Dogs with birds..

[snowflake311]

I have 2 dogs one little old one that I had around my old bird Kiwi. So I know Indy my little dog is safe. Well safe as a dog can be still would NEVER leave them along together. Our old Pit Bull meatball (RIP) was great too. Once I bird kiwi flew right down to him and he did nothing. It's like he knew this bird was part of the pack. He was also a very sweet pit.

Now I have my dog Cookie. She is a Crazy German shepherd mix. She has a history of killing small wild animals. I Don't trust her with inside pets totally. So she is outside when the bird is out in the living room. Or we play with the bird in a closed room. Cookie is not so crazy when it comes to birds. It is rodents she can not control herself around. So far she has been very mellow and calm around the bird when in the cage. She is a very smart dog and easy to train. They have never been out together. I don't think I will ever do that. At the same time Dogs need to be trained that way if something happens the dog knows not to hurt the bird.

I have been training dogs since I was 12. She knows the word leave it and does it very well. Ever since I got Cookie I have always discouraged chasing birds since I knew I wanted one someday.

Anyways. How do you live with a bird and dogs? How do you spend time with them safely? What type of dog do you have? What type of training have you done? I like to hear about others with dogs and birds in the same house.

 

[LeaKP]

At home I don't allow our dog near the birds. If the cages are closed for the night, they can come and go but during the daytime or when they're out I don't let them near one another. Our dog knows to steer clear and my eye is always watching. I had one dog eat one of our ducklings once. Was our sweet dog but predator instincts were there.

 

[Terry57]

We keep our dogs in a different part of the house from the bird rooms. When we first started getting finches, my Peke was allowed to come in the room they were in since they were caged, but he started wanting to see them fly and would bang on the flight cage with his paw so we had to stop that.

 

[plumsmum2005]

If you search on here you will find plenty of previous material to think about.

 

[Scott]

I have 2 dogs one little old one that I had around my old bird Kiwi. So I know Indy my little dog is safe. Well safe as a dog can be still would NEVER leave them along together. Our old Pit Bull meatball (RIP) was great too. Once I bird kiwi flew right down to him and he did nothing. It's like he knew this bird was part of the pack. He was also a very sweet pit.

Now I have my dog Cookie. She is a Crazy German shepherd mix. She has a history of killing small wild animals. I Don't trust her with inside pets totally. So she is outside when the bird is out in the living room. Or we play with the bird in a closed room. Cookie is not so crazy when it comes to birds. It is rodents she can not control herself around. So far she has been very mellow and calm around the bird when in the cage. She is a very smart dog and easy to train. They have never been out together. I don't think I will ever do that. At the same time Dogs need to be trained that way if something happens the dog knows not to hurt the bird.

I have been training dogs since I was 12. She knows the word leave it and does it very well. Ever since I got Cookie I have always discouraged chasing birds since I knew I wanted one someday.

Anyways. How do you live with a bird and dogs? How do you spend time with them safely? What type of dog do you have? What type of training have you done? I like to hear about others with dogs and birds in the same house.

Given Cookie's tendencies, you will have to be on eternal guard with a high level of vigilance. Her presence poses a potential existential threat to your birds. People are human and prone to making mistakes, so you will have to develop a plan to keep them separate. And hope that if there is ever a mistake, Cookie will not give chase.

All of my dogs are rescues and low-prey breeds. I just won't adopt anything known to chase and capture birds. Period. That said, mistakes can happen, but none of my recent dogs show any interest in parrots. I also follow very strict protocols of nearness, and know in the event of an accidental contact, the chances of injury or worse are fairly low.