey everyone.
We're so excited today
because we are about to prove that toucans are
- [Jamie And Dave] Trainable.
(digital music)
- [Jamie] So we begin with
teaching Jelly Bean, the toucan, to target.
So Gabby goes in, offers the target stick.
Unfortunately, Jelly Bean was able to grab the stick,
which is really behavior we don't want.
So this next time,
I tell her to hold it a little bit further away,
so he can't quite grab it.
But it's pretty hard to accomplish with a toucan
to gauge that distance.
So again, Jelly Bean is able to grab the stick
and it's getting pretty aggressive.
So I'm worried about her putting aggressive on cue.
So I actually asked Dave
if maybe he wants to step in and try this
so that it's not associated with Gabby,
if it is going on the aggressive side.
Poor Gabby is feeling like she can't get it right.
But toucans are much harder to train than parrots
in my opinion.
And we have a lot less experience training them as a whole.
There's no toucan experts out there
and there's not a lot of people training toucans.
So you're going to hear us kind of talk through this
talk through our ideas, our concepts, our thought process.
Dave goes in, tries to get Jelly Bean to target
but we find by holding the target stick further away,
he kind of lunges at it,
which is getting pretty aggressive.
Also Jelly Bean doesn't know Dave.
So naturally he's being a little bit more aggressive
when it comes to interacting with Dave.
So he's really going for the stick
more aggressively with Dave than probably Gabby.
This is when Dave kind of has the epiphany of
let's work with what's working
and what the bird is actually giving us.
So I'm gonna let you hear our thought process
through the next bit of this training.
- You know what?
It still might work.
We just would phase it out.
So it's like over here
- [Jamie] But he is chasing it.
- Right?
- [Jamie] Holy cow.
Those blueberries are like,
- But we stop it.
We stop it before-
- [Jamie] Okay.
- He bites it.
That might be the solution.
- [Jamie] Oh my goodness.
- How are halves?
I cut them in halves.
- Oh, that's way better.
Thank you.
- Thinking that the blueberries are huge and sweet.
- I think we got the jackpot blueberry in there.
So I'm, where I was going with that is maybe like,
we're doing this,
we're using more of as a tapping of where to go
so that we're not pairing it with aggression.
And he seems to be receptive to that.
- [Jamie] Seems to be a little psycho.
- I can't believe he hasn't gone for you over there.
- [Jamie] Really?
- Yeah. Yeah.
I'm really surprised.
- Okay.
- I hate being in this cage too,
cause the height.
- Yeah. It's a little-
- It's really annoying.
- It's a little brutal.
- [Jamie] Super annoying.
- Yeah.
(laughter)
(tapping)
- Not gonna do that though.
- [Jamie] Did he take that blueberry
aggressively that time?
- Yeah. I just barely missed it.
Do you wanna switch me and try?
- Sure.
- The goal is to not put aggression on cue.
So I'm clicking when he's landing where,
close to where I want him.
- Okay.
(tapping and clicking)
- Yeah, yeah.
(toucan purring)
- He already has it.
- You gotta wait until he is done eating.
- Okay.
- [Jamie] Yeah. You can't have another repetition
until he is done eating.
- Okay.
- [Jamie] Because you can't reward it.
- So
- Jamie will fend for herself.
- Don't know why, but with me,
he'll kind of hold the blueberry
and just jump around with it and not eat it.
- So I think that he may,
that's usually like the mating behavior, right?
- [Jamie] Yeah.
And she was definitely groping him earlier.
- Okay.
So he's ready.
So let's time to go somewhere.
I'm gonna tell him to go to the top right.
- Okay.
- Will that stand?
(tapping)
Thanks. Good. Good, good good.
And that was a gentle take.
- [Jamie] Yeah, that was awesome.
- So freaking cute.
- [Jamie] I love this Java tree thingy.
It is like awesome for a toucan.
- Yeah.
He loves it.
- Are we still going to
show him another treat?
- [Gabby] Okay.
- And see if that'll get him to eat that one.
- Yeah.
- [Jamie] There you go.
(clicking)
- A little late on the click, but-
- Okay.
- Should it be as soon as he lands or?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- As soon he's in a really close proximity
to where you wanted him, so.
- Okay.
- I would kind of treat it more like
when he is landing there.
- Okay.
