Not necessarily an exciting video but one I took for several reasons. So many times I hear or see how people restrict themselves of doing certain things because they think the animals dont care for something. Everything we do in life is shaped, shaping, or being shaped. We are who we are today through a process called shaping. The environment shapes us, daily interactions shape us, and we shape others. Shaping is a process in which small approximations are reinforced while others are extinguished. I shot this this video to show how things are shaped and how we dont have to fall into the traps of not doing certain things for ourselves or others because we are worried our animals wont like something. I havent polished my nails in over 10 years because I just dont have nor take the time. Recently, as a present from my husband, he makes appointments for me to have my nails done, something I used to love to have done. The first time I had them done was about two months ago, I began with having them polished a light pink, little darker than skin tone. I introduced the change to my birds at a slow pace while shaping them taking things from my polished fingertips. Every two weeks I went darker. Last week was a dark pink and the other day I went red for the holidays. Here is a video of both cockatoos taking treats from my fingertips very gently. I get in their cages and bring them out recalling them to my hands. So I am enjoying my nails but even more, I have enjoyed showing how I have turned into a change in the animals environment. Many people say they have bird shirts because birds chew holes in them. If a bird chews a hole in my shirt, it is because I wasnt paying attention in giving it something else to do. Train them using positive reinforcement. Theyll thank you for it.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 14:31:02 +0000