Can I have an Arican Grey ?

[LindaP]

Hello,

I want to get an African Grey so bad but I don't know if it is a good idea or not.

I need your help, please.

 

I own five small dogs,(Japanese Chin)One cat, (Ragdoll) and one Lineoated Parakeet.

My husband and I are retired so stay home most of the time.

 

I wanted to know if I am asking for trouble bringing a large bird into our family ? The dogs have always grouped together during play and they can be very rough with each other and their toys. I know if the bird should go onto the floor there could be a problem.

Do these birds need to have free roam of your homes ?

Can they be trained not to go on the floor or fly around ? This is my biggest fear. As far as feeding and giving attention I don't see a problem with that because we would give it plenty.

 

I sure hope someone could answere these questions for me. I would love to own this bird but I don't want anything to be dangerous for him either.

Thanks ahead of time.

Linda

[judygram]

Hi Linda, its good you are asking questions before you go ahead and get that grey, not everyone does that.

 

We have other members who have dogs, cats and other pets in the same household, it will require some diligence on your part to supervise any out of cage time to make sure your bird is safe from the dogs.

 

A grey does require some time outside the cage but not necessarily the run of the whole house, most of us provide playstands for them to be on while out but keeping a close eye on your dogs is first and foremost to keep the bird safe.

 

Why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us some more about you.

[LindaP]

Can they be taught not to go on the floor ?

Linda

[Dave007]

No, they can't be taught to not go on the floor but a fully flighted bird has much less desire to go down to the floor. Flying is their natural way to get from point A to point B. There are those tinmes when a bird will be interested in other animals that are on the floor so they'll go down to investigate and there are those times when a bird is in a mischevious mood when it spots a shoe lace or new toy on the floor and investigates or wants to silently walk over to a person's socks and pull at them.

[Tigerlily]

hi

 

i have a cat and my grey is certainly the boss. she'll keep going for the cat until the cat moves.

at first i was really worried about them being anywhere near eachother as i'd heard stories about cats killing greys but now i let them get on with it and sort out their differences between themselves (under a watchful eye) my grey really does bully the cat as the cat is really laid back and only sometimes flicks her paw at the bird if she gets too big for her boots which (and others wont agree) i think is good for Tigerlily to be put back in her place and like i said, i'm also on the sofa with them.

 

i think it all depends on the nature of all animals involved but greys do tend to put other animals in the household in their place and like others Tigerlily does tell the cat off often;)

[Poppy]

I also have a cat (a very old one) and Im fortunate in that they both seem to ignore each other.She never goes near George's cage and although he does watch her he never seems to want to bother her ,having said that I do watch them both closely .

[LisaM]

Dave007 wrote:

...or wants to silently walk over to a person's socks and pull at them.

 

Or take a chunk of skin off their middle toe! :-)

 

Everything Dave said was true (which, if you read more around the forum, you'll find to be pretty much the way it is)...You can train them to stay on their cage or a playstand, but only to a point. Even if they're perfectly trained (and heaven knows mine aren't!), they could still get startled or something and end up on the floor. He also had a good point that in your situation where the floor can probably pose the most danger to the bird (the dogs), keeping the bird flighted would at least give it a better chance to quickly remove itself from a situation if it did startle, and it would probably be more likely to fly to a table/counter/chair or something like that than to fly to the floor.

 

The dogs would have to definitely be trained that the bird is to be left alone and even then, as one of our brightest, kindest and most knowledgeable members recently found out...they cannot be trusted to be in the same room without direct and nearby supervision.

 

All this said, there are many, many members here who have dogs and cats and make it work, keeping it safe for all!

 

Please ask more questions and read, read, read through the forum here. It is always great to hear people asking questions before they bring a parrot into their home. To some people, it's not as "fun" as they thought it would be. To others, particularly those who research ahead if time and know what they're getting into, it far exceeds their wildest expectations of how wonderful it is to share your live with one of these extraordinary beings. I researched for 4 years and it's been 2.5 years since bringing my first parrot into the home, and I learn new things and appreciate them more every day.

 

Keep talking it through with us...we love to share our opinions! :-)

[casper]

I have two cats as well as the three greys. I never let them in the same room together when the birds are out, I just cant take the risk as one of my cats has brought birds home many times:(

 

It works quite well for me as the cats sleep all day while the birds are out, then the cats have their time with me on an evening.

 

Its just finding out what works best for you and your household.

 

Good luck:)

[LindaP]

I am so happy I found this forum !

Thank you all so very much. I will certainly take your advice and not jump into ownership until I am sure it would be safe for this bird.

You all are so friendly and helpful.

I am thrilled that you would welcome me into your forum even that I don't have a Grey.

I will log in and do my homework while enjoying your interesting posts and wonderful photos.

Thank you again,

Linda:)

,

[Toni]

I have 2 dogs, 1 of them is a Lab.I have Alcazar clipped so he cant fly. Alcazar always likes to try to go to the floor.Im constantly putting him back on his playtop/Its hard to train them to stay put.

Whatever you decide just make sure you do you research to make sure a grey is what you want. I had little birds before my grey.

[danmcq]

Hi Linda,

 

It's wonderful to see someone like yourself researching all aspects of bringing a Grey in to your home before doing so. That is something we don't see very often.

