[nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds

[Cindy Ray]

I had canaries for a while when my husband had dogs and when I did. When they first came home, the dogs would walk back and forth across the front of the cage and watch the birds fly back and forth nervously, but after a few days they ignored the birds.

Cindy

On Jul 31, 2014, at 10:32 AM, Danielle Antoine via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Whith my first dog guide, I had a parakeet and they coexisted just
> fine. Fagin would never ever go after Kaze' even when he escaped is
> cage and he never ever bothered around the cage or showed fear even
> with his dog bed in the same room. He was a Lab.
> 
> Best,
> Danielle
> 
> On 7/31/14, Deanna Lewis via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi Alysha,
>> I personally do not have pet birds, but I completely understand how this is
>> worrying you. About a year after getting my guide dog, I decided to get a
>> pet rabbit, I had rabbits in the past and our pet dogs were usually pretty
>> good with them. Pascal, liked to pester the rabbit, and the rabbit was
>> scared of him. I rehomed the rabbit in a few days, I didn't want the bunny
>> to be caged all the time due to Pascal trying to play with it. Pascal has
>> always been well behaved around my cats and other small animals, it was just
>> he liked to play rough with this particular bunny.
>> One thing I would suggest that may help you, is during your training with
>> the new dog, try to visit pet stores during training. See if there will be
>> stores in the area where you can sit with birds and let them and your dog
>> explore each other. This way, if your dog seems really agitated or
>> aggressive around the bird, you can discuss options with your trainer.
>> Hope this helps, best of luck!
>> Deanna and Pascal
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Alysha via nagdu
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2014 5:34 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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> 
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