Originally Posted by
PlaxMacaws
Your question, whether 'now' is the best time to introduce Katie to target training, may render various responses from various folks. In my opinion, as long as you're not experiencing major behavioral problems with her, holding off until later shouldn't be an issue.
As you know, target training is a matter of commanding an animal's behaviors by inciting its anticipation of rewards. It can indeed be very effective conditioning. On the chance that your question is not as much when to begin target training exercises with Katie, but instead it's more a question of whether or not to do so at all, I'll just say that it really comes down to a matter of your personal preferences, i.e., what you want/expect from your bird.
While I admire the results of target training in some cases, I personally view it as creating more of a robotic pet than a free spirit. Therefore, I have not used it to condition my own birds. So that's my response to the question of 'whether' to employ it. As for 'when' to do so... again, if there are no problem behaviors requiring immediate intervention, I don't think waiting should be an issue.