Bird Walking

[BirdieDad]

After several months I have finally gotten my Scarlet Macaw to put on a harness with little fuss. We go for walks but there are a lot of dogs around and sometimes off their leash. Some of the dogs have tried to "approach me" sometimes with a little aggression. So far the owners have all been able to defuse the situation. Has anyone else come up against this issue and have any suggestions?

 

[wrench13]

LOL, yeah, teach your Macaw "Attack" !

 

[chris-md]

It probably goes without saying, but a guy walking a bird is...unusual, and you’ll have to teach a lot people how to behave with their dogs. Just comes with the territory, so handle it with grace. I walk my bird, and I don’t use a harness (my boy destroys his flight and tail feathers Through babering, so is completely flightless 6 months out of the year). Just the owners to keep the dogs at bay. Or walk around them/cross the street on your own - take initiative so it doesn’t become an issue to begin with.

 

[BirdieDad]

LOL, yeah, teach your Macaw "Attack" !

Lol, it took me 2 months to get that damn harness on.

 

[wrench13]

LOL, yeah, teach your Macaw "Attack" !

Lol, it took me 2 months to get that damn harness on.

You should be elated at that! It took me the best part of a year, training every single night, to get Salty comfortable putting on and taking his harness off. We still do it, or most of it, every night during our training sessions. Even if we only get his head thru the head loop and drape the rest over his wings, doing that makes sure that when it comes to putting it fully on, its no big deal.

But really, Chris' suggestion to just cross the street before the confrontation happens is likely the best solution. A lot of dog owners have very poor control over thier dogs, big ones especially, and before they can reign in Rover, your macaw will get frightened, and a scared parrot is one ready to take flight.

 

[macawpower58]

Is it legal to carry pepper spray with you?

Some dogs have a crazy prey drive and clueless owners.
Things can easily escalate, and better safe than sorry.

It's one of my biggest fears also, and sadly kept me from taking my bird many places.

I ended up walking where dogs didn't.
Stores, fairs and festivals.
Kids sports games I've always been welcomed. I also had a kid there though...
Places dogs aren't allowed, birds can usually squeak by.

 

[texsize]

I use to carry a flashlight with a built in stun gun function.

I found just hitting the button and making it "pop" was enough to make a dog decide he had somewhere else to be.

I did not do this with my bird though, just used it when I got home late at night. never know what stray dogs might be wandering around.

 

[BirdieDad]

Is it legal to carry pepper spray with you?

Some dogs have a crazy prey drive and clueless owners.
Things can easily escalate, and better safe than sorry.

It's one of my biggest fears also, and sadly kept me from taking my bird many places.

I ended up walking where dogs didn't.
Stores, fairs and festivals.
Kids sports games I've always been welcomed. I also had a kid there though...
Places dogs aren't allowed, birds can usually squeak by.

I have been trying to find places where there are no dogs but it can be a little difficult. However, the places you mentioned seem like great places to start. I am planning to purchase a stun baton. It is hard for people without birds to understand how much of a personal investment on so many levels a bird can be.

 

[BirdieDad]

I use to carry a flashlight with a built in stun gun function.

I found just hitting the button and making it "pop" was enough to make a dog decide he had somewhere else to be.

I did not do this with my bird though, just used it when I got home late at night. never know what stray dogs might be wandering around.

This is exactly what I am planning to do, carry a stun gun. the neighbors dog sometimes waits in front of my door waiting for me to come out with my birds. My neighbors are much older and think it is cute that their pitbull wants to play with my birds. I am actually not amused in the slightest and wish they would put the dog on a leash. My neighbors are nice and I moving soon, so I just being extra careful when I open the door.

 

[Jottlebot]

Wow! A surprising amount of weaponry discussed for use of keeping dogs at bay! It's a bit of a shock (no stun gun related pun intended), but I'm a Brit, so having weapons on me to solve a problem just isn't really part of my thinking and I also have dogs and a parrot and I've never walked mine - the parrot that is, not the dogs.

I'd just like to ask how much of a problem is this? If the dogs would attack you or your bird, then that's one thing and causing physicalpain to the dog is sad, but entirely justified, but a dog running up and barking at your macaw...well...that's what dogs do. You're taking a parrot for a walk. Most dogs burst with excitement when they see another dog, never mind a tiny, brightly coloured dinosaur with feathers on. If there is no physical harm to you or your bird and the concern is fear, then perhaps you need to condition your parrot to dogs like you did the harness? I'm honestly not sure I would behave in a sensible, adult, parrot owning manner if someone walked past me in the street out for a stroll with a macaw nevermind my dog be able to control himself, he gets almost too excited to remember to breathe when my husband comes back into the room after he went to make a cup of tea!

If it were neighbourhood children running up and jumping about and screaming and shouting and trying to poke at your bird - as on board as I am with the stun gun approach in this case - you would have to find a different solution to keep your bird safe. Probably you would both ignore them until a little finger got a bit too close at which time your bird would swiftly bite it completely off and you could chew on it as you walked off...sorted.

Dogs off leads is not good and I recognise that the people who have their dogs off the lead are usually the people who should REALLY not have their dogs off the lead, but it's about level of risk I think.

Also you need to be careful that you don't grab for you stun gun rocket launcher taser torch as soon as you hear the pitter patter of tiny feet on the pavement beside you, because you will become tense, your bird will become tense and the dog will become tense.

