 Guy, I say hi to the sniffers. Can I sniff you? Mmm. Hello, sniffers and newbies. Welcome to my channel. My name is Marlene McCohen, and I am teaching you to love, tame, train, and get your birds out of cages. And there goes Cody. I thought that it would be awesome to have Cody in this video because it's a very special video that I'm really excited about. And when I brought him upstairs, I knew that this might be difficult because Cody is a rambunctious bird. All right, so a very cool YouTuber named Mikey Bustos, who I'm sure a lot of you follow, reached out to me because he recently got an African gray. And Mikey has some very successful YouTube channel, so he travels a lot. And it seems that Mikey had been worried about what to do before he leaves his bird because he didn't want his bird to get depressed or not know that he's coming back. And you, my loyal followers, all you sniffers, went on and told him about my time for technique, which I will call the Marlene McCohen's time for method. She taught me how to communicate better with my bird. So Mikey was asking me about the time for technique, which is the time for bed technique when I go out of town. So I sent Mikey a video on how and why I do this, which you can check out on his channel. And it might be a little more organized and concise than this video right here. And he sent me a video of him doing it with his bird. So in a second, we're gonna check that video out and see how Mikey did while you are one crazy bird. So a little backstory about this technique. Before I got my first African gray, George, I was 100% aware of the capabilities of an African gray. I've been studying birds since I was seven years old, and I was studying Irene Pepperberg's work with African grays since, man, at least 10 or 15 years, I had found documentaries, I had read a lot of her books, and I just knew what my bird was capable of. So when I got George, I really wanted to see how far I could push his intelligence. I wanted him to be like Alex, honestly. Now, of course, I didn't have the resources to create a whole facility and conduct a whole bunch of research, but I wanted to create something for myself that would serve as a communication key between me and my bird so that he would understand what's about to happen and that I would have a simple way of explaining things to him. So here is my theory, and it's called the time for theory. Now, I know you guys have heard me mention this a lot and I've never done a whole entire video on it. So here it goes. When I got George, I not only wanted to teach him to understand, but I wanted to teach him to talk. I had enough birds to know how much they understand, but George was gonna be my first bird with maximum potential to communicate with me and I just knew it. So my theory was that if I could come up with a term or a small sequence of words that would indicate to my bird that something is about to happen, then every time he heard that sequence, whatever word followed it, even if it was new, then he would understand that that is the thing that is about to happen. Not only is it the thing that is about to happen, but it might be the thing that we're about to do, the thing that he's about to get, or the thing that he can tell me he wants. So the two words I chose were time for and I would use these words before I introduced anything to the bird or before we did anything together. Time for fly flies. Time for land on mommy's head. Now, essentially that would happen before he flew. Now, with this method, I was hoping that he would soon learn to be able to apply words to sentences. So before I get into some fun stories of what George did, let me tell you how to use it a little bit. So let's say I wanted to take a shower. If me and George were going to shower, yeah, when I shower I put my birds up on the railing. I would say time for shower. If we're going to eat, I would say time for food. And then every specific food that I give him, I would say time for almonds, time for carrot, time for water. After many times of doing this, he would start learning that the isolated thing that is different is the third word. So he would know that that indicates this is what's going to happen now. So as soon as I got George, I put this plan in motion. George was my dream bird. I had always wanted an African gray and kind of like the way times are today, I had recently lost my mustache parakeet before then. And a lot of time had passed, but I decided to go ahead and get my dream bird. Because George and I were alone together every day, there was a lot of time for him to process and learn. And George was six months old when I got him. He wasn't exactly the most tame bird, but I tamed him along the way. And George also didn't talk for eight months either. So I wasn't even sure if he was going to be able to talk, but I kept on pressing on. Like I talked to him like he was a human being. Now I said time for as a preface before almost anything that I could, but it wasn't always appropriate. So sometimes I would have to say things like, good bird or I love you or yay George. There were all different kinds of words that I said, but