Owlbears don't have the capacity to reason to come to that desired outcome. They attack what they see, don't know the concept required for them to come to that outcome, the ability to stop them attacking is all you should get. Feel free to look up terms such as unaligned and owlbear through 5e to understand why what you wish is not available.
I'm not disputing your claim, but
the owlbear cub lets you heal its leg in a later scene, given an animal handling check. It feels like the cub's mother should have a handle on that concept.
