african grey and dog

[wiganmarg255]

what is the best way to get my bird and dog to get along the dog which is very jealous at the moment i have to put dog in another room

[Laurie]

Hmmm...my dogs weren't really bothered when I brought Klaus home. They actually considered it a bonus because he drops so much food all over the place! LOL

I would just advise to make sure & give your dog lots of special attention to let him know you haven't forgotten him.

Good luck!

[Shamelessmuse]

Dogs can be very jealous. Anytime there is something new that competes for attention, there is an adjustment time for the dog. Some are more open than others, your baby is upset because there is something there competing for your attention. Be sure to give your dog some special attention. Maybe even take 20 minutes a day in the room your bird is, with your bird in it's cage (maybe with a special treat) and do some fun training with you dog! Lots of treats and reward based training, make it fun...but teach it things that will help when being in the room with the bird. Stay is something all dogs should do without fail. Mine stay no matter what until I tell them okay. It was very handy the other day when Greyce came accidently bounding out of her cage and flew down to the floor. Everyone wanted to check her out, but a quick "Stay" to the dogs and no one moved and inch while I walked over and rescued Greyce.

Your furbaby needs reassurance right now that you love him/her and that she doesn't need to compete for attention!

[judygram]

Thats excellent advice, Shamelessmuse, and never leave them in the same room with the grey out of it's cage unsupervised.

[spookyhurst]

I'm probably going to get a bunch of backlash here, but here it goes anyway. I think certain dogs can be trusted to be in the same room as an uncaged bird.

 

Spencer, my Shih Tzu, is almost 10. The Shih Tzu is strictly a companion animal, and always has been. Over the 2 years we've had Nikko, we've found that there is no problem with the bird and dog being free at the same time. For starters, Spencer doesn't particularly like Nikko (he's afraid of her), and generally avoids the room she is in. He does, however, get excited when she flies (the only time he seems to like her). He will get kind of close, but not close enough for her to reach out and bite him, which I have no doubt she would do. She only has to give him "the look" and he backs away. One day I was out of the room when I heard Nikko fly (she doesn't fly very often). Spencer came around the corner the same time as I did to see where she went. I told him to help me find her, and we both searched all over. The little poop finally chirped to let me know she was in the window sill (which has since become her first choice in landing spots). She's fully flighted right now (until ceiling fan weather returns), and generally good about landing somewhere other than the floor.

 

The only time we've found we have to be extra careful is if one family member is holding Spencer and one is holding Nikko while sitting on the couch. This usually doesn't happen, since Spencer doesn't like being in such close proximity of the bird. But when it does, I have to take care in keeping Nikko in a position that she can not run over and attack Spencer. In the past, she ran over and bit him on the back (just got a beak full of fur, so the dog was fine) because she was jealous of my mom holding him. He was scared to death, and that's probably when he decided not to sit on the couch with her anymore.

 

There have been times when I have brought Yorkshire Terriers and Dachsunds into our house, and Nikko has to go to her cage then. Both breeds have an ancestry of hunting small animals, so I'd never take a chance with them. Also, I take Nikko to the dog park in her travel cage. Some dogs, like every Schnauzer I've come across, look at her like she would make a nice appetizer. But others look at her with sweet fascination. There's one little guy that dances whenever he sees me, because he hopes I have "the budgie." He's the most gentle little soul, and could probably look at Nikko for hours. I think she senses his sweetness, because her body language seems to mimic his.

 

But back to the OP, wiganmarg. What kind of dog do you have? How old is it?

[siobha9]

Dogs and birds shouldnt ever be friends in my opinion. Regardless how much you love and trust your dog, one little mishap is all it would take to seriously injure your grey. I have 2 dogs and would NEVER leave the greys unattended with the dogs. Both my dogs are also afraid of my greys, BUT, that fear could turn to aggression some day.

 

I let the 4 of them, 2 birds and 2 dogs roam free when I am in the room with them, but if I need to leave the room, I either call the dogs or cage the birds.

 

On the other hand I really dont want to go to a vet with a dog and explain how he got bitten by a bird... it would do nothing for his street cred

 

Siobhan

[danmcq]

Many good points have been brought out here.

 

Dog obedience training is a must, but even with that said, one incident can kill or mame your Grey or any other bird.