 

Normally it's just the opposite. Someone just decides they must have that talking Grey they saw on TV, then they show up here with issues and many times end up getting rid of the poor Grey.

 

I commend you for taking on such a thoughtful process before making a decision. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/01/23 13:10

[djzenjen]

Yes! Great job on asking questions first! Most people just buy and then learn they can't handle it after the fact.

 

I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 4 birds (including my Grey). Everyone in the household has a mutual agreement to ignore everyone else. B) The dogs never bother the cats, the cats never bother the birds, and the birds never bother anyone unless they are approached, which is rare. At first the other animals were curious about our new additions when we were adding to our flock, but after a month or so they got used to them. You just have to have a lot of patience working with birds, and you have to have the motivation and time to work with them very closely. They are messy. They are a handful. But they are fantastic family members and entertainment! I would want to work with the dogs, too to let them know that it's not OK to nip at the birds or etc. Good luck!

[jhhuhma]

I have 3 dogs two small but one German Shorthair pointer that is a champion hunter, he is all about hunting he is also in the house, I have a cockatiel, hamster, 5 fish, 4 kids and lets not forget my husband, before I got echo I started exposing Tiki (my cockateil) to Kyba (the hunting dog) and man was he hysterical about smelling him and trying to get to his cage, but I would take Tiki out and put him (on my hand) right in front of Kybas face and tell him very sternly thats Mama's bird until he got to a point that he would back completely away from mama's bird then I would let Tiki run on the floor with me right there telling the dog mama's bird and eventually Kyba would go across the room to stay away from the bird. Of course my husband was worried he would never hunt again which did not happen he is still as good a hunting dog as ever he just knows that the birds in the house are Mama's it took months, but now with my TAG he does the exact same thing when Echo is out he is across the room just observing him, now I SHOULD SAY NO MATTER HOW MUCH I THINK HE WON'T BOTHER ECHO I WOULD NEVER EVER LEAVE IT TO CHANCE IF I AM NOT IN THE ROOM NEITHER IS MY BIRD. Something funny though the other night one of the dogs was playing with a toy on the floor and Echo spotted it and flew down to inspect and the dog dropped it and let echo have it. That was pretty cute.

[Talon]

HI Linda and welcome. I have 4 birds, had two cats and have a bison. I have one fully flighted grey, and one that can only fly maybe 4 feet before crash landing. My bison has tried to jump up and catch my fully flighted bird in the air. We do allow our birds out all day while we are home, and occasionally walk on the floor as they desire. LIke Dave said, you can't train them not too. But we have to keep a constant eye on them and our dog, when that happens. I would be afraid with many dogs, it is their natural instinct no matter how well trained they are to go after a flying or playful object (Birds). Just my opinion.....B)

[jhhuhma]

Talon I am wondering what is a bison?

[Talon]

A small white dog, Bison Frise. Looks kind of like a poodle. Here's a partial picture of him and Talon.

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-photography-room/79866-talons-trash.html#79866<br><br>Post edited by: Talon, at: 2009/01/23 17:14

[rierie]

My dog runs with charlies toys, every chance he gets.. if charlie drops one snoopy gets it and runs and hides, chews it up if I dont get it. When we bring charlie in the living rooom with us. And Charlie has a toy, snoopy sneaks up trying to take it from him. I tell him that is charlies toy leave him alone and he will go lay down and just watch until he drops it and then snatch it if I dont get it first.

 

Other then that if Charlie flies off his catch, snoopy goes over sniffs at him. and then goes like oh it is only the bird and goes about his own way.

 

If charlie is on my lap or hands Snoopy will walk up to him and will lick at charlies beak and Charlie licks back... until snoopy gets excited and then charlie will dart at him. at that point I have always told snoopy to leave charlie alone.

 

Snooopy will even walk up to the door of the cage, hanging down with charlie on it and sniff at him.

 

At this point I dont think Snoopy would intentionally hurt charlie at this point, but being a jack russel/chuachuawa mix he gets excited wanting to play with charlie and doesnt understand that charlie cant play like he does.. Therefore they are always supervised.

 

Even yesterday when we clipped charlies toenail to short, u could see snoopy was concerned, he keep trying to see what was going on.

[jhhuhma]

gotcha, thank goodness I had this vision in my head of a snake, don't ask me why but I am deathly afraid of snakes, and we only have gardner's here. Anyway thanks for the clairification.

[Talon]

:laugh: :laugh:

[KY23]

I have a home with three dogs. Two miniature Schnauzers and a Giant Schnauzer. The Giant is very gentle and likes my African Grey Koigi.

 

However the other two have been trained to catch chipmunks and they are just natural hunters. I don't trust them around Koigi at all. I let them all take turns being out. The dogs have their own room with a kiddy gate and Koigi knows not to go close to it. If people are over or there is a chance the dogs could be let out of the room I put them in kennels when Koigi is out of her cage just to be sure.

[Janfromboone]

I have three dogs that are in the house most of the time and a grey. I was worried about that too, but it took very little time to train the dogs. I started with them on the leash and progressed from there until the dogs pretty much ignored the bird. I still don't leave them alone togeather, but a time or two Tobie has landed on the floor in the midst of them and the dogs moved away from the bird. It works.