Funny, yet sad...

[Jimmydreams]

Background: I'm educating myself and looking (slowly) for a CAG. In the meantime, my partner wanted a songbird and a cockatiel. We bought a yellow cockatiel from the pet store (named Max) and found a cage with 8 (!) Zebra Finches (plus all the toys, food, etc.) on Craigslist for $75. We couldn't pass that up....

 

So...

 

In one day we went from having 2 toy poodles and a German Shepherd to adding a new cockatiel and the 8 finches. Prior to this, the we had a big cage for my CAG, but it was out in the garage, so now there are 2 big cages plus new birdies in the house.

 

The poodles seem fascinated by the finches, but one of the poodles seems to want to eat the cockatiel. The German Shepherd, however, all 105lbs of him are PETRIFIED of the finches and really only steals the occasional glance at the cockatiel! I've never seen a big dog so scared of little birds in my life!! The big guy is currently hiding in the bathroom, only peeking around the doorway as if to say "What the heck did you DO?"

 

I'll post some pics soon, but thought it was funny how much reaction some squeaky little finches can generate in a large, otherwise confident dog.

[bran]

Awesome! Your house sounds like my partner and I's. We have a 10 year old golden retriever, a 4 month old golden retriever, a 12 year old black cat who is 20lbs, a 5 year old dwarf maine coon cat, a fish tank.... and let's not forget about Dexter my TAG who is 13 and Cooper my CAG who is 10. Wooosheww, that does seem like alot now that I see it in print. No wonder people refer to my house as the ark. HaHa! I wouldn't have it any other way! I would love to have a finch cage when we have room, shhhh don't tell my partner that.

 

Congratulations on your little zoo!!

[birdhouse]

I've always had dogs, usually a couple at a time. The relationships between the dogs & birds have always amazed me. Something some people don't know is that poodles were originally bred as hunting dogs. And of course, there's just the primal urge some dogs have to jump & chase busy little birds. AND there's the way some poodles in particular resent anything that keeps them from being the center of their universe. So that poor guy may have some adjusting under the circumstances.

 

Something some people don't realize about GSD is that most of them are basically worriers. You never know what's going to push that button. I had my tiels before I had Phenix. I also had a 3/4 shephard mix when Sundance came home. The dog would go all around the house just to get across the room if the bird was in between. He was flat out petrified of the little guy.

 

So the bird made it his life's mission to bully & threaten the dog every single chance he got. But Sundance didn't know when to quit. And Wolf finally had had enough. One day Wolf didn't see Sundance under the table & got a raptor attack on his way over to where I was in the kitchen. I saw the whole thing but was too far away to get there in time & it seemed like I'd only make things worse if I called out to the dog.

 

Wolf stopped & looked down at the spitting little raptor at his feet. Then the 85 lb dog just sat down, took one of those great big paws & VERY carefully put it square between the bird's outstretched wings. Then he just stayed there & smiled at the little beast he'd so neatly pinned.

 

I got over there as quickly & calmly as possible. The dog looked up w/a "Oh, crap!! I'm so gonna it." change of expression. Then he let the bird up & waited.

 

But the thing was, he'd never interned to hurt him & he didn't. He only wanted the torment to end & it did. Sundance finally got it & not only stopped the bullyng after that, but actually ended up best buddies w/Wolf. In fact, Wolf was a surrogate parent for all the chicks Sundance & Theo eventually raised. I think Wolf worried over them more than their real parents.

 

So, you may have your hands full right now. But if you can figure out how to referee, you might be surprised at how this all works out. Good luck, because it may get pretty interesting for a while.

Edited December 15, 2011 by birdhouse

[Jimmydreams]

I've always had dogs, usually a couple at a time. The relationships between the dogs & birds have always amazed me. Something some people don't know is that poodles were originally bred as hunting dogs. And of course, there's just the primal urge some dogs have to jump & chase busy little birds. AND there's the way some poodles in particular resent anything that keeps them from being the center of their universe. So that poor guy may have some adjusting under the circumstances.

 

Ain't THAT the truth! I think it's more of a "Soooo, now we're competing for attention, eh? Let the games begin!" kind of thing.

 

Something some people don't realize about GSD is that most of them are basically worriers. You never know what's going to push that button. I had my tiels before I had Phenix. I also had a 3/4 shephard mix when Sundance came home. The dog would go all around the house just to get across the room if the bird was in between. He was flat out petrified of the little guy.

 

I'm sure my GSD will come around. He just needs to adjust to all the changes in the house.

 

So the bird made it his life's mission to bully & threaten the dog every single chance he got. But Sundance didn't know when to quit. And Wolf finally had had enough. One day Wolf didn't see Sundance under the table & got a raptor attack on his way over to where I was in the kitchen. I saw the whole thing but was too far away to get there in time & it seemed like I'd only make things worse if I called out to the dog.

 

Wolf stopped & looked down at the spitting little raptor at his feet. Then the 85 lb dog just sat down, took one of those great big paws & VERY carefully put it square between the bird's outstretched wings. Then he just stayed there & smiled at the little beast he'd so neatly pinned.

 

I got over there as quickly & calmly as possible. The dog looked up w/a "Oh, crap!! I'm so gonna it." change of expression. Then he let the bird up & waited.

 

But the thing was, he'd never interned to hurt him & he didn't. He only wanted the torment to end & it did. Sundance finally got it & not only stopped the bullyng after that, but actually ended up best buddies w/Wolf. In fact, Wolf was a surrogate parent for all the chicks Sundance & Theo eventually raised. I think Wolf worried over them more than their real parents.

 

So, you may have your hands full right now. But if you can figure out how to referee, you might be surprised at how this all works out. Good luck, because it may get pretty interesting for a while.

 

I've seen that EXACT occurrence between my GSD and the poodles. they love to torment him and he knows he could kill them so he tempers his response. One day, he had enough and he turned around to 'hip-check' the poodle and then stomped on him with his rear leg in the same fashion yours did....hard enough to pin, but not hurt. Then he just looked at me like "Hey, this actually WORKS!" as the poodle went berserk in the newly acquired knowledge that maybe he wasn't as big n bad as the though he was!! (while still pinned beneath the GSD paw)

 

Awesome! Your house sounds like my partner and I's. We have a 10 year old golden retriever, a 4 month old golden retriever, a 12 year old black cat who is 20lbs, a 5 year old dwarf maine coon cat, a fish tank.... and let's not forget about Dexter my TAG who is 13 and Cooper my CAG who is 10. Wooosheww, that does seem like alot now that I see it in print. No wonder people refer to my house as the ark. HaHa! I wouldn't have it any other way! I would love to have a finch cage when we have room, shhhh don't tell my partner that.

 

Congratulations on your little zoo!!

 

I'm glad we're not the only ones!! Careful what you ask for on the finches!! We've had our finches home less than 24 hours and there's already an egg in one of the nests!!! I my have to buy stock in birdcage manufacturers!!!!

[DawL]

Awww! Congrats! I LOVE Cockatiels, they are so sweet. And of course let's not forget the finches... their cute little "beep" noises, and constant fluttering is so incredibly cute! Enjoy!