Braynon's Bad Words
As I read more about teaching birds to talk, I shorted the question to "poop on the cat?" In an attempt to shorten it even further, I just said the word "poop." Over and over again.
When Braynon didn't pick up on the word, but did learn other phrases, such as the grammatically correct, "What are you doing?" I figured he'd lost interest. The image of the bird dropping bombs on the cat seemed to appeal more to the human than the bird.
Then, one day, I opened Braynon's cage and he strutted out, stopped, and said, "I'm a poopy boy."
"Really?" I told him, trying to lose it in a fit of giggles.
Braynon has only used the word one other time, when he informed me that "You are a poopy boy." I thanked him for informing me and went back to writing.
Braynon's bad words, thankfully, aren't that dirty, nor that frequently said. He talks up a storm, otherwise.
However, just as in the movie Paulie, when the little old lady purchases him from the pawn shop, there will be times that a parrot says inopportune things. Here are a few hints to help you curb your bird's dirty beak.
Parrots love drama. Don't react when your parrot says bad words (or behaves badly for that matter). Fits of laughter, a shocked "Oh my god!" or "What did your bird just say?" only reinforce to the parrot that he's done well. It may be difficult, especially when your bird says something to your mother, but ignoring anything inappropriate does wonders in keeping it out its vocabulary.
To further encourage good things, praise your parrot when he's talking nice. Even if its something your parrot has said for years, praise him to keep him focused on the things you want him to say and not on those you don't want to.
And finally, don't teach your bird bad words to begin with. I know, I did a no-no in teaching Braynon to say "poop" for he will begin to use the word more and more in his vocabulary.
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