# About House-Breaking/Potty-Training



## Maddiekisses (Sep 17, 2003)

I had never considered this before, but I've come across a few places in my pigeon research that says pigeons can be house/potty-trained. There was one website that supposedly had links to sites to show how it was done, but none of the links worked. Is this a completely unrealistic idea? It's not like pigeon poop is hard to clean up, but thinking my pigeon could be house-broken is rather appealing.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi Maddiekisses!

Here is the scoop on the poop:

I do know that pigeons do have the ability to control it. When females lay on eggs all night they do not go (they hold it up) until the next morning when they leave the nest. Then when they go "watch out" it is huge!

Also, my pigeons "Skye" did not "poop" the whole time he was in the animal planet studio, and that was two hours. When I put him back in his holding cage he went right away. So, they do have some kind of control.

I heard it said here that if you have a bird that has a favorite place where he poops, or two, lay newspapers in that spot. 

As far as training them in a cat littler type box or on the "potty"...I haven't heard of that.

Let's see who else will respond to this subject...one important topic...it has to be when you own pigeons, LOL Treesa


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## Maddiekisses (Sep 17, 2003)

It's nice to know that the female birds do have the ability to control when they 'go'. As far as I can tell, Owl has no favorite spot at all. Just wherever he happens to be at the moment.







I hadn't thought about a cat litter box or the toilet. I was mainly thinking about a certain spot where I could put newspapers like you mentioned. Or possibly getting him to go in his cage. It is certainly something that I have an interest in, but have no idea how to go about training such a thing. It's always been rather easy with our dogs. At least pigeon poop isn't that hard to clean up.









Why was your Skye at the Animal Planet Studio? Do you have a celebrity on your hands?









Thanks again for your time and wisdom!



> Originally posted by Trees Gray:
> *Hi Maddiekisses!
> 
> Here is the scoop on the poop:
> ...


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Yes, Skye is a celebrity. He was on animal Planets, "Pet Psychic". He told Sonya about his whole past of how he was abandaned with his sister, and how I hand fed him and hurt his throat. (that was my first time hand feeding babies). She was incredibly accurate with what he told her, what a gas!! The whole day was unbelievable, but I was impressed by how well he behaved around the cats and dogs, and how he never pooped!!! They had professional trainers placing all the animals strategically, so there wouldn't be any unforseen accidents. I had visions in my mind of how he would take off in the studio and hit all those lights and cameras!! He didn't. He sat in front of the camera and posed beautifully. They used his picture on several shows. He is the very first pigeon on the show, I think it's great because Sonya conveyed the fact that pigeons are intelligent birds and that they have feelings.I'd like to get him back on for a follow up, and bring him back with his sister. Treesa


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## glamrckgrl (Aug 12, 2003)

Hi again!
I also was told pigeons couldn't be trained. It seems Merlin has certain spots where he poops. His cage is in my bedroom. When he wakes up and comes out of his cage, he fly's right to the top of the door, or he goes to the top of my aquarium. Then he comes to me. He just seemed to always go to those two spots. I bought some towels, the small ones you find at a beauty supply, hair towels. They're cheap. And I put one of them on my aquarium, and one underneath the door. He rarely poops on me, but it happens every now and then. Mostly when he's scared or really excited. He likes to walk around on the floor and follow me around, usually he poops wherever he's at on the floor. So in my room, he pick's certain spots. I'm just greatful it doesn't smell, and it is easy to clean up. Hope this helps.
Jen 




> Originally posted by Maddiekisses:
> *I had never considered this before, but I've come across a few places in my pigeon research that says pigeons can be house/potty-trained. There was one website that supposedly had links to sites to show how it was done, but none of the links worked. Is this a completely unrealistic idea? It's not like pigeon poop is hard to clean up, but thinking my pigeon could be house-broken is rather appealing.*


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## screamingeagle (Oct 16, 2002)

They CAN be trained. It takes patience though. And time. Most animals have set times when they go poop. Spirit (my white male) likes to go every 15 minutes on the dot. What I do (again, when I have time and the patience) is when it gets close to his time to poop, I shake his treat jar (which always makes him come running over) and get him onto the ledge of his cage (so his bottom end hangs over into his cage) and then I tell him "go poop", and usually within a minute or two, he goes. Sometimes he'll go right on command. This is something to do when you're not busy.
If you can't catch them before they go, they won't get it. And give them a treat when they go. Spirit gets Parakeet tropical blend treat seeds made by Kaytee. I only had time to do the training for one day, but it went pretty good. If you can do it for a few days straight, making sure you catch them before they go, I think you can have them trained.