- But it's definitely before he touches the stick,
because we don't want him to gnaw the stick.
(tapping)
Yeah. Perfect.
This is more of,
I would equate this more to stationing
where it's like, hey, go here.
Go here, more so than targeting.
But he seems to be very receptive to it.
See if you get him to the lower branch.
(tapping)
It's a little bit harder for him, right.
(clicking)
- Nice.
- [Jamie] Aw. That's adorable.
- [Dave] I'd probably end there.
We're having good success.
- Okay.
- [Dave] And he's gonna fill up.
But in about 10 minutes
he'll be ready for more reps.
- Okay.
- That's cool.
- [Jamie] Yeah.
- Good job buddy.
And he's face wiping.
So he is definitely done.
Because Jelly Bean's not perfect with everybody,
I want to be able to take targeting to the next level
to where he is out of the cage
and then is targeted to go back into the cage.
So to set ourselves up for the most likelihood of success,
we're going to do this in small approximations
by taking one of the trees that he's familiar with,
putting it close to an open cage,
targeting him out,
and then immediately targeting back in
and see if we can expand that just a little bit today.
We don't know how many reps we'll get
so we'll keep it short and concise and see how it goes.
What I picture is,
we'll open the cage, target into this
and I put it against your tile
so that it doesn't roll
and then target it back in.
So do you want to do it since he's really receptive, too it?
- Sure. Yeah.
- Head on in.
(tapping)
And okay, so that might be too far.
So let's put it a little closer.
(tapping)
I need to show 'em a treat again real quick
and then pass that.
(tapping)
So I'll have you go in,
target him here.
- Okay.
- Yes.
And then we'll use that momentum
to get him to come back out.
- Okay.
(clicking)
- [Dave] Perfect.
And then stay there and let him eat that
and now step out.
See if you can get him to the other one.
And, tap-tap-tap.
(tapping)
Can you?
- But he should be able to-
- [Dave] Can you pick him up and set 'em on that?
- Yes.
- [Dave] So let's start with that
and just target him back in.
- Okay.
I have to give him the blueberry before he pops up.
- [Dave] If that's what was working,
let's do that.
- Right.
Or else he'll bite me.
- [Dave] Okay.
So get ready.
Cause he's gonna want to jump back on his own.
- And then target him in?
- [Dave] Yeah.
- [Gabby] Well he has the treat, right?
- [Dave] Yeah. He -
- [Gabby] Wasn't set up. - [Dave] Wasn't quite ready.
- Yeah. Okay.
- [Dave] So just wait until he's done eating
before you do that.
- Okay.
- [Dave] I'm gonna move that just slightly this way.
- Okay.
- [Dave] And then I'll just have you pick him up
and set him on it again.
And then have you go back in,
but when you go back in,
just block it so he can't fly
until he's finished eating.
Then move back in and tap there to recall.
- Okay.
- [Dave] So block his flight path to that.
Yep. Perfect.
Wait until he eats it.
(tapping)
- Let's go. Yeah.
That'll be the easier one.
(tapping)
- [Jamie] Do we need to scoot him closer?
- [Dave] Yes.
I want to, but I don't wanna get a spooked flight.
So we waited too long in the treat today.
Just gave him too many for this stage in the training.
- He's like -
- [Jamie] Almost.
- [Dave] Hey!
- Was that okay?
- [Dave] Yeah. It was longer than we wanted,
but that was because we misread his motivation levels.
Ultimately we tried pushing further
than his food motivation level would allow us to.
So we'll give him a little break.
We'll either try it again later today
but more than likely we'll give it a shot tomorrow.
So do two to three repetitions in the cage.
Probably three repetitions at cage.
- [Gabby] Okay.
- And get that behavioral momentum
and then see if we can use that momentum
to get him out here to this one.
(tapping and clicking)
- [Dave] Okay.
And then start working over this way.
Is that poop or he dropped?
- He dropped it.
- [Dave] Okay.
- So do I give him another?
- [Dave] No, that's his fault.
(tapping)
All right, into the stand over here.
(tapping)
He might need you behind it.
- [Gabby] Okay.
- [Dave] Versus blocking it at all.
(tapping)
- [Dave] Try luring him slightly.
- [Jamie] Like show him the berry over by the tree.
Oh, bypassing.
- [Gabby] His favorite style.
