[nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds

[Larry D Keeler]

I had my Burkes girl get out. Holly didn't go after her but I did crate her 
when the chase got exciting.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Danielle Antoine via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "Deanna Lewis" <DLewis at clovernook.org>; "NAGDU Mailing List,the National 
Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:32 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds


> 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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