3CrazyDanesMom

Ok guys, we will be picking Jasper up this weekend and we're so excited!! He is eating very well at 12 wks old. I made some "chop" for him this past weekend and he loved it. I pulsed together sweet mini peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, chia seeds, and cooked whole wheat pasta. My question is do any of you pulse different veggies, freeze, and mix certain things together to give them more of a variety during the week or do you make one big batch of chop and they eat that until it's gone? Also, we're giving him Harrison's fine pellets, as others have suggested on here but I was wondering what you guys give as far as seeds. The breeder suggested I put seed and pellets in his cage at night but I'm not really sure what to go with that doesn't have a bunch of artificial junk in it. Advice please?

Thank you for the info

Can you recommend a brand Timbersmom?

Thanks for the advice! This stuff gets so overwhelming for me, worrying about making sure I'm doing everything right.

So we are getting our baby mid October and I'm trying to decide on foods. We've decided on Harrison's High Potency coarse pellets. Doesn't he also need to be on seed and if so what do y'all recommend? I know this is in addition to fresh fruit and veggies, any advice is greatly appreciated!

The bird fair is Labor Day weekend and we're holding off until then, we're excited to check it out

I agree. We're gonna just go ahead and go with the biggest one, instead of starting out with a smaller one. I'm a SAHM so we're here most all the time, and when we're not my mom usually comes over to sit with our dogs, but I want to be able to put a variety of things in there for him to play with on the rare times he might be caged for a while. Looking at all the different cages gets a little overwhelming though..lol

I think we have decided against the corner cage, thank you guys

Thanks for the advice everybody Fortunately we have until the end of October so I have a decent bit of time to keep looking! There will be an exotic bird fair within a few hrs of us in September so I'm wanting to check there (I will thoroughly clean and sanitize if I find one) first. The space really isn't a problem for us, but as SterlingSL was talking about, our bird won't be housed much during the day. I was afraid the smaller one wouldn't be big enough after toys and all, yet at the same time afraid the bigger one would be way too big! I think the corner cages are awesome, but I may end up going with the traditional shaped cage. Oh decisions, decisions!!!

Just wondering which cage you guys would pick. My husband and I keep going back and forth on cage size and just want to make sure we get the right one. We debated on getting the smaller one, then buying the larger if need be. What do y'all think? http://www.ebay.com/itm/262421145503 http://www.ebay.com/itm/262002049268

I've used this before as well and was totally happy with the results!

I planned on making this and using it for the cage. What do you guys think? http://birds.about.com/od/birdcages/a/homemadecleaner.htm?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons I stopped using scented candles and store bought cleaners several years ago, for the health of ourselves and our dogs. I do occasionally use vodka and essential oils as a room deodorizer, as well as a natural disinfectant. I've actually been wanting to boot the bleach for a while so this may be the time to do it

lol Love the pics!!

It is so good to read the positive feedback, because I was really concerned after reading a lot of negative stuff on a facebook group. Our girls are pretty laid back for the most part, but I know they'll be super curious to begin with which is one reason for us introducing the scent on the stuffed animal as I mentioned above. We're thinking we're gonna put the cage in our den, right beside the breakfast room. I have a baby gate that I can put between the 2 rooms and the dogs will still be able to see what's going on in the cage and the bird see what's going on with them as well. They will never be totally around each other without supervision. It was suggested that we take introductions at everybodys own pace so that's the plan. A few months ago our hearing dane discovered 2 (2 wk old) baby kittens under our house. I know there is a difference between birds and kittens but they were super gentle with the kittens, which made us feel pretty good knowing they were around something so small and fragile with no problems. We also have a ton of cardinals and hummingbirds that hang out by both porches and the dogs have never bothered them. Just a few reasons why we think things are gonna be ok. The only thing these crazies have issues with are squirrels, but they deserve it cause I think they purposely antagonize one of my deafies lol Thanks again for the positive stuff, I can't wait to post pics for you guys!

Oh I may end up trying that coconut yogurt, it looks good! This is the recipe I use to make the plain yogurt http://www.creativesimplelife.com/homemade-yogurt-in-a-crock-pot/ I would use Stonyfield plain whole milk yogurt as my starter, then the next time I make it I use a few tablespoons from my homemade batch. This is a very forgiving recipe and it turns out perfect every time. As I said I make it mostly for the dogs but we also enjoy it with a little maple syrup, nuts, and fresh fruit. Let me know if you try it! I was a little intimidated at the thought of leaving it out when I first started but I've been making it for over 2 yrs now with no problems

Oh my goodness her stealing the cheese is too funny! Ok so we'll just try it as a special treat every once in a while, thanks!

To help avoid bloat (common in Great Danes and can quickly kill them), I make homemade plain yogurt and give with every meal. Will I be able to give this to our CAG as well with no issues? We wont get our new baby until October but I'm trying to read everything I can and I thought I had seen dairy wasn't safe for birds. Advice please! I'm learning so much from you guys!!

Are essential oils safe to use/diffuse around birds? I've been making homemade cleaning products for a few years now and they're usually mixtures of vodka, white vinegar, alcohol, baking soda, borax, washing soda, castile soaps, and essential oils. I still use regular dish soap and I use bleach but usually only for laundry.

Thank you for the advice and encouragment! I'm feeling more at ease about having a bird and dogs in the same house. There was a guy on one of the deaf Danes facebook groups that runs a bird rescue and he had a lot of positive things to say about the Danes and birds being around one another. I really think everything is gonna be fine and we're going to be implementing some new training ideas with our Danes between now and the time our new baby comes home so I'm feeling pretty good about things. I've been glued to this forum most all day, learning from you guys!!

The doors being opened was a big worry for us but we've decided to screen in our porches and put latches on inside and outside of porch doors so they can't just be left open. I'm glad we have a few months to get everything ready!

Hey everybody, I am new to the group but excited to learn from you guys! We are going to be getting our new baby at the end of October so we're trying to learn as much as possible because we are fairly new to birds. We're a family of 4, kids are 9 and 12. We homeschool so we're home most of the time. We also have 3 Great Danes, 2 that were born deaf. I'm not getting a lot of positive info on having dogs and birds together. Our dogs are a huge (not just cause they're danes!) part of our family and our bird will be too. We plan on bringing a stuffed animal that the baby has been around to help familiarize the dogs to the birds scent and offering all kinds of awesome treats so they will see the scent as a positive thing. Any other advice, experience, or info anybody can offer??