I did make sure to use time for before an event or something new or anything that I could. So pretty quickly things started to happen. So let me get into a few stories about this. So one of the first things that would happen was George would learn a lot of noises in the house. Like certain computer noises, he was very good at imitating. I remember my brother came over and he was on my computer for a little while. And he told me, hey, you keep getting messages on your computer, but I can't find who they're coming from. It's the weirdest thing. And I was like, oh, that beeping noise, that's the bird. And he's like, he's doing it exactly like you're getting a message. I'm like, I know he goes, it can't be possible. I'm like, no, no, no, that's the bird. He's like, oh my God, this whole time I thought your computer was blowing up with people. And I'm like, no, no, no, that's just the bird copying the alerts. So yeah, kind of like the beeping that he's doing now. So all of those things were happening very quickly, but he wasn't really talking, but he was analyzing and learning little things that I did. So for example, I guess whenever I got stressed, I would go, okay. And I would see the bird do it. George would go, okay. Or anytime in between things I would do, he'd go, all right. And then I learned that I say that because I saw that he was saying that. Not only that, but I soon learned that he says it at the exact right time. So it's not just that he knows I'm gonna say it because he heard me say it or he's seeing that thing. He can literally feel a certain kind of emotion combined with a certain kind of tiredness or a certain kind of moment that when it keeps happening, I'm gonna go, all right. So he would often do this at exactly the same time as me. And what I learned about African graze is some of them are just entertained by watching and analyzing you. George was one of those birds. He wasn't so much into toys. He was much more into the idea of watching and learning me intently. And it was fascinating because I would learn a lot about myself. I didn't know that I did that all the time. Just like Cody, every time George is on the phone, Cody says, um, um, um. And I told George, I'm like, you don't know you stutter. And I've been trying to tell you, but clearly Cody has made it obvious. So these are kind of things that African graze are able to do. But I wanted to see if like Alex, the African great, my bird could apply words to sentences without me spending eight hours a day teaching him actively, but with me communicating with him in all my free time and including him in everything. I remember specifically one day, I think I had auditioned for some role and I didn't get it. And it was just stressing me out and they called me to tell me I didn't get it. And I was just like, uh-huh, uh, yeah. And suddenly my bird George said, all right, time for a shower. And I looked at him and I realized that I had missed the time that I normally showered and he somehow knew what I needed. And that was the first time he had said a full sentence to me. So it was pretty fascinating. So I knew he could gauge what it was time for, but I didn't know if he could gauge that I really needed it or not. I needed some time with him to learn his behavior and really analyze when and where he says things. Now, one day, I hope you guys are enjoying the backstory, but I have to tell you guys these things. One day I decided to apply the model rival technique. That's Irene Pepperberg's technique that she uses with Alex the African Gray. And I wanted to combine that with my time for method. And generally I was always alone in the apartment so I didn't really have anybody to be the model slash rival. But one day my friend came over and I said to her, hey, we're gonna do this thing and she's not necessarily into birds or know anything about birds. So this felt very weird to her. And I said to her, hey, I have this glass of juice. I want you to ask me for it and say time for juice. And then I'm gonna give it to you and then you are going to like say thank you. So what does my friend do? She goes, can I have some juice? And I said, yes, here's some juice. And I gave her the juice. And then she goes, thank you. And I go, yay, and my bird's watching. And then I said to her, time for juice. And she said, here, have some juice. And I took a sip of it and then my bird was watching and she said, yay, you know. So we did this over and over again. The bird obviously made no mention of him understanding or processing it, but for me it was worth a try. The next day she comes over and she's in the fridge. I'm sure I've told you guys this before. And I said, oh, do you need something? I'm sorry, did I forget to offer you something? And she's like, oh no, your bird just asked me for juice. So I'm getting him juice. And I'm like, whoa, what? Like, you heard this and I didn't. And we just did this yesterday and he really learned it. I'm like, what did he say? She's like, he said, time for juice. So I'm getting him juice. Anyway, that was the beginning of George talking a lot. He would tell me it's time for bed. He would tell me