Teaching critters bad manners.

[Shanti]

Due to a thread with a link that couldn't be posted of a swearing bird, I was wondering how you all view teaching of bad manners to pets?

In the case of teaching parrote to swear, I know many find it humorous, but I wonder about the future of the bird. If it ever has to be re-homed do you think the bad language could lower the chances of finding it a good home? Especially when you look at the long life span of some of the talking parrot species. I would think someday needing a new home is a possibility.

If the bird never needs a new home do you think its ok to teach bad manners?

Should our views and attitudes toward foul language for people be applied to pet parrots? Does teaching such a thing cause people to view the owners in lesser of a light?

What do you think?

I never really ponder it before. But it bothers me a little of why someone would do that, teach swearing to a parrot.

[Sun Sprite]

I see a lot of bad manners as tricks on "Funniest Videos" shows. Things like birds, monekys, whatever taking food out of a kids mouth, or shareing food with a kid, both licking off the same ice cream cone. What if those pets need to be re-homed? You can't gurantee you will live longer than your pet, even if you never intend to let them go.

What about the horse that steals the hat off the person's head? The dog that constantly begs or wants to shake hands, every minute or two? It's cute to watch on tv, but do you really want to live with a pet that does that trick constantly?

[_Banbha_]

I don't know what link you're referring too, but one thought that pops into my mind is parrots can just pick up on the language and noises in the home without being taught. Some people just curse and swear alot.

I don't and I'm not sure I'd want a bird that did. It depends on the situation. If I otherwise liked the parrot and thought I could give it a good home, the swearing would not be a factor in stopping me from adopting. It's not the birds fault.

I DO think it's wrong to deliberately teach a bird to swear though. I don't think it's cute or funny. I even think a parrot doing the wolf whistle is annoying.

You make a good point about if a parrot needs to be re-homed. I think it could affect re-homing esspecially in familes with young children or people who are embarassed by swearing. That's a lot of people. _inabox_

[halfwaynowhere]

One of my sister's tiels, Dante, used to wolf whistle at himself in the mirror... that was a cute habit. He stopped once he got a gf, and now they are going to be parents, and he's so much cuter this way than he was ever before. But he didn't really have any lewd habits. Teaching a bird to swear is really stupid, because you don't always know when he's gonna go off and start talking, and if you had a young child in the room, it would be a problem. I don't swear in front of children, and i wouldn't want a bird that does that.

[Shanti]

JFI, the link that had to be removed because of the cursing, is beside the point. I just wanted to acknowledge that thats where I had gotten the idea for this topic of teaching critters bad manners.

I really like the imput thus far too. It does seem to be something we know happens, like the mention of tv, ( thanks Sun Sprite for adding that) but we dont think to much about it in reality.

[_Banbha_]

I just remembered: my friend in Highschool's mom had a green Amazon (?) parrot. A very talkative breed who would whine "MoooOOOoommmmm" just like my friend and her sisters. He picked it up from the consistantacy of the whining around him.

Poor Mrs. C., first from the daughters and then the bird. The girls are now grown up and I'm wondering if the parrot still whines. :lol:

[Shanti]

I just remembered: my friend in Highschool's mom had a green Amazon (?) parrot. A very talkative breed who would whine "MoooOOOoommmmm" just like my friend and her sisters. He picked it up from the consistantacy of the whining around him.

Poor Mrs. C., first from the daughters and then the bird. The girls are now grown up and I'm wondering if the parrot still whines. :lol:
Now thats funny!! :lol:

[LadyCanine]

I think it depends on what ones views of bad manners is. Some think the bird cursing is funny, some dont. I do think that one shouldnt push their opinion on another whenever its not their own pet, whenever it comes to "bad manners"

I havent had many birds, but the few I have had, were breeds that didnt talk, but could make noises. (the wolf whistle I taught my budgies and they would whistle at themselves in the mirror)


Do I think a parrot should go around cursing? No, not really, and it can make it harder to rehome the parrot in the event of a death. I know ive seen it.

On the flip side, someone who is dedicated CAN teach bad manners OUT of most animals, including parrots. Its just harder and takes more time and requires someone who is willing to put forth extra effort into teaching out the bad manners that they dont like.

To me, well, with dogs, I view bad manners as. Food aggression, not listening to instructions, not comming when called, pushing past people through doors/hallways going in/out, constantly barking, etc etc.

