All bird training sessions should respect the most important caveat of all.
Unlike dog training, parrots have never forgotten that they are prey to most animals in their native environment.  

WITH EACH BIRD COLLAR TRAINING SESSION MAKE SURE TO

RESPECT THE TRUST BOND THAT YOU HAVE WITH YOUR BIRD.

If your pet feels threatened at any point in the training process, it slows the training process down.

NEVER try to man-handle your parrot. 

ALWAYS carefully observe your bird's body language for signs of fear.  If your bird feels unsafe at any time, quickly re-establish that you are a safe and a loving flock member.

1. Understand what you're dealing with.

When was the last time you witnessed a bird in the wild wearing any apparel? I've never seen a bird in the wild wearing anything unnatural, so it's safe to say your bird isn't going to take kindly to you sticking a parrot collar around their neck straight out of the box. Your bird will need to learn that the collar is safe before it will have anything to do with it. You can relax because you've got this covered. The "click and treat" method you'll use to modify bird behavior is pretty fun and it will enhance your relationship with your pet. As long as you understand that you can’t rush bird collar training, you're ready to proceed to the next stage.

2. Let her see you hold the collar.

Hold the collar in your hand and let your bird see you holding it. You’ll spark her curiosity when she sees you with a new “toy” she's not allowed to play with yet. Try to imagine the last time you petted an animal affectionately and do the exact same thing with the bird collar while your bird is watching. Show your bird that you adore this new bird safe collar! The fear response should lessen as you use the "click and treat" method each time your bird shows the slightest sign of curiosity rathe than fear.  Ignore fear responses and reward interest!  NOTE FOR SAF-T SHIELDS: If you are using one of our Saf-T Shields, the shiny, stiff plastic bird cone collars and you find that your bird is afraid of the reflection that the collar puts off, please take a piece of very fine sand paper over the item to give it a matte finish.

3. Place the bird safe collar close to your pet.

Now that your parrot has finally started to show some curiosity towards the bird collar while you are holding it, shift the focus to actual bird collar training.  Move the collar colser and closer to your pet, always observing its body language so that you don’t push it too far or too fast. It's okay to place the collar near the cage within eyesight so that your bird gets even more used to it. Each and every time your bird shows signs of ease and curiosity, offer a favorite treat.  At this stage you should still reward the bird for showing increasing levels of curiosity.  Eventually, you should increase the length of time between "clicking and treating" so that your bird learns to maintain composure for longer periods of time. Keep time increases to about 30 seconds to a minute.

4. Your pet has allowed the collar close and closer to its body.

Once the bird is comfortable with you holding the collar close it's time to put your skills to the test by easing it as close to her as possible without making any contact. Make this a game. One eye should be on the bird safe collar so you don't touch into the bird by accident and the other should be keeping a close eye on your parrot’s body language to determine its comfort level. Give yourself a big pat on the back when the bird is more curious than fearful of the collar because you're already half way home.

5. Let her mouth the bird collar.

Congratulations, we're now at the stage where your bird will come into initial contact with the collar. At this point you're only interested in letting it mouth the collar. Looking at something and touching it are two completely different things, so you're really doing exceptionally well if your bird is quite happy to mouth the fabric. A bird that is plucking enough to warrant a collar must already be stressed, so now that the bird is physically accepting the collar be careful to take conditioning slow so as to not undo the work you’ve accomplished so far. Consider placing your bird's favorite treat on the collar for it to pick off.

6. Let the fabric rest on the bird.

After your bird has mouthed the fabric its fear levels should be lower than ever before. Nobody is afraid of something they've stuck in their mouth because they now have a 'feel' for it. It's now time to rest the fabric on the bird. Once again, be very attentive to your birds body language as you gauge how quickly to proceed and attentively click and treat every little accomplishment. The collar only needs to rest on your bird for a brief period of time for a quick reward.  Keep things as positive as possible and always end training sessions on a positive note.  At this stage, you’ll want to increase the length of time that the bird tolerates the collar in contact with its body.

7. Practice holding your bird and placing collar on it.

This bird is somewhat stressed in the photo as it just had surgery.  Simply look at his facial expression.   

This might be the scariest step of all for your bird, especially if it is not used to close handling or it is afraid of toweling.  If your bird isn’t used to close handling, please break down handling into short, reachable steps and condition acceptance each step of the way similar to how we've described bird collar familiarization; i.e. stepping up, coming into contact with your body, manipulating it’s wings and head, etc.  

A great primer to learn these steps is Good Bird Inc., Conditioning Your Bird For the Veterinary Exam. 

Allow your bird to become accustomed to the sound of the opening and closing of the Velcro strips.  Click and reward tolerance.  Then, click and reward as your bird allows you to put collar around its neck.  Finally, you’ll want to "click and reward" your bird for wearing the collar while doing something other than chewing the collar, such as eating or playing. However, keep in mind that this bird safe collar is designed to be chewed.  By the end, your bird will realize the collar is nothing to be scared of.

They are a champion and they've overcome their fear with ease. They'll learn that the collar will offer them fun preening opportunities and warmth. When you finally attach the collar around their neck the collar will present alternative picking and preening activities.

ALWAYS USE THE COLLAR UNDER SUPERVISION

8. Don't forget to click and treat all along the way.

Generously using the Clicker Training for Birds will actually supercharge your training results. But, by paying close attention to your birds body language and training for acceptance in slow, short steps, you are highly like to experience success.

9. Always Combine Bird Collars with A Variety of Anti-plucking Strategies, Such as Ongoing Bird Training and Environmental Adjustments.

By now, your avian veterinarian has coached you on creating the optimum diet for your bird and advised for supplements.  We recommend that you read our eBook on Understanding Feather Picking and explore what other adjustments may need to be made to manage or eliminate the feather picking cycle.  Collars and barriers have a useful place in eliminating the problem but they don’t address the underlying cause.