I read the statement below on another forum, thought provoking.
What do YOU think about it?

"I just want to get you out of that "step up is a must, owner
must dominate the bird" -pattern. It is not needed."

I do think that stepping up is important, but my beliefs are changing that it's a "must." When I first got Winston my goal was to teach him to step up within the cage, as I did with Jerry. That didn't go so well since Winston had so much baggage and it was my husband who convinced me to not worry so much about the step ups and simply work on building trust and confidence. And that's what I've been doing, and the things like Winston stepping onto me (on his terms) are coming in time. I'm not forcing him to step up - I don't like to force my birds to do anything. And I don't force Jerry to step up either. If I ask Jerry and he's not interested at the time, that's ok. Lulu will nearly always step up when you simply put a hand in front of her, command or no command.

In an emergency situation, what would I do if the budgies refused to step up? Jerry would if I made him. If not, I'd send him to his cage and carry his cage out the door (in a fire situation or evacuation situation). With Winston, I'd bring his cage to him and in that situation he ALWAYS hops in because his cage is his safety zone and that's how we started putting him away at night (now he puts himself away at the "Go home" command).

So I'm starting to change my thinking to be that step ups are not a must.

None of my birds step up. And to be honest I don't really care if they do. But then they are small and the budgies are free to fly in their room . And my linnie hops on my shoulder when I open the door and goes back in when I lean down. They are very easy to manage without my being in total "control".

This is an interesting question. I've known many wild caught birds that never stepped up, and you could only dream about petting them. Interaction was solely based on talking to them and teaching them commands. When I worked with these birds they still came out every day, were not clipped, could not be touch, but responded to dozen of commands, to either come out of the cage or go in...what ever was needed. I think that because they were wild caught they were treated more like the wild animal they were. You don't expect to get all cuddly with a tiger? The same thing with these birds. SO I do not think it is necessary. and in all honesty any bird no matter how well trained in step ups, might not step up in an emergency situation like a fire. There instinct will tell them to fly instead. Also worked with a BFA who would not step up since a chick. She is completely phobic of stepping up, but not of hands. You could hug or pet or wrestle with her, but ask her to step up and she panicked! I tried working with her one day and I had her on my chest, all I did was try to put my hand flat on my chest and have her climb on to it, So it would be a step up but with out any height what so ever, after that she was so stressed out she stayed on the bottom of the cage all puffed up for the rest of the day! I never tried to have her step up agian,as she would come close to a heart attack. But what she loved was if you put your arms around her on top of the cage and scooped her up, as if like a hug. If you did that you could carry her any where and she was fine. SO the end result was to teach her commands to go back in her cage. And she is a functional happy bird that you can play with and pet and snuggle, she just will not step up.

Well, this has many different opinions like wing clipping.
My feelings, having dealt with Cleo especially, is that it depends on the bird and the situation.
Living in an area, where we have to duck and run in an emergency for a tornado, I need to know that I can do my best to get my animals to safety. Now, that said, yes..I would expect them to not act "right" and laugh and sing in an emergency. But, I have to know that I have done all I can beforehand to prep for the situation.
If the bird can stepup and go with you, then it's good. If your bird is terrified of stepping up and some are, then it is your responsibility to be able to evacuate the bird safely...safely.
Also, is vetting. Birds need to be able to be safely taken to the vet. If they are able to be safely transported without stepping up, then thats great.
Now, on the interacting side, I can tell you that the bond that has formed between Cleo and I over working with her to stepup is amazing. She has even, on a small scale, started flying to my arm. Not on cue, but just cause she wants to and apparantly, she feels safe/good on my arm.