Good luck!

Suzanne


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## Maddiekisses (Sep 17, 2003)

Well, that's really cool about Skye being a little celebrity! Do you suppose he will be back on 'Pet Psychic'? If he is be sure to let me know! I agree, I think it's great that people are learning about how smart pigeons are and how they make wonderful pets. You and Skye are getting the word out there and that's super!



> Originally posted by Trees Gray:
> *Yes, Skye is a celebrity. He was on animal Planets, "Pet Psychic". He told Sonya about his whole past of how he was abandaned with his sister, and how I hand fed him and hurt his throat. (that was my first time hand feeding babies). She was incredibly accurate with what he told her, what a gas!! The whole day was unbelievable, but I was impressed by how well he behaved around the cats and dogs, and how he never pooped!!! They had professional trainers placing all the animals strategically, so there wouldn't be any unforseen accidents. I had visions in my mind of how he would take off in the studio and hit all those lights and cameras!! He didn't. He sat in front of the camera and posed beautifully. They used his picture on several shows. He is the very first pigeon on the show, I think it's great because Sonya conveyed the fact that pigeons are intelligent birds and that they have feelings.I'd like to get him back on for a follow up, and bring him back with his sister. Treesa
> *


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## Maddiekisses (Sep 17, 2003)

At least your Merlin has a few spots where he always 'goes'. My Owl doesn't seem to have that figured out.







He pretty much goes wherever he happens to be. He has a few spots where he especially likes to hang out and I've got towels there. It's easy to clean up after him with the towels. Owl follows me around on the floor too and the floor seems to be fair game. That's okay since our house is in a state of disarray right now. We're in the process of tiling most of the floor. So usually he will poop on tile or yucky carpet that is getting ripped up anyway. 

If I figure out a way to potty-train him I'll be sure to let you know!











> Originally posted by glamrckgrl:
> *Hi again!
> I also was told pigeons couldn't be trained. It seems Merlin has certain spots where he poops. His cage is in my bedroom. When he wakes up and comes out of his cage, he fly's right to the top of the door, or he goes to the top of my aquarium. Then he comes to me. He just seemed to always go to those two spots. I bought some towels, the small ones you find at a beauty supply, hair towels. They're cheap. And I put one of them on my aquarium, and one underneath the door. He rarely poops on me, but it happens every now and then. Mostly when he's scared or really excited. He likes to walk around on the floor and follow me around, usually he poops wherever he's at on the floor. So in my room, he pick's certain spots. I'm just greatful it doesn't smell, and it is easy to clean up. Hope this helps.
> Jen
> ...


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## Maddiekisses (Sep 17, 2003)

I imagine it's possible to train them, but I haven't figured out a way yet. I will start paying much closer attention and see if Owl is on some sort of schedule. Like your Spirit going every 15 minutes or so. I think the way you're handling the house-breaking sessions is the best way to go. I know that with all of our dogs it was easy to teach them as long as they got goodies. I would imagine all animals would respond to positive reinforcement. Good luck with your lessons and thanks for the advice!



> Originally posted by screamingeagle:
> * They CAN be trained. It takes patience though. And time. Most animals have set times when they go poop. Spirit (my white male) likes to go every 15 minutes on the dot. What I do (again, when I have time and the patience) is when it gets close to his time to poop, I shake his treat jar (which always makes him come running over) and get him onto the ledge of his cage (so his bottom end hangs over into his cage) and then I tell him "go poop", and usually within a minute or two, he goes. Sometimes he'll go right on command. This is something to do when you're not busy.
> If you can't catch them before they go, they won't get it. And give them a treat when they go. Spirit gets Parakeet tropical blend treat seeds made by Kaytee. I only had time to do the training for one day, but it went pretty good. If you can do it for a few days straight, making sure you catch them before they go, I think you can have them trained.
> 
> ...