it's time for juice. He would tell me it's time for anything. In fact, if I showed him an almond and I had never ever said time for almonds and I just said almond and he ate it and liked it, then the next time he saw me with one, he would say time for almond. Meaning like, time for you to give me the almond. I know it's an almond because you told me that yesterday. You didn't say time for almonds, but I know time for because I understand that time for means it is time for the item or time for this activity. And when I put them together, I understand that you're going to give it to me. And this basically proved to be true and it worked so often. Cody, what are you doing? So as our relationship went on, my bird just spoke to me like that all the time. And anything that he needed, I gave him. And anything that he asked for, I made sure to give it to him because one thing that's very important in the technique is that if your bird does ask you for something, he needs to understand that it will be rewarded. If a bird asks you for a treat, you want to give it to him so that he understands that that action elicits a certain kind of response and then he keeps on doing it. That's how you get your bird to speak. It's exactly like kids, except that I had decided to simplify it. One day when I turned off the shower and George was sitting in the shower, once I turned off the water, he said, time water goodbye. He understood time indicated this is what's happening. He knew the word water because I would say water. Every time I gave him something to drink and he knew goodbye because I would tell him goodbye, George, before I left and he was able to put those things together and that's how I knew that my method was really, really working. And most of all, it simplifies the whole process. Now here's something really important that I need to convey to you guys. This is not just for African grays. Just because an African gray has the capability to speak, meaning he has the physical capability to talk, does not mean that other birds understand anything less. It's the same with your dogs, just because your dogs can't talk doesn't mean they are an intelligent, doesn't mean they don't understand keywords and it doesn't mean they don't understand a lot of things that you guys would be surprised. Honestly guys, animals are so smart and we do not give them enough credit. So this technique can be used overall for all your birds than all your animals if you feel like it. Now, in the beginning of this video, I told you that I made a special video for Mikey Bustos which explains how to convey to your bird that you are leaving town in such a way that he knows that you're gonna be back because birds are extremely sensitive and it's very important that they know and start to learn and understand that when you leave them, you will be back because with birds you are part of their flock and it hurts them a lot and a lot of people have lost birds due to the bird being depressed when the people were out of town and it's one of the saddest things. Now, since Mikey travels a lot, he's been very worried about that especially having a bird so intelligent such as an African Grey. So I made a special video for his channel and I want you to go check out his vlog today and watch that video for that information on what to do when you go out of town and Mikey has made me a video which we're gonna watch right now of him applying the technique before he goes out of town. So we are going to see how Mikey did. Okay, so let's watch Mikey's video now. Hey guys, Mikey Bustos here and Marlene is the bomb. Is she not? Yes, all you sniffers. She taught me how to communicate better with my bird. I'm gonna try this time for concept with my African Grey Legia here. Now, I'm gonna be leaving for five days traveling all the way across the world. I live in Manila, Philippines. I'm gonna be over in Seattle doing some things and sadly this is the longest time I will be absent from my bird's life. Right now she's about 24 weeks old and it's gonna kill me. Okay, Legia, time for outside. Yes, all right. Yes, Legia say hi to the sniffers. Can I sniff you? Mmm, your breath is so nutty. Okay, time for outside. I'm gonna put this on, yes. Let's show the sniffers how good you are with putting on this harness. Yes, make daddy proud. Sorry guys, I am like a soccer mom except it's a bird and we don't play soccer. All right, there we go. Step up. Good girl, yes. Time for outside. All right, sniffers. So I'm here in me and Legia's favorite spot. It's this random native guava tree which grows naturally here in the Philippines. Legia, time for guava tree. Yes. Oops. Time for guava tree. Oops, there we go. But she pooed, thankfully not on me. Yes. Love that I could just park her right there. Time for me to chill. All right, Legia. Time for move on. Let's go. Come on. I stretch those beautiful wings. Come. You need to move on before the storm comes. All right, Legia, time for, we're back. Legia, time for scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Yes. Time for scratch, scratch, scratch. Time for kisses. Time for kisses. Time for scratch, scratch, scratch. Legia, time