Only thing I could think of that would contain you & your bird away from the dog & cat would be an indoor walk in aviary.. which is probably crazy expensive OR you could build yourself with supplies from homedepot etc.
But i don't think all that is necessary.
It all depends on your dog though. I have a small dog (chihuahua 8lbs) and a large