introducing new grey to current pets

[Life is Greyt]

Not sure if this was the right room or not to post this in, but I hope it's ok. As it gets closer time for my baby to come home I have been thinking more and more about what would be the best way to introduce her to the other animals in the house. I have two dogs, 13 and 5 years old, and a cat who's 2. I'm not as worried about the older dog as she is really calm and I don't think she'll care too much. It's more the younger dog and cat that I'm not sure how to introduce. Buddy, the 5 year old, can be pretty high energy, but listens very well, and the cat, well, he's a cat and likes to watch the birds outside very intensely. I think it will all be ok, but I want to make sure that I do the best I can to introduce them correctly. I know for sure that I should never leave them unsupervised with the baby, but after that I can't figure the best method. I was thinking that maybe I should keep them totally apart for a week or so, while the baby settles into her new home and then slowly introduce them, one at a time. Or, would it be better to allow her to see them right away so that she knows they are there? The breeder does have a cat, so she's used to that, but no dogs. I know there are lots of members on here that have many other animals besides their birds, so how did you introduce them to the new member of the family? What do you guys think works best?

[thenabrd]

when i'd go visit kallie before bringing her home, i took video of our other pets for her to watch. she got to see and hear athena and athena got to see and hear kallie as well. kallie was very interested in the videos of athena! hermes, our dog was older and very quiet, so she just "saw" him. she had her vet check on her way to our house so i didn't have to go through a quarantine period since she checked out healthy. she freaked a bit over hermes, she'd never seen a dog like him, he was bigger than any she had seen before. so we put up tv trays around her cage to keep a distance between her and the dog until she was more comfortable with him. that was only several days and she was curious and interacted with him. when she'd go to the lower part of her cage, say, hey you, then turn her head for a scratch we knew she didn't need the tv tray space anymore. kallie and athena's cages are on opposite sides of our front window and have been from the beginning. they can see, hear and talk to each other.

 

this is what worked for us. i'm sure you'll get even better advice from others! congrats on your baby!

[Life is Greyt]

Thanks so much! The video idea is great!! I will definitely use that, as my Buddy, can be very loud when he plays or barks, and it might really help her if she's not totally unfamiliar with those noises. I think I'm going to go see her this weekend, so I'll take the video then and see what she thinks.

[thenabrd]

you're welcome! just be careful and have a good grip on your phone or whatever you use to show the video. kallie wanted to take the phone for herself, lol!!! she' still wants our phones and anything else that's "shiny", like keys, remotes, glasses, ice cubes, etc hahahaha!! make sure you play her for your current pets at home as well, so they can see and possibly hear her too. of course, our dog would always put me through the "smell" test whenever i came home, so i know he "knew" her to a point!

[Life is Greyt]

I actually do keep taking a towel with me when I go to see her, with the intention of rubbing it on her and letting her walk all over it so that it might smell like her, but then every time I get there I just jump out of the car, cause I am so eager to see her, and forget it. Going to have to remember it. My guys give me the same smell test when I get home too and look at me like "where have you been cause you smell wonderful!!"

[danmcq]

Just introduce them slowly and calmly. First get your baby grey home and settled into his cage, which will be a huge change for him to begin with. Have the other pets in a room or outside. Once your all settled in, bring them in probably on a leash so you control the speed an how close you let them come to the cage. The first thing your grey needs to see is there are other house occupants and what these odd creatures like look. Keep the dogs far enough away so that if they tried, they could not jump on or paw the cage. The cat, well your going to have to watch that closely to ensure it does not get on the cage and try to claw your bird.

 

How this introduction and future interactions between all is unpredictable until the first meet and then figuring out a plan to keep all in harmony with no one getting hurt. The first meeting if kept smooth and comfortable will break the ice. The most important thing to do is ensure that it is calm and not threatening that would send you baby into a flapping screaming flight for life. They don't forget such events and it would make getting any type of working relationship between them much harder.

[Life is Greyt]

Thanks so much danmcq. I really appreciate the help from everyone. I want everyone to get along, so i want to do this right, and i only get one shot at the first introduction.

[Life is Greyt]

VERY good idea!! Thanks Wingy!!

[brianlinkles]

Wingy has a great idea! We kind of did the same thing. We have two dogs (although very small) a chihuahua (sweetest little chi in the world, mommy to any animal even our old great dane who passed away a few years ago) and we have a chinese crested (timid and gentle) we also have a HUGE cat, he is declawed and very laid back. When we brought Dorothy home, we did exactly what Wingy said and let the dogs out then brought them in and fed them. The dogs and the cats bowls are close to Dorothy's cage. She got to observe them while they really didn't even realize she was there. Her cage had been set up for weeks so they didn't even notice her in the cage! Once they finally did, she already had the chance to kind of observe them. Of course our dogs are so small that I don't think that they were very intimidating. Many times when Dorothy is snuggling on my lap, Pia the crested will come up and sniff, try to lick her chest after she has spilled a little formula on her feathers and they are still wet from me trying to clean them. Since Pia only has hair on the top of her head, Dorothy thinks his is meant for preening. Today she did grab Pia's ear in her beak gently, Pia looked confused however just sat there with her ear in Dorothy's beak. It was funny! However I wouldn't allow them to get close like that normally but since everyone was kind of on my lap, I felt in control. Another thing that we have been doing is laying out a beach towel, putting Dorothys toys down on it, she crawls around and the dogs watch her. Ruby our chi, is very protective so if the cat even tries to come close she jumps up and chases him away. Rusty our cat is curious, he will sit and look at her in her cage, Cat saliva is very deadly for birds. You must be very careful that the cat doesn't nip at your baby. When Dorothy is out and Rusty is around I am careful even though he doesn't seem very interested, I would rather be safe than sorry! He kinds of just watches her for a few minutes, gets bored and goes off and naps. I do think the video idea is awesome! This will give everyone a chance to get to know each other a little bit first!