Funny training moment

Max and I are still working on variations of the retrieve, mostly involving her flying.

I have also mentioned before that with her I employ a strategy of "Nothing in life is free." I first heard about it in regards to dog training, and I don't know much about it other than the name. But I like the concept implied by the name so much that's what I consider my approach to Max even though that probably isn't strictly the case (I can't say definitively since I don't know the specifics of the program).

Last night she was begging for a piece of cheese off of our salads. She had already been quite crafty in finding ways to sneak a few toppings off when we were otherwise occupied! Therefore, when she said "want some!" (cheese), I placed her on a chair and gave her the bead. Then I grabbed the container where she had to put it and went over by her stand.

She had to know what I wanted (fly to the stand to deposit the bead in the container), but instead she flew over to the salad bowl, deposited the bead in my dinner, and then grabbed a piece of cheese.Of course I couldn't help but laugh, which only reinforced her. However, it's reinforcing her thinking outside of the box, so I'm OK with that. Of course, I did make her perform the trick correctly in exchange for another piece of cheese. Silly parrot!