 

I have 2 Dobermans. One is "Ok" with the attention Dayo gets, the other is NOT. He is VERY jealous and I have made certain to pay attention to him and include him in any praise or play I may be giving to Dayo. The first few days Dayo was home, I noticed "Bentley" would lay and watch Dayo out of the corner of his eyes. Then if I left the room for a minute, he would get up, walk over to the cage and bark aggressively at Dayo. He was jealous as Hell and wanted to do something about it! It took some firm commands and discipline, but Bentley now just "accepts" that Dayo is part of our Family, but still resents any attention Dayo gets, especially from Me.

 

Just yesterday, Kim and I were going in and out of the house doing a "Quick" task out our Patio Slider. The third trip out, Dayo flew off his play-stand to watch from the floor out of the patio door window. Chloe (female Dobie) slowly walked over and got about an inch from Dayo and was just looking. As I started back in the door, Dayo took off out of nervousness. The natural instinct of any dog, is to snap at something fleeing and Chloe did!! Fortunately for Dayo she just skimmed his back and ruffled one feather out of place. I almost had a heart attack and checked Dayo over VERY closely. What scares me to death, is that that IF Chloe had made better contact in that instantaneous SNAP, Dayo would have been dead. Those large powerful jaws would have collapsed his little bones and crushed his internal organs instantly.

 

The moral of my story is: Even if you are only going in/out for one second, cage your bird!! The unthinkable happens in the blink of an eye. I felt comfortable with my Dobermans due to their training and instant reaction to commands. But, when the "Commander" is not there, you have a very BIG danger that something will go wrong in the blink of an eye. So just be VERY careful and don't think nothing will happen in just 2 seconds. It can and will at some point in time.

 

It does not matter either if your dog is scared crap-less of your Grey, because you have a small dog. A Dog will bite if cornered or scared just out of reflexes for what it perceives as self preservation. So please never think your dog or any other animal will not in some circumstance harm or kill your Grey, it will in the right circumstance.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/01/27 15:58

[Nychsa]

Tons of good points made IMO.

 

Dogs have a prey drive, and greys are prey. That is a situation that will always carry the potential for disaster if checks and balances are not put into place.

 

I have two greyhounds, very gentle creatures, but they do have an active prey drive.

 

One of my mitigation strategies is to leverage the pack mentality that dogs have. Dogs understand the pack in terms of a heirarchy. Obviously I've established myself as the pack leader. While maintaining the dog's routine, and level of affection and special things, I have however done things that put the birds in a higher ranking order so the dogs respect the bird's status. The birds are fed first in the morning. The birds get to sit on the couch in the evening too etc..

 

The greyhounds have clearly "gotten" that the birds are part of the family now. Jiggy my conure actually lands on my male greyhound, Doc, and hitches a ride on him. Doc actually stands still, and lets Jiggy catch his footing and then walks very carefully. It's as if he knows Jiggy is just a little guy and could get hurt if he moved fast.

 

Dream, my female greyhound, is a little more wary of Jiggy's ride ideas. If he tries to land on her she dodges him. However, Bella, my grey, has buzzed her ears, and accidentally crashed into her side while she was eating, and Dream simply got out of the way. My grey has landed on Doc while trying to get up on the couch. He just looked at her like "geezum, can't you find somewhere else to go?".

 

I think my grey, Bella, thinks she is one of the dogs. Part of her morning ritual is to circle around me on the floor in the morning with the dogs waiting for breakfast. The dogs are usually careful not to step on her (I think they're wary of that beak!).

 

But - even though this kind inter-species harmony exists among my feathered and furry housemates, I would NEVER leave the dogs and the birds alone with each other. Greyhounds do have a strong prey drive and it would simply be a matter of seconds where they could revert into that mind set and hurt one of the birds.

 

I think the jealousy factor may eventually subsized with your dog, and maybe a balance can be found. And that balance is a lot of fun- it just always needs a careful eye!

[LisaM]

I have a 13 year old basset hound (they're supposed to live 10-12). She is very well-trained (well, for a basset who could care less, that is). She will lie on the floor and just watch or totally ignore the birds if they're walking around. The birds have climbed onto her back while she's laying down and she just sits there. She will actually give them several feet of space if she has to walk by them. THEY seem to trust her 100%. I trust her 99.9% that she would never, ever do anything harmful to the birds.

 

However, even as confident as I am, that .1% chance that something freaks her out, the birds "beak" her or screech when on her or something out of the ordinary, I do not have them in the same room unless either me or my husband are right there. If they are near each other we are within arms reach). It just wouldn't be worth it for the small inconvenience of either taking the dog out of the room or caging the birds.