I can only apologise for the above ramble, but somewhere in there I think there's a reasonable point or 2, even if they are well disguised...

 

[BirdieDad]

Wow! A surprising amount of weaponry discussed for use of keeping dogs at bay! It's a bit of a shock (no stun gun related pun intended), but I'm a Brit, so having weapons on me to solve a problem just isn't really part of my thinking and I also have dogs and a parrot and I've never walked mine - the parrot that is, not the dogs.


I can only apologise for the above ramble, but somewhere in there I think there's a reasonable point or 2, even if they are well disguised...

You are coming from a peaceful place with a tremendous amount of love and respect for all living things. I also try to live in this place, but I am forced to live in reality. Not sure of your experience, but I have been a doctor for almost 10 years. In this span I have seen many noses removed, eyes lost, entire lips lost, ears gouged by dogs that were deemed to be harmless. I have even seen foot eaten by a small dog off a person who was sleeping, the person had no sensation in that foot. Point being, all animals are unpredictable. People, especially dog owners, tend to exercise poor control over their animals around others. This is why there are so many dog bites. If a strange dog approaches you and changes it's mind about their intentions then you will not have enough time to respond and protect yourself and your pet. Those are just the facts. If you are willing to take the risk, then that is definitely your choice and I am not judging it. My choice is to protect my animals. Also as an aside, I worked with security dogs (love dogs and all animals) but right dog with wrong intentions can do irreparable damage. A stun will not make any friends but it may save you a trip to ER, or worse case scenario, the pet cemetery. I have be aggressively approached by three dogs on two walks and only one was on a leash. Seems like a matter of time and I keep changing where we walk trying to avoid the pups.

 

[chris-md]

Jottlebot has a point. Reality is if it’s dangerous enough that you have to carry weaponry to protect the bird, it’s really not a safe practice to take the bird out in the first place.

This is being way overthought; id take a step back and reevaluate if I were you.

I actively dog sit (some of whom have desperately wanted to get to my bird), I walk my bird in areas dogs are walked. I’ve never had to carry any sort of hardware.

 

[BirdieDad]

I disagree for many reasons. With all due respect, I don't think the logic holds. I adore dogs, but they can become easily provoked and attack. I have sewn many lacerations in the ED that started with the story, "I have never seem him/her act like that." Of course I look for trails with no dogs, avoid dogs, and I am in no way looking for dogs to confront. My birds really seem to enjoy getting out of the house and walking around with their harness. I see absolutely no problem with being safe in case something were to happen. I do think you are entitled to take risks you deem reasonable. I understand you have never had to carry any hardware, but it only takes one time (heaven forbid) and you may regret not being prepared. I do not see the downside to carrying a canine stun, if I never use it then all the better.

 

[chris-md]

I’m not sure how “if it’s very dangerous, don’t take the bird out” somehow fails a logic test.

It’s your bird, buddy, and you’re call. But driving down a city street in a tank becuase you’re afraid a fender bender is not what I would call reasonable.

 

[BirdieDad]

I’m not sure how “if it’s very dangerous, don’t take the bird out” somehow fails a logic test.

It’s your bird, buddy, and you’re call. But driving down a city street in a tank becuase you’re afraid a fender bender is not what I would call reasonable.

Not what I was referring to. I was referring to your anecdotal experience of "never having to carry hardware". Comparing me carrying a stun gun made for dogs for the reason of prevalent dog bites to driving down the street in a tank is false equivalency. No disrespect and I appreciate your opinion. I agree with looking for safe areas, but prefer to be prepared. If the occasion never arises than all the better. My wife used to travel and carried pepper spray, she never used it. I think of it kind of like that. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

 

[macawpower58]

There are IMO several things in the above post from Jottlebot that are wrong.

Firstly, children, even unruly one don't have teeth and a desire to chase/attack prey.

Secondly, no dog should run up barking at anyone! Even without a bird, I'd be totally in my right to defend myself if I was afraid. Where is the thought that a bad dog is due to a bad owner?

Now I do understand accidents can happen even to the best of owners. But they should be few and far between.

Many dogs have been mauled by other dogs running up at them. What chance does a parrot on my hand have? A leaping, excited dog is going to grab at my bird, and if he succeeded, he'd be dead or badly injured.

So yes, my defense is IMO again, 100% allowed.

If my GSD ran up barking at someone off lead, their fear and striking out would only be my own fault.

I also think most of could read the dog's body language and gauge our reaction for it.

 

[chris-md]

It sounds like you’ve answered your own original question. Good luck to you.

 

[BirdieDad]

I thought I would post an update to anyone who might wander across this post. Initially after reviewing the comments to this post I thought maybe it was overkill to getting a doggie stun stick when walking with my bird, so I decided to just keep them in the back yard for exercise. Fast forward and the actually the very first time today I walked into my front yard with my Scarlet, the first time ever. My next door neighbors black lab retriever runs straight for me and I barely got across the driveway to jump on the hood on my car. The dog circled the car a couple times before the owner was able to call the dog off. In the interim I barely caught my bird before she flew off! Long story short, I will be purchasing that stun stick. It seems unreasonable that I should not even be able to walk in the front yard with my bird in her harness, my animals also deserve to get some air.

 

[Flboy]

And, the neighbor should be reported!

 

[bill_e]

I find that the collar itches my neck when I go out for a walk.