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Piper’s behavior outdoors at this young age makes freeflying in the city very risky. He is still alarmed by many things, not frequently, but at least once on most outings, which cause him to try to fly off (unlike Carly who hunkered down on my shoulder). When flying with Carly he does not appear as steady, and indoors his judgment is not as sound as hers was when she started flying outdoors. He is more easily distracted and frequently misjudges landing spots and crashes, though all with the greatest gusto. His behavior appears immature, in the same way a puppy in training does. He has gotten lost while flying and showed signs of a lot of stress afterwards: stretched out body position, staring straight ahead, wide eyes, rapid breathing. This is a big contrast with Carly’s first flights also. If she had trouble flying down or landed out of sight, she appeared calm when she got back (animated, relaxed body).
I believe Piper needs more experience acclimating outdoors before free flying, and also just some general maturation mentally. Interestingly, Sid Price has a young Amazon just slightly younger than Piper and he has observed the same things indoors.
Our plan is to do many outings to different places around town, indoors and out, to increase his comfort level with new environments. We’ll pay special attention to the area around beach and park where he would be flying. Indoor training includes practicing recall twice each day before meals, as well as a variety of other behaviors such as targeting and simple tricks to keep things lively and fun. The goal is to create a comfortable routine indoors to increase his overall confidence level, while acclimating to the outdoors so fewer circumstances are alarming.
Training & Outing Notes
2008 Holiday Break:
Outings to Balboa Park, Seaport Village, shopping trips, and walks in park. He is getting much calmer riding in the car, including after dark. Few alarms when walking in public places, though they do still happen. We got to see a blimp, which was a nice treat. No reaction from him.
11 Jan 2009:
Outing to La Jolla Shores beach. Walked halfway down beach and then went to the wall posts to practice A-B’s on the leash. He did a few and then got alarmed by something he thought he saw in the houses behind us. Didn’t calm down, so we did more walking instead. The rest of the outing went smoothly, as well as some store visits afterwards.
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