 

Dan - I can only imagine that your heart skipped a few beats when you saw that happen! It's so easy to forget when "all is well" in the house and you just have to run for a second. I know I have done that many times and though nothing has ever happened like what happened with Chloe and Dayo it could have. I'm glad Dayo was unharmed physically by the event.

 

Lisa

[danmcq]

Nychsa and Lisa - You are both spot on.

 

A few months before we brought Dayo Home, I had read on another Forum a member posted on regarding the death of his young Grey. The dog snapped, the Grey was dead instantly.

 

I guess over time, that ugly picture and fear had crept to the back of my mind. I will never fall into that feeling of comfort for "Just a second" again.

 

That's all it took - one second.

[Shamelessmuse]

Okay, here is my problem with dogs and small animals and even children. Dogs, while can be trained to be very predictable are never 100% so. I have been training dogs and studing their behavior for over 10 years. You can never be utterly sure about their behavior. That is why I go off the deepend when some poor dog is on the news for mauling a child. Someone always says "Well we just turned around for a moment" It drives me mad. The problem is - your dogs only defense is a bite. They can't say stop, they can't give a clawed swipe like a cat, and generally things don't happen in wide open spaces where they feel they can escape. Generally dogs are not going to flight unless they are smaller. I could give you so many stories of dogs that got a good bite into some critter or person, most of the time the dog was justified. So, you may have the best dog in the world....I sure think my Shepherd is. And while Dakota is trained to a tee, things happen and I would never leave Greyce out with her, I don't even leave my 3 lb Chihuaha out with her when I am not home. Things just happen and dogs don't rationalize like we do...they react.

 

Just my 2 cents

[shazbaby36]

hi i have 2 greman sheppards which are boths great with both my greys the greys even feed the dogs i have the greys out and the dogs at the same time and they all get on like a house on fire my dogs are left in same room with my babies if i go in to the kitchen or upsairs i can trust my dogs and always will

[Nychsa]

Geezum Dan, I can't imagine how your heart must have stopped during that incident! But, your story was a good one for me to hear. I've been very particular about putting the birds in their cages if I have to go upstairs just for a few minutes. Sometimes I feel so badly because they're in the middle of foraging or playing and I have to interrupt them. But after hearing your story - you've reassured me that I'm doing the right thing!! Thanks!!

Terri

[Toni]

I could never trust my siberian or choc lab in the same room as Alcazar when hes out of his cage. One thing Shanook already killed 5 bunnies outside last summer. SHe looks at Alcazar as the main coarse.

[Tari]

I would keep the dog in the other room. I have several dogs and none are allowed near the birds when they are out of their cages.

Even the most trained dog can forget themselves and kill a bird.

Is it worth the chance?

Not with me it ain't.

So just keep them apart.

There was a recent post on one of the forums I like to visit from a lady whose bird she had had for 13 years was killed by a dog she had had for 10. The bird got startled flew off her play stand and dog just jumped up from its bed snatched bird out of the air. Bird is no long alive.

She has learned her lesson the hard way. She thought her dog was trained and would never hurt the bird but she still supervised but it happened so fast she could not do a thing to stop it.

[danmcq]

Yes, as you have all so well stated. Dogs are sight animals, some breeds more so than others. But, the bottom line is, sooner or later, with just the right timing and action of the bird, any dog will snap.

 

It is basic instinct for them, no matter how well trained, tame or loving they always seem. That's where the saying "Don't wake a sleeping Dog" comes from.....B)

[ICERAT4]

My sunny and my beagle are best friends.They love each other they stare at each other all the time.Sunny allways feeds the beagle .The best is when sunny does fly which is rare dasiy will just walk aroung her.And if theres no one around the dog will start barking to let us know sunny is walking around.Both sunny and daisy were bought about the same time so they were both very young.

[Nychsa]

That's interesting to me Icera - my daughter's beagle really took to my conure Jiggy (even though Jiggy didn't take to her!). The beagle really enjoyed just "hanging out" with Jiggy.

 

However, the beagle read a little too much into their friendship and when Jiggy made himself a "nest" in my bed and the beagle thought she'd just hop in and join him, Jiggy (also nick-named "Alexander" for good reasons!) came charging out of his nest, beak gaping :evil:open and chased the beagle off the bed! I've never seen the plump little beagle move so fast in my life! :huh:<br><br>Post edited by: Nychsa, at: 2008/01/29 03:43