kins2321@yahoo.com

I kept telling my sister to settle down! She gave Kiki a HUGE sourdough pretzel.( bravo to Cindy!) Had to remove the pretzel from Kiki. Gave her a slice. Is it THAT difficult to come visit me? My sister says yes! She says its like visiting a zoo... you never know what's around the corner! LOL! Nancy

Nikkinono... why on earth do you want to get Echo a mate? Develop a relationship with this bird. Finding a mate, does what? Having a grey, requires developing a relationship. If you can't,or don't want to, why have a grey? I'm not being mean.... I just don't understand. Nancy

Geez.... how have I missed that? Sophie is a happy girl, and has been so for over a decade.Couldit be she doesn't do it? Or.... I only can hear out of my left ear... miss lots of sounds. I would be sad to have missed the sound. Nancy

I don'tgo crazy with the pellet diet. Fresh fruits and veggies. They have a bowlful of healthy bird seed. The extra's rock their boat! nANCY

Unfortunately, tea is not a trigger treat. Not good for them in the long run.Kiki LOVES to steal a sip out of my diet pepsi. I let her take a sip. I don't give treats for positive behavior, although it makes sense! I use praise. I didn't know that treats would help them develop positive behavior. Geez.... it would have been sooo much easier! Nancy

turboking.. I'm sorry your brother-in-law is allergic to dust. Doesn't mean, he is allergic to bird dander. Tell your family member to get tested. Any air purifyer on each level,won't make a difference for allergies. Nancy

trancework... I truly understand you are continuing to grieve for Smokey. I continue to grieve for Max my 18 year old Lhasa Apso. Nine years ago, I lost Max. Ollie and Zoey, are our new pups, age eight and nine. I MISS Max soooo much, but love Ollie and Zoey. My pups don't replace him, but I was able to love again. Just different! I'm happy thatSophie was just adopted when Ollie came home. He was trained by Max to love the birds! Max made the rules...made sure all the birds were safe, when he decided his time had ended. I will never get over losing Max, but CAN love again. There is a difference! Nancy

Oh my! My sister up visiting.My sister Cindy calling for help! Kiki wants to hang on her shoulder and share a pretzel! I guess I should be more understanding, other then telling her to share! Nancy

Not familiar with the beak grinding.OUCH! I think that noise would drive me crazy,kinda like fingernails on a blackboard. nancy

EllieMae... all is progressing nicely! Most greys tend to love one person. BUT.... if you confuse them...let them see how each family member has " something to offer"... they will be putty in everyone's hands! Training is always away from the cage. It is important for your baby to see you interact with each other, and encourage your bird to come hangout. All of our birds will now hangout with whomever. Once they understand the family dynamics, they just want to be part of the flock. Nancy

JeffNOK Glad you realize now, we are not crazy! LOL! I told you a long time ago, what Gracie was going to do to you.She's too smart for her britches! She reminded me soooo much of Sophie, I knew what you were in for. Its only going to get better and betterand even more amazing! Nancy

Just glad Sophie is having such a good time! It must have took alot of thought to fly down and see Sean. I always close the basement door as well as others to keep her safe. With her " new flying" ability."...she's been testing the waters. The basement is very scary for her. She prevailed, and I'm proud of Sean for praising her,and letting her help him. Of course, the basement door is closed again....Nancy

I've also heard alot about the shark steam cleaner for hardwood floors! I didn't know I could do cages as well! Gonna get one! Nancy

Glad to hear everything went well! How did baby react to the vet? Nancy

With a grey, it is very easy to get them to stop screaming. Everyone needs to be on the same page! I can say " shhhhhh!" Sophie will quiet down. Doesn't work for my Amazon though. Between 3-4pm, she needs to scream. Go for it Kiki! I don't try to stop her. Its what they do in the Amazon. Nancy

I've got my Rom all to my self this week! I'm having so much fun! Tomorrow, my aunt comes to visit...I have to share rom. NOT happy! Sophie

EllieMae... LOVED the video! She is adorable! She is a LOVER,NOT a hater. Daddy's girl for sure, but that doesn't mean anything. A few suggestions.... those times she lifted her foot, was not defensive. Greys lift a foot when they feel threatened, or want to " stepup". Sassy wanted to stepup. Always pay attention to their body language and invitation. Next time, have hubby pick Sassy up. I'm a firm believer in wrist status only, but others have their opinion. Have hubby let her stepup, and give her a tour of your home together. Let her see you interact together. Away from the cage, she may be more inclined to stepup onto your wrist. Another time she wants to stepup to hubby, play a board game together in another room. One that requires taking turns. Alternating turns, requires the bird to stepup to whomever turn it is! Sophie is quite competitive with all board games as this was how she learned to stepup to our entire family. Of course, now she can tell who is losing... she jumps ship quite quickly! LOL! Their intelligence is amazing!~ Nancy

