Hello! Thank you for taking the time and initiative to build an amazing bond with your parrot so they can THRIVE and stay with YOU for years to come! 

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I grew up with a house full of pets --birds, cats, dogs, snakes, hamsters...and I loved them all.

I volunteered in a veterinary hospital at a young age, assisting in surgeries and delivering puppies. I earned a Bachelor's in Psychology from CU Boulder, where I also worked as a research assistant studying dopamine reward pathways in animals and coauthored multiple published papers. I earned a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Denver and taught elementary school for seven years.

 

One day while scrolling through my streaming services, I decided to watch a documentary called Parrot Confidential. I realized for the first time how incredibly intelligent, capable, emotional, and underestimated parrots are, and immediately felt heartbroken over the lives my childhood budgies had led back in the 80s. I was a just a little kid back then and there was no plethora of parrot info on the internet. Additionally, much of the information that was available about pet parrots at that time has since been debunked or discredited. "Mario" and "Luigi" had spent all of about three years of their short lives in what we now call a "travel cage" with a diet of junk seed and endless millet. But now I wasn't seven anymore, and I had all the information in the world at my fingertips. I decided I was going to make a difference for parrots, starting with the first members of my flock--my adopted adult budgies, Zebulon and Hisabella. And I never looked back.

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It has been remarkable to me to see how similar parrots are to children when it comes to learning, and I've applied a lot of the strategies I'd learned as a professional educator to helping people understand, train, and bond with their birds. I've provided training consultations around metro Denver and beyond on topics including diet, cage set-up, targeting, aggression, "step-up," recall, toys, and more. I've also volunteered with a parrot sanctuary and worked at a parrot shop.

 

I now have a fabulous flock of eight: one Timneh African Grey, one Blue Crown Conure, two Cockatiels, and four Budgies--all with whom I fall more in love each day. Keeping their little brains challenged definitely keeps me on my toes, and it's one of my greatest joys in life. I dream of eventually free-flight training my Grey and Blue Crown. I don't proclaim to be an "expert." I learn more everyday.