(laughter)
- That's how we,
but we always have to come up
- [Dave] Yeah.
Then go ahead and set him on the stand.
- Okay.
- [Dave] Have him maybe target left and right on the stand.
I know it's not very big,
but I guess you won't really be able to
as I'm saying that.
(tapping and clicking)
I mean, he's kind of just following it.
See if we can get him there and then back.
(clicking)
- You could do FR2 that.
- [Jamie] Oh yeah.
That's a good idea.
(gasping and laughing)
- [Dave] Set him on here.
- Okay.
- He's never done that before, to my arm.
- [Dave] All right.
So I'm going have you, so let's real quick.
- Okay.
- [Dave] When you tap, click when he lands,
and then have him come back here,
click when he lands, and treat here.
- Okay.
- [Dave] So you're not gonna treat there.
- Okay.
- [Dave] But we'll do everything else the same.
- So just click but don't treat.
- [Dave] Yep.
- Okay.
- [Dave] And then immediately come back to this one.
- Okay.
- [Dave] So click and then back here.
Back here.
Yep. Yep. Yep.
(tapping)
Little lure.
Tap tap.
Just turn.
- [Jamie] Yeah. And hold the treat-
- [Gabby] Maybe?
- [Dave] He's fully capable.
(tapping)
- [Dave] Well, gosh darn.
- [Jamie] Do you feel like he missed that?
- I feel like I feel he wanted to land on my arm.
- [Jamie] I think he wanted to land on your arm instead.
- Which is really exciting for me
because I wanted him to do that.
(laughter)
- [Dave] Yeah. I mean, if he's going your arm,
I'm okay with that.
- He's never done that before.
- [Jamie] Yeah, we could do that.
- [Man In Background] That would be better.
- Super cool.
- [Jamie] We can do that.
Do you wanna see if he'll come down to her arm
or you think that's too far?
Starting from the cabinet and just get him down
and start over.
- [Dave] See, I would see if he'll fly,
like if he'll hop down to your arm from there.
- [Jamie] Yeah.
You could try with the target and stuff.
- [Gabby] Fly down.
- [Jamie] Yeah.
- [Dave] See if he's ready.
- [Gabby] Okay.
- [Dave] Do you have a stool or something you can stand on?
Make it more level?
- Yeah. That's usually -
- [Dave] Cause that's a little bit of a -
- [Jamie] Oh!
We could try from here.
- [Gabby] Okay.
- [Dave] Hey!
- [Jamie] Hey! Double!
- [Gabby] Give him a treat?
- [Jamie] Yeah. Go give him a treat.
- [Dave] I got the click for you.
(laughter)
- [Jamie] We can probably shut him in for a little bit.
Cause he was looking down.
- That's important.
- Yeah, that was good.
- I can't believe he did that.
I can't believe he jumped down like that.
Usually I have to step right up to him on a stool.
- [Jamie] He's going down for that one he dropped.
- [Dave] I love the way they can like climb-
- [Jamie] Sideways.
Woo.
No, that was awesome.
I think he's making the connection of just training.
You know how yesterday we were talking about,
once you teach them that they can learn,
they learn faster.
- [Gabby] Right.
- [Jamie] That's creating a language
that he's understanding.
So it translated from target training to,
he understood you wanted him to come to you.
I think that's super cool.
- [Gabby] That's so awesome.
So am I calling him straight to my arm
or am I doing a
- [Dave] I would warm up with just like two reps,
only two reps.
- Okay.
- [Jamie] I would warm him up and then ask him to your arm.
- Okay.
(tapping)
- [Jamie] He does.
Holy cow.
Yeah. Now I would hold your arm up.
Yeah.
He looks like he's looking at the one he dropped.
- [Dave] There you go.
In the back.
- Okay.
- [Jamie] He is going for the one he dropped I think.
Yeah. He found it.
Be in the bird room.
- [Dave] If you tried targeting just to this tree.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
That was, whatever you did,
you got his attention just there.
- [Jamie] Showed the blueberry I think.
- Oh, okay.
- [Jamie] And put him on the tree cuz he's gonna get crazy.
There we go.
- [Dave] Hey Gabby, can I see one of the blueberries?
Able to just get a flight like that?
- Wow. He's never done that before.
- So just don't worry about the stick.
- Okay.
- Or the clicker.
- Okay.
- And just show him the blueberry,
like that.
