Parrots and Dogs

[eubankclare]

How do your parrots react to your dogs?

Im looking at getting an african gray but im a little concerned that when someone knocks on the door and we are not in the dog goes mad and barks, im worried it will scare the parrot.

 

What do you all do about this? Will the parrot get used to the dog barking?

 

The dog is really good with all our animals so i know the dog will not be borthered or bother the parrot but im worried about the barking.

 

Thanks

Clare

[esknomoe]

I kave three parrots and five dogs. They all seem to get along quite well. My Conure will even ride around on one of the dog's back. Brutus, my Grey, likes to bark at the dogs, he can immitate two of them perfectly, and order them around: "Go lie down"..."Come here Shadow (one of my Labs)"...."Go outside"...etc. Every nite, before bed, my Conure likes to tell them to go out and "Go pee pee". LOL

[eubankclare]

Wow your house must be busy

Thanks for the reply, i will be at home with the parrot at first as im going to get him/her while im on holiday so if he/she is a little scared i can talk to him/her and hopefully reassure.

[judygram]

It won't be a problem unless you mind your bird to bark like the dogs also for they are good at doing that, my grey can mimic my daughter's little dog's bark to a T.

[JJsHoney]

Rene came from a house FULL of dogs, so he has learned whenever my house erupts in barks (I have 3), that someone is here, so he looks out the window and starts yelling COME IIIIINNNNN!!!! lol I don't think the barking scares him I think it excites him!

[judygram]

By jove I think you got it!

[JillyBeanz]

We don't have any other pets, but when we are away and Harvey stays at my parent's house, they have a Weimaraner, Suzy - who finds Harvey fascinating. Harvey is totally not bothered by her at all - and she only sees her infrequently.

[eubankclare]

Thats wonderful and you have all put my mind at rest - Thank You

I dont mind if my parrot barks like the dog

[JJsHoney]

I thought for sure Rene would bark like a dog, but all he says is "woof woof" just like we would! its cute!

[eubankclare]

aw thats great

[reggieroo]

My German Shepherd Zeus grew up around a parrot & is very respectful of them. Murphy came last but is not bothered by Zeus at all, Zeus nudges him with his nose & Murphy just grumbles at him to leave him be which he does. The cats on the other hand is a different matter, they are well aware all is not what it seems with a parrot & stay well clear of him. Murphy knows this & thinks it's fun to chase them away, think it makes him feel brave :rolleyes:

[dhorje]

My Grey was afraid when she 1st encountered a barking dog. Now she barks back when she hears dogs barking.

[dw310]

I had to bring in a dog trainer when I first brought Morgan home. It was awful. My 2 dogs just wouldn't stop barking at him. The trainer had me use a citronella bark collar for the dogs. Every time they barked at Morgan, they were told "that's enough" and if they didn't stop barking, on went the collar. I would keep the collar on maybe 5 min, then take it off again. The barking stopped within probably about 10 days.

 

Also, if Morgan gets a treat, I'm careful to give the dogs a treat as well (either Zuke's or one of those baby carrots), hoping no one gets jealous. So it's great that you are thinking about this.

 

Morgan is in a study that is off of the living room, and I have a dog gate that keeps the dogs from getting into Morgan's room. They never get closer than about 10 feet from Morgan. They want the food that makes it to the floor, but there's also the poop issue, and I don't want my dogs to get sick. When I let Morgan out to play/fly, I put the dogs in a bedroom. The dogs have learned that this is part of the routine.

 

The next step will be to open the bedroom door and put a gate in front of it, so the dogs can see Morgan play/fly, but can't get in the living room. I haven't done this yet, because Morgan would be able to fly into the bedroom, and right now, I do not trust my dogs around Morgan. Anyway, if the dogs bark, the "that's enough" and then the citronella collar will happen again. If I ever do that, and if that works, *maybe* I'll have them all out in the room at the same time, but maybe I won't. Safety first, There is always the "jealousy" element, which is unpredictable.

 

It's been a chore to get the dogs trained, but you can do it, if it's necessary.

