[nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds

[Larry D Keeler]

That's what I did. But, my birds are off to the side of the room. My little 
dog used to sleep underneath the cages.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nicole Torcolini via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "'Alysha'" <alyshaj at comcast.net>; "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National 
Association of Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2014 10:44 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds


>I think that you are doing all of the right things. You could also see what
> the dog thinks of the birds by putting them in their cages and letting the
> dog walk around off leash. If the dog approaches the bird cages, monitor 
> the
> dog very closely. If the dog shows too much interest in them, redirect the
> dog to something, such as calling the dog or telling the dog to go 
> somewhere
> else. You can usually train a dog to not go in a certain area as well as 
> to
> stay in one, so you could train the dog to stay on a towel or dog bed 
> unless
> called and to not go into the bird cage area. I know that this would not
> keep the animals completely separated, but it would at least give the 
> birds
> a place to go if they felt unsafe. Likewise, you might want to consider
> keeping some kind of crate of dog house where your dog can go into it. The
> dog might not like the birds and might want to get away from them. If you
> have a crate but want to keep it somewhere else, you could get one of the
> cloth folding crates to have as a second crate.
>
> Nicole and Lexia
>
> P.S. I know some pretty funny bird stories, so email me off list if you 
> want
> to hear them.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Alysha via 
> nagdu
> Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2014 2:34 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds
>
> OK, so I have a question that may be a little unusual. After I'd had 
> Hammer
> for about 5 years, I decided to get a pet parrot. I knew that Hammer is
> pretty much the most calm, gentle dog on Earth. He has never been 
> distracted
> by small animals of any kind and has no prey drive to speak of. I took him
> with me to the breeder to regularly visit my baby African grey before she
> came home, and the only interest he showed to anything there was the
> occasional piece of bird food on the floor. A year after I brought home
> Ellie, my grey, I adopted a second bird named Rocky (a green cheek 
> conure).
> The birds live in my living/dining room area where I spend the majority of
> my time at home. They spend most of their time on their cages, their 
> hanging
> bird gyms, or on me, but they will occasionally fly to the couch or other
> places in the room. Hammer has been perfect with the birds and even knows 
> he
> can safely ignore Ellie when she clicks her tongue and yells "Hammer, come
> here!" Both birds are flighted (their wings are not clipped) and they are
> allowed out-of-cage time pretty much whenever I am home.
>
>
>
> Now that my completely trustworthy boy is retiring at the end of this 
> year,
> I'll be bringing a new, unknown pup home. One of my biggest fears about 
> this
> is that the new dog will not be safe to have loose when the birds are out. 
> I
> wouldn't leave the dog and birds out together unattended, but the worst
> could happen in a split second even if I was sitting right there. And if
> they can't all manage to peacefully coexist, it will mean that all of them
> will have lots of serious restrictions (less out-of-cage time for the 
> birds
> and more time on a leash, in a crate, or in another room for the dog).
>
>
>
> My plan (as far as it goes) is to keep the new dog on leash pretty much
> constantly for a couple of weeks as recommended by the school and see how 
> he
> reacts to the birds. I can offer praise and treats if he seems to ignore 
> it
> when a bird takes flight. The birds will be caged or in another room when
> the dog and I are playing. Does anyone have any more suggestions? Have any
> of you dealt with this before? It's scary because birds are so fragile, 
> much
> more so than cats, and can be seriously hurt or killed by a dog, even if 
> the
> dog is just playing! It's definitely something I've already brought up 
> with
> the school and will continue to discuss with them, but I'd also love to 
> hear
> any experiences or words of wisdom you guys might be able to offer.
>
>
>
> Alysha
>
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