HoundBlog

Gosh it’s been a long time since I wrote – not because I haven’t had anything to say, but because there just hasn’t been time. My project for work (installing and populating Great Plains Field Service module) has grown a life of it’s own, but I should start seeing daylight at the end of that tunnel soon as I am slowly getting everything done that we need to have done prior to moving over to it from OUT.

Ken’s side is much better. He’s pretty much back to normal except for the scar. My black eye is no more although the scratch still has a bit of a mark on my cheek. I’m sure that will go away in it’s own time, too. Meanwhile, I look like I’ve been in a knife fight 🙂

The birds continue to learn their tricks. Reilly has totally mastered the colored beads and we are working on cues for the different colors. My goal is to develop this whole color choice routine that involves signals. Meanwhile, Taji has watched this whole training process with Reilly with great interest. Just for fun, I offered him the cup with the beads and asked for one of the colors. He chose the right one. I put that bead aside and asked for a second color. He chose the right one. I put that bead aside and asked for a third color and he got the right one again! Amazing bird! He got treated with his favorite — a peanut. This is a lot of fun and my guys are so smart! They also got mashed potatoes for dinner which was another hit. Even the cockatiel got into eating mashed taters.

I talked to Yvonne Thursday and she and Eddie are in thier new home although there is still a lot of unpacking to do. They just got their phone turned on that morning, so they haven’t had a chance to call anyone. Eddie was made Class Leader and is already busy as a bee with his new duties. Yvonne still has to find a sitter so she can have some free time. It sounds like they will settle into their new life as a family unit with only a few small bumps.

I also talked to Chris and they are doing fine. They were at McDonalds having dinner, so it was a little difficult to hear with the screaming kids (they were sitting at the play area).

Talked to Pam and her grandfather is doing well after his surgery (he had some polyps in his colon removed). He did have to go to a nursing facility for a few days as he developed bed sores because he wouldn’t get out of bed, but she thinks he will not be there very long. Her Mom, John and Bebe are doing fine. Patrick will be coming home for good once school is out for the summer.

That’s all for now.

Take care.

Love to all,

Margaret

Well, I’ve slipped up on writing again! It seems there just are no more hours in the day to squeeze any fun in 😛

Ken took Saturday off and we spent the morning running errands in Anderson. Saturday afternoon was spent messing with the critters. I put all the dogs in crates and took the Cockatoo out in the house for some out-of-cage time. I’ve been working on training him to do different things. He will give you a high-five now with his foot and he’s learning to turn in a circle. He acted like he was stressed out being out of his “room”, so I didn’t keep him out long and he seemed happy to get back in his cage.

The African Gray is a biter, so I’ve been working on building up a trust relationship with him to extinguish the bites. He doesn’t come out of his cage unless I leave the door open and wait for him to come out on his own because he will not step onto a hand-held perch and if I offer my hand or arm, he bites it. I’m not a fan of getting bitten, so we will just let him do his own thing for now. He is learning color discrimination. It seems that parrots have REALLY good vision and can see a lot more colors than humans, so this is a fun thing for him to learn. I’ve started with 3 differently colored beads and he picks up the one I’ve told him I want and drops it into a cup. He’s actually pretty good at it — he gets it right more times than not. He’s started saying really softly “I love you”. I’ve been telling him I love him for weeks now and he hears me tell Ken I love him all the time, so I’m really pleased that he’s picked up this phrase. He does not say any cuss words and I’m careful not to say any around him as I KNOW he would pick up on them quickly.

I think he will be a real show-stopper when he gets trained a little bit more. He’s really smart and seems to enjoy being trained — I’m using a clicker to mark the behavior I want/like and he’s begun clicking me in return when I do something he likes. 😆  He is an amazingly accurate mimick. He tells the dogs by name to “get out” or “go potty” or he’ll call them. They come running, too! It’s really funny because he sounds just like me. He’s picked up my cough — just the sound of it, not the real thing and I have to laugh. When I get on the telephone, he says “uh huh, uh huh” just like me and in my voice. When Ken comes in the room he makes a rude sounding noise (just like Ken often does) 😯

Well, I guess I should close this out for today and get back to work.

Love to all,

Margaret