- [Jamie] And then reset him.
- Yeah.
- [Jamie] Because otherwise,
if you don't reset him pretty quickly,
he's gonna escalate into
- Okay.
- [Dave] So go ahead.
He's got momentum
- Jelly Bean.
- [Jamie] He sees one that got dropped down there.
It's like a little half one.
- [Dave] I'm on it guys.
- [Jamie] I'm getting it.
Don't wanna let anything go to waste.
- [Dave] I love that about toucans.
- [Gabby] It's so cool.
- [Dave] You gonna get it?
- [Jamie] Kinda just want me to,
I kind of just wanna pick it up.
I'm gonna get it first.
Aw man.
- [Dave] You pissed him off.
- [Jamie] I did!
- Definitely want to try. Yeah.
- [Gabby] Wow.
- [Jamie] Did he get it?
- [Dave] He dropped it.
So interestingly enough, some of our small birds,
they would rather fly to me than step up.
I'll get bit if they try to step up.
So you just reset him on this little tree,
and Gabby get ready to flash him a treat,
and ask for recall.
- [Gabby] Silly bird.
(clicking)
- Why you being goofy?
- [Dave] Nice. And then reset.
Perfect. See how you reset him just before he bit you?
- Right?
- Cause he was,
- I saw that.
- So that's what I mean by
change something prior to the unwanted behavior.
- Okay.
- And that basically means he doesn't want to be on you.
He's flying to you for the treat
but he doesn't want to be on you.
- Okay.
- So really reinforce when he's on you
but then reset him before he gets frustrated and bites,
which is also why I said I'll take care of clicking.
So I don't want you to have to think
about too many things right now,
and click when he bites.
- Right.
- Do you have more berries?
- Yes.
- See if we can get three more flights.
- Jelly Bean.
(clicking)
- [Dave] And reset.
- No
- [Jamie] I think part of the reason
she's getting the aggressive behavior
is he sees that she has multiples
and you're only giving one.
- Okay.
(clicking)
- Can I try to from further back here?
- [Dave] Yeah. - [Jamie] Yeah.
- Jelly Bean.
- [Dave] He would do it if you were right here.
- [Jamie] Or if you could get his attention
to turn him around.
- Yeah. Have him turn around.
- [Jamie] There we go.
Just try to get him to engage
- Get closer?
- [Jamie] Yeah. Try to get him to engage with
the fact that you have a treat for him.
- [Dave] So you might wanna toss up and catch it.
If you can.
There we go.
Lower your arm slightly.
- Can you toss it?
- [Jamie] There he goes.
- Wow.
- [Dave] Nice.
And just there, he almost went for your thumb.
You reset him before.
So your window of time with him on you is really short.
So just make sure resetting him prior
to the unwanted behavior of a bite
and that'll increase the amount of time
you can get him to stay on you.
Cuz you're not letting him reinforce his own bites.
- Sorry.
- [Jamie] At least he's flying down from there.
- I didn't know he was gonna fly on this hand.
- [Dave] Yeah. Just keep consistent too,
with what hand you have him go to.
- [Jamie] Right.
- [Gabby] It's always this hand.
That's why I'm a little confused
that he trying to that one.
- [Dave] I think it was just-
(clicking)
- [Jamie] Yeah. There we go.
- [Dave] And we're probably
running out of ability to get him back.
Let's go and put 'em back in
and give 'em a treat for going in.
- Good boy Jelly Bean.
Good.
- [Dave] All Right, so that was solid.
- Awesome. Yeah.
Super cool.
- So that's again, when you're looking at training
sometimes you just have to go with what they're offering
and then enhance and shape what they're giving you.
- [Gabby] Right.
- So you're trying to increase a little bit of distance,
but you just wanna make sure
you're taking the opportunity when they give it to you.
- When we first got him, he was not a confident bird.
- [Dave] Yeah.
And when it comes to flighted behaviors especially,
I have noticed, and if you can build a confidence,
the skills follow.
- [Gabby] Right.
- So get short flights, get longer flights,
not where he missed you.
I think was just clumsiness.
I don't think that he was trying to land on the other hand.
Maybe he was,
but the more confident he becomes as a flyer,
then those skills will develop.
- [Jamie] Are toucans trainable?
- Absolutely they are! A hundred percent.
(upbeat music)