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## glamrckgrl (Aug 12, 2003)

I think the key word is patience! Merlin was about 3 months old when he picked his spots, and then I did encourage him to go to those two spots. I would take him right to the top of the door, right when he woke up. I didn't use treats, I would tell him he was a good boy, like how I trained my dogs. And it worked. He's sorta half trained. Thats good enough for me. 
Good Luck! 



> Originally posted by Maddiekisses:
> *At least your Merlin has a few spots where he always 'goes'. My Owl doesn't seem to have that figured out.
> 
> 
> ...


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## PidgePidge (May 14, 2003)

As a side-note, I have noticed that my male also 'holds it in' when he is on daddy-duty--i.e. sitting on imaginary eggs in his coop.

Pidge is not trained, but I have heard to training hook-bill birds in a way similar to what screaming eagle was saying. I heard that first you figure out how often they go, and then for a while, every time they go you say a command work, like 'go ahead'. Supposedly after a while, when you say the word around the time when they are 'due', they will defecate. -=-So you can take them to their cage or towel or whatever, and then make the command. Again, very time consuming. I wonder though--if you spent a few days taking them to a spot and telling them to 'go ahead' or whatever, if eventually they would go there themselves to do their business...? I don't know. Truth is, I don't have the patience. I just have a vacuum instead







But it would be nice, wouldn't it!?


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## glamrckgrl (Aug 12, 2003)

Hi Trees Gray,
I saw the episode of Animal Planet with your Skye. I thought It was so cool to see a pigeon on there! I was wondering what kind of pigeon is Skye? My Merlin looks exactly the same. I Thought he was a type of Homer. But from all the pics I've seen of Homer's, now I have no clue! 
Jen




> Originally posted by Trees Gray:
> *Yes, Skye is a celebrity. He was on animal Planets, "Pet Psychic". He told Sonya about his whole past of how he was abandaned with his sister, and how I hand fed him and hurt his throat. (that was my first time hand feeding babies). She was incredibly accurate with what he told her, what a gas!! The whole day was unbelievable, but I was impressed by how well he behaved around the cats and dogs, and how he never pooped!!! They had professional trainers placing all the animals strategically, so there wouldn't be any unforseen accidents. I had visions in my mind of how he would take off in the studio and hit all those lights and cameras!! He didn't. He sat in front of the camera and posed beautifully. They used his picture on several shows. He is the very first pigeon on the show, I think it's great because Sonya conveyed the fact that pigeons are intelligent birds and that they have feelings.I'd like to get him back on for a follow up, and bring him back with his sister. Treesa
> *


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## Maddiekisses (Sep 17, 2003)

I'm sure that you are right! Patience seems to be the keyword for just about everything. Unfortunately, patience is not one of my strong points. 

I pretty much treat Owl like he's one of the dogs. As a matter of fact, he often gets called 'a little dog' around here.











> Originally posted by glamrckgrl:
> * I think the key word is patience! Merlin was about 3 months old when he picked his spots, and then I did encourage him to go to those two spots. I would take him right to the top of the door, right when he woke up. I didn't use treats, I would tell him he was a good boy, like how I trained my dogs. And it worked. He's sorta half trained. Thats good enough for me.
> Good Luck!
> 
> *


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## Maddiekisses (Sep 17, 2003)

We have something in common, patience is not one of my strong points either!











> Originally posted by PidgePidge:
> *As a side-note, I have noticed that my male also 'holds it in' when he is on daddy-duty--i.e. sitting on imaginary eggs in his coop.
> 
> Pidge is not trained, but I have heard to training hook-bill birds in a way similar to what screaming eagle was saying. I heard that first you figure out how often they go, and then for a while, every time they go you say a command work, like 'go ahead'. Supposedly after a while, when you say the word around the time when they are 'due', they will defecate. -=-So you can take them to their cage or towel or whatever, and then make the command. Again, very time consuming. I wonder though--if you spent a few days taking them to a spot and telling them to 'go ahead' or whatever, if eventually they would go there themselves to do their business...? I don't know. Truth is, I don't have the patience. I just have a vacuum instead
> ...


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