Like I said, most animals can be trained to not do what one sees as a bad manner. If not, then things can be 'got around'. IE: The rule is people dont wear hats around that horse cause it'll take it.

It all just depends, some people dont care if their dog pushes past them or begs in front of them, and thats their busniess in their home. I dont have to take part of it, and if I adopt or rescue a dog that does it, then me personally, I'll just train it outta them. (but thats just what I would do personally)

[Iris]

Due to a thread with a link that couldn't be posted of a swearing bird, I was wondering how you all view teaching of bad manners to pets?

In the case of teaching parrote to swear, I know many find it humorous, but I wonder about the future of the bird. If it ever has to be re-homed do you think the bad language could lower the chances of finding it a good home? Especially when you look at the long life span of some of the talking parrot species. I would think someday needing a new home is a possibility.

If the bird never needs a new home do you think its ok to teach bad manners?

Should our views and attitudes toward foul language for people be applied to pet parrots? Does teaching such a thing cause people to view the owners in lesser of a light?

What do you think?

I never really ponder it before. But it bothers me a little of why someone would do that, teach swearing to a parrot.

I would like to state that I wasn't aware I was breaking a rule when I posted the link to the video. I posted the appropriate warnings, and I thought giving people a choice of whether or not they wanted to click the link and therefore hear profanity was sufficient. Sorry a rule was broken, it was not intentional.

[Iris]

I also actually do have a contribution to make to the thread...

My mom has 3 parrots, and none of them actually curses. If they do, she will ignore the behaviour, instead of rewarding it. They are rewarded with praise and sometimes treats for speaking, but it the words are curses they don't get rewards. It seems to work. The only one which persistently demonstrates bad language is a bird that lived with a relative for a while, and we're convinced that's where he picked up the curse-words!!

I think a lot of people will reward bad behaviour by laughing at it, or trying to get the pet to repeat the 'bad' thing in front of others, because it's funny or cute. This is just teaching the pet that it's ok to behave 'badly' *eye roll*

One of my mom's 2 amazon parrots has a really wide vocabulary, however the other one doesn't speak. We think he came from a bad home. He has a hard time trusting people still, and we've had him 3 years...:(

[Philosophia]

Personally, it doesn't bother me. If I get a bird, I don't really care is it swears or not. I'm one of those who would probably laugh when a parrot curses but, then again, I think the perception of what bad manners really is is different for everybody. While some may thing cursing is bad, others may not. The same with dogs. I don't mind a dog begging but I do mind if they inflict serious harm.

[Shanti]

I would like to state that I wasn't aware I was breaking a rule when I posted the link to the video. I posted the appropriate warnings, and I thought giving people a choice of whether or not they wanted to click the link and therefore hear profanity was sufficient. Sorry a rule was broken, it was not intentional.
Its ok.
I know it wasn't intentional.
I'm sorry it has to be closed.

But I did think this would make an interesting topic that I dont think has been brought forth in critter chat. I hope you dont mind I got the idea from your thread for this thread.

[Shanti]

My ex was foolish with dogs. He would tease and teach our dogs to bark at all sorts of goofy things like tapping the table or making scratching noises on the walls. Then after time the dogs would bark at any noises and so they barked all the time. My ex would get all mad because they barked to much but would still tease them to get them to bark!! I thought my ex was not bright to say the least when it came to common sense. That's also one of the many reasons he is my ex!

[Cindlady2]

I personally don't think you should teach your pets anything you wouldn't teach a child. (With of course the exception of a working animal.)

[_Banbha_]

My ex was foolish with dogs. He would tease and teach our dogs to bark at all sorts of goofy things like tapping the table or making scratching noises on the walls. Then after time the dogs would bark at any noises and so they barked all the time. My ex would get all mad because they barked to much but would still tease them to get them to bark!! I thought my ex was not bright to say the least when it came to common sense. That's also one of the many reasons he is my ex!

That's not so uncommon with people who own dogs. As someone who has lived in city and suburban areas where you are often directly affected by the lack of training and commonsense attitudes, I can tell you it's all too common.

And these people are SO stubborn about their lack of commonsense solutions and discipline with their dogs! It's like a brain block, lol. Ask any dog trainer. The dog whisperer has it right. It's a people problem 99% of the time.