Its going great! Sean home from college, he also has had to " step up to the plate", for Sophie. Sophie is glad he brought home his croc shoes. Sticking her beak in a hole, running! That means..."tag, you're it!" LOL! I wasn't happy though today she flew down to the basement when Sean was down there replacing some PVC pipes to my washer. She flew down to help him. After finishing the job he brought her up said " she has no home improvement skills!" WHAT???? You should have called me! Nancy

I have rarely seen Sophie drink water! I know she does though. She also is ice cube fascinated. Could care less about ice in her bowl, but will steal it from my drink as I put ice in everything I drink. If I have a drink on countertop, I remove my drink, leave her with an icecube to play with and chew. Nancy

EllieMae... sorry...didn't mean to sound mean! I DID sound mean....which was not my intent. Sometimes I get too passionate about a subject ( this is one of them), and you took it in stride. Kudos to you! Something that worked for us, just a suggestion, won't necessarily work for everyone, is to introduce birds and dogs gradually under supervision. I'm sure you are already doing that.Once Sophie accepted the kids as well is when we started training her with the dogs. Max my 18 year old lhaso apso did most of the training as Ollie was a pup.During Sophie's training, she went into " timeout" for biting people, as well as attempting to bite the dogs. It took less than six months for all. Now I get to enjoy Sophie asking Ollie if he wants a peanut? She will throw him one down. "Ollie.... go out and pee! He runs for the door!" " Ollie...share your chicken!" He is happy for her to take the first piece. ( always under supervision!) What I love the best, is if I'm falling asleep on the couch, Sophie comes and snuggles on my shoulder, Ollie will jump up and sleep in my arm. One of Sophie's favorite games is to sneak down, pull on his tail and run back up to my shoulder and act like she had nothing to do with it! LOL! She does this over and over! He just looks up.... settles back down and lets her play her game. Nancy

EllieMae... I am a firm believer that dogs,cats and birds, CAN get along! Sabrina is whing. NOT comfortable! Sassy and Leo, are stressing the dog. It is NOT cute. No dog should be stressed. Nancy

Part of training, to "stepup", is to " stepdown".Once trust is established... a bird is taught stepup, stepdown.I don't deal with lights, other areas of encouragement. I teach my birds stepup and stepdown. If they don't want to stepdown, I put them on the floor in front of their cage. They put themselves in their cage

My first vet visit. Adopted Sophie at age two. We had an appointment scheduled for later that week. Within two days, she was sneezing and coughing! Being a nurse, I immediately thought she had a cold and was sick! I immediately called my avian vet, said I needed to get in right away as she was sick. They saw me that day. She was fine... just immitating Sean who was sick!She stepped right up to our vet. He asked mke if I knew anything about greys .... I told him no, we got her on a whim! He told me the books I needed to read, cancelled the appointment for later that week, told me to do my homework, he would see us in a month. I did my homework. The next time I brought her in.... I knew alot more! She passed her healthy visit with flying colors. Nancy

I am off for one week. I am sooooo excited! Absolutely exhausted.... planned on doing NOTHING! I never thought that it would turn into Sophie's vacation! LOL! Three days into doing nothing, has been so rewarding. Sophie and I hanging out together constantly. If I fall asleep on the couch...Sophie there settling in with her beak under my eye, snoring like crazy. ( although... I don't snore!) LOL Sophie had a big fight with a popsicle stick in her clutches! I am so glad she won that fight! I told that stick " BAD popsicle stick! " She was pleased. This morning after taking dogs water bowl out of dishwasher.... she climbed in, gave herself a bath, which is unheard of! This morning Kiki flew in to suntan in our bay window. Sophie flew in.... sat on the pillow next to her, but didn't tease Kiki as I saw she wanted too! Kiki gave her a look and simple warning. Sophie held her spot without annoying Kiki. What I LOVE the most about Sophie's vacation, is how happy she is over the most littlest thing! A very simple life, and how simple things make her sooo happy! I'm learning from her! My life doesn't need to be so complicated, and I need to stepback and identify what is important, and what is not. Nancy

Mix the diet! You are not affecting anyones kidneys! Provide diets with fruits and natural veggies, Nancy