for shower, shower, shower. All right, Legia, time for sleep, sleep, sleep. See you in the morning. Putting the child to bed. There she is in bed. Time to go. Legia, time for trip. Mm-hmm, time for trip. Not you to trip. Time for trip. I'm going to be gone for one, time for sleep, sleep, sleep. Two, time for sleep, sleep, sleep. Three, time for sleep, sleep, sleep. Four, time for sleep, sleep, sleep. Five, time for sleep, sleep, sleep. And yay, I'm home. Okay, remember that. I know you don't understand that right now, but you'll understand what that code means. Okay? You be good. I have to take you off my shoulder now. Be good, okay? I'll be watching you. Now go play with your toy. Play, play, play. Bye, Ligaya. I'll be back. Promise. I'll be back. All right, sniffers. Here at the airport now. Did all my crying on the way here. But, Marlene, how'd I do? I've been trying to let my bird know. I did exactly what you said, and I am confident that soon, I will have established a communication system with my bird. Thank you so much to all the sniffers out there. And guys, feel free to subscribe to my channel at MikeyBustosVlogs for daily vlogs about the random positive things in life, including the bird that I miss so much. Okay, bye. Time for bye. I totally enjoyed watching Mikey's video and I hope you did too. Thank you for asking me about this technique and thank you fans for reaching out to Mikey because I think this is a very important one and I'm very happy to be able to talk about it today. Now I just wanna let you guys know that the information on what to do before you go out of town is in his vlog. So I'm not gonna repeat that here. I want you to check it out over on his channel, but I wanna go over real quick what we learned today. And the first most important thing is that all birds are smart and you can apply this and use this technique on any bird because even if they don't respond with physical language, they will understand what you are saying and if you're close and bonding correctly with your bird, you will know that. So please don't underestimate even the smallest birds in the world because they have so much heart, so much intelligence and so much value. The second thing is if you do have a very intellectual speaker or you know that your bird has that capability, this kind of communication with your bird not only helps your bird understand everything that's gonna happen, but it helps you learn to get in the habit of communicating with your bird which essentially helps you create a much smarter communicative bird and a less emotionally distressed bird because they are aware of what is about to happen because you are explaining it to them and these key words will start sticking out to them and they will learn to understand what they mean and when they know what things are going to happen before they do, you tend to have a much calmer bird. So even if you change up a routine, they still become very well aware of what their future holds. And if you guys want more stories on how George would apply words to sentences and new things that he would say, I am full of them and I'd love to share them with you. He was such an amazing, amazing bird and he basically changed my life. Every bird that I've had has changed my life in some way or another. Before I go, I wanna tell you one cute thing. One day I was on my phone and I was paying a lot of attention to it and George was behind me and he pulled my shirt and he said, time for bird. So guys, that means that not only was he able to apply bird to time for because I would tell him he's a good bird and such, but he understood that I wasn't making time for him and he understood how to convey to me that he wanted time and just think how many birds can't convey that because they weren't given the opportunity so they just scream. You guys might not be understanding that that is what your bird needs and you just think you have an annoying screamer. So what I wanna leave you with today is please don't judge your birds for screaming. Please try to take some time to understand what it is that they might be needing at that moment. For those of you who have really loud birds like macaws, sometimes when Rocky screams, it can get into your soul. It is so loud, but it's the only voice he has. So you can't get mad. You have to say, whoa, what is it that he needs right now? You have to learn to understand that that is the only voice he has to communicate. Sure, he can talk, but Rocky isn't gonna say, hey, I'm feeling a little bit lonely right now. Do you mind like putting that phone down and giving me attention? And these are the things that birds need. All animals do, but it's very hard for them to convey. I was able to give George a little bit of a better way to communicate that, but when your bird screams, he's ultimately telling you something like that. So please be a little more sensitive to your birds and understand that when they are screaming, they need something that you probably can give them and should give them. And a lot of time it is your time because you are part of their flock. So I love you guys so, so much. Bye.