BREAKTHROUGH

i was FINALLY given the honor to scratch sir bentley on the head! and under the most interesting circumstances...

i just finished cleaning his cage and i put him in. i was talking and singing to him as usual, and i started to play peek-a-boo with him. he really liked that! i think he also likes the word "peek-a-boo" he tried to say different parts of the word while i said it. anyways, i started making kissing noises - the pecking kind - and he starts to act very differently...he started to push himself against the cage where i was closest to, he would start to try and make the pecking noises himself over and over again with me, but he would also back himself up away from me and then come slowly back toward me, again pushing himself up against the cage bars closest to me. it was really strange. i then put my finger up close to his head (while i continued to make the kissing noises) and he just bowed down, wanting a head scritch! bentley knows EXACTLY what kisses are and he definitely sees them as something wonderful! he allowed me to scratch his head and i stopped after a while (i didnt want to accidentally rub over a new feather and irritate him) so i stay on his good side. i didnt want to push it! :-)

it was just awesome! for the past week, i have been spending more time with bentley just singing and talking to him. i was also giving him small pieces of almond or peanut every once in a while to make him look forward to seeing me. what i also started with bentley is target training. he loves to chew so it wasn't too hard to get him to touch the target. once he did, i praised him with verbal praises and a small piece of nut. he has been doing so well with it. i think all of this has paid off to this very night when i got to scratch his head! (not to mention that he likes the kissing noises...that helped tons!)

he still needs a ways to go to learn to trust me and i am only taking it at his pace. you can't change behaviors overnight. thats why it is so motivating and rewarding when a positive step forward is made. its just so amazing how quickly bentley has gone through so many wonderful improvements!