 

My brother is Morgan's breeder. He has always had dogs around his birds and has never had a problem. I just happen to have 2 dogs that are too interested in Morgan.

[eubankclare]

Thanks for that, im 99% sure that the dog wont bother with the parrot at all apart from making friends the first time. He is like this with all our animals. We allowed him to be in the same room as the iguana yesterday for the first time and he investigated but after 10min lied down on the floor and just watched. He is used to sharing our attention and he copes with alot and has never shown any sign of aggression.

Fingers crossed all will be fine.

[Azzie]

I've a 17 month old CAG named Cleo and a German Shepherd, Jinx, who's almost 2. They get along great, and often have supervised play time together. Cleo does not get frightened when the dog barks, but she does occasionally startle when Jinx throws her toys around on the wooden floor.

 

I dare say they are good friends, and Jinx is often found trying to push her toys or stolen socks through the bars of Cleo's cage, with Cleo hanging off the other side trying hard to pull the items in.

 

I had the dog before the parrot came along, and I don't recall any incidents of either one being frightened of eachother, just a lot of curiosity.

[Greymatter]

Merlin sounds just like Fynn & Gideon (our Ridgebacks). He'll even tell them to "Get OUT" when they go in the bird room.

 

The dogs generally ignore the birds in the cages, and are vaccuum cleaners for the food the birds spill on the ground (It's great!).

 

Outside of the cage, Gideon is afraid of the birds, and Fynn is still very curious about them (Fynn's almost 9 months old, and a rescue pup, so he has weird issues of his own).

 

I figure if you don't go in with fear, neither the birds nor the dogs will be excessively fearful when they're out at the same time. Just don't leave them unsupervised.

 

It also helps that Rosco (Caique) bit each dog on the nose when they stuck them into his cage on separate occasions.

[eubankclare]

ha ha well thats what im hoping, im hoping that Alfie (dog) will get a bite on the nose for being to nosey and then avoid doing it again LOL

[Capster59]

Just remember that any dog can up and do something completely uncharacteristic, sometimes they dream, sometimes they are startled and wake up in predator mode etc...I would always monitor dog/bird interaction. I Have had many dogs and once or twice the mildest most easy going dogs have for some reason jumped up out of a snooze and tried to bite someone..!

[danmcq]

Excellent comments Capster.

 

I have 2 Dobermans that are rescues and have had them for 5 years now.

 

The last thing I would want to see is what would happen IF my Grey nipped one on the nose. They are "Ok" when we are relaxing in the living room or family room together and do sit or lay close to our birds. However, when one of the parrots takes flight, the both respond as many dogs do to sight and movement stimulation. I cannot count the times they have sat up and sometimes jumped half- heartedly snapped as the birds fly over. If it happens to be a long flight and sometime a few circles around and through rooms. The dogs will sometimes start running behind in pursuit very excited. I am always consistent in my reactions and commands to the dogs to stop, sit etc. But, when they are excited, they sometimes do not pay attention until I physically get up and make them stop and sit.

 

With that said, even if you dog and parrot play, it is VERY DANGEROUS. A one pound bird can receive instant death simply through the 10 pound or 100 pound dog pinning it under any weight and force that would produce internal injuries that would either kill your bird instantly or a few hours later from internally bleeding to death as you get you bird to the vet.

 

Never feel comfortable with you dog, cat and bird relationship. I speak with experience of an incident happening in 20 seconds that gave my grey a head injury , swelling and several tail feather pulled out. It took 4 days four my grey to return to normal. He was fortunate and I never walk out of the house for even 30 seconds now without putting the dogs up. He had flown to a room to see where I had gone trying to look out the window.....The dogs happened to be there laying down, got into a sight motivated frenzy and got him...barely but very serious to a 1 pound bird.

[eubankclare]

I will never leave them alone together, when i go out the dog will be in one room and the parrot in its cage in another.

Generally (whats happened up to now with other animals) is alfie will have a look and a sniff then will lie down and not be bothered. Just hope that is the case with the parrot.

Either way they will never be left alone together