My family has noticed that even when she is in her cage now, she is quieter, more relaxed.
I don't stick my hand into her cage anymore, I don't want people sticking their hand in my house. I put the hand perch in, she steps up, I take her out, she steps onto my hand and off we go and she's happy. She jabbers and appears to like it there and being with me. I feel like accepting the fact that her cage is her home and keep my hands out has went a long way in working with her. I don't let her play on top anymore either. I let her play inside, with her toys (I stick my hand in there to put the toys there) and anywhere else. But not on top.
I believe that she had gotten conditioned to biting me from me gettin in her nest. She needs to know that it' s her's, at least that's what I believe.
Back to stepping up; another reason is for bathing. I am anxious to be able to try to get Cleo in the shower on my arm, I might try that on a warm day soon.
If the birds can get a good spray shower instead, then that's good as well. Cleo has done well with that. But I feel like she'll like the shower once she gets used to it.
Some people enjoy their pets from afar. No need to pet em, stepup, etc. So, that's a consideration etc. Purely spectator pet ownership and the pets are well cared for.
So, as I said, I have no reason to think stepping up is MANDATORY. However, it IS mandatory that a person be able to safely, securely and effectively take care of their animals, whatever it takes.

I couldn't agree more!! I don't even use the words. I ask my birds to "Come Here." Most times I really don't say anything. I offer my arm and they step up. If they don't want to come visit at that moment, it's alright, I'll ask later.

I agree.

I have read over and over that they MUST step up in case of a fire emergency situation. I've given this a lot of thought. What's the first thing that's going to happen if there's a fire in your home? Your fire detectors will sound. This will be enough to panic most birds before you even make a move.

I wouldn't even waste my time asking for a 'step up' in a fire situation. I would have to pick up my large guys with two hands to get them into a pillow case type carrier so I could then crawl out below the smoke. Because you would never, EVER stand up in a smoke-filled area.

Ahh Karen, I'm gonna play the devil's advocate here, haha. They WILL stepup for you though at some point.

But, how would it be if they never ever stepped up?
All I know is that I Feel a whole lot better now about having Cleo able to stepup if needed, not necessarily JUST in an emergency.
I agree about the fire. It's get them out anyway you can the safest.
Was there a post earlier about do you have an emergency plan? I think so. Can't remember.

Yes, they will but I don't insist (barring an emergency) that they do it that moment, just because I asked.


I have to honestly say, if they couldn't do it after a positive training attempt, I would respect their decision. Maybe they don't trust enough or simply choose not to interact with me that way. Kind of like a bird that doesn't like to be touched, I wouldn't insist that I touch them just because I wanted to.

That said, I do feel that step ups and handling a bird are two separate things. I would still handle them to administer meds and treatments as I had to do when both my birds first came to live with me.

I wanted to comment on two points that Mark brought up - being able to safely transport and vet a bird who doesn't step up and showering a bird who doesn't step up.

These are my work-arounds that work well for me and Winston:

When going to the vet I have Winston fly into his travel cage (which is his old, smaller cage). I hold it up to his current cage with the door open, and he hops in. It's easy to carry and fits well in the car. He has his annual well check coming up in a couple months and that's what we plan to do again. Jerry and Lulu each have travel carriers that they both go into, but I haven't even attempted that with Winston.

For showering, Winston won't be carried or fly into the bathroom as Jerry will. So I take his whole cage into the bathroom (ahhhh, again, the joys of small birds ), open the door, and up he flies to the shower curtain rod. He now knows how to fly down to the top of the shower head and dance in the little sprinkles that come off of it (it's a wide, flat disc that he can walk around on).

There are work-arounds to get these things accomplished.

Stepping up is the one thing that I expect Ollie to do, no matter what. If she doesn't want to wave on command, fine. If she doesn't want to be scritched, fine again. But she must always step up for me. And she always does. Not everybody agrees with this, and that's fine. For me it's a must though. Perhaps things would be different in an emergency like a fire where fire alarms are going off (I hope I never have to find out), but there are other things that happen that make it imperative that Ollie obeys the step up (or "come here" or whatever word cue you choose to use) command. For example, Ollie hates my mother and flies at her head to try and bite her hair and forehead quite often. It's imperative that Ollie steps up off my mom's head when I tell her to, or she could inflict serious damage. We live in tornado alley here in Kansas. Getting to the basement is essential if we're in a tornado warning. Of course there are countless other situations where I believe it is necessary for her to step up with I ask her to.

Ollie and I have a great relationship. If she resists stepping up then I take a step back and try to figure out why. Is she scared of something, am I wearing a big chunky necklace or something? Except for a few rare occasions she always steps up happily. Maybe that's why it's so easy for me to say that stepping up on command is something every pet parrot should always do.