[nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds

[Larry D Keeler]

Don't know about the coniure but that African will sure get it across! 
That's why I'd watch him as well. That kind of bird bite could be aweful 
sensative on the nose!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Becky Frankeberger 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: Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dogs and Pet Birds


> It took one peck on the nose for my golden retriever to get the message. 
> Now
> no blood was drawn, so the bird only  warned the dog. I was part of a 
> caged
> bird club and parrots have very strong beaks. So your plan of keeping the
> dog on leash when you get home and you redirecting the dog away from the
> birds is fine. But those birds will get there point across by a warning if
> they need to.
>
> I taught Baxter how to retrieve. I lost track of the parrot. Baxter walked
> over to the bird on the floor kind of pointed with his nose, but kept a
> distance, lol. That one peck got the point across.
>
> Becky and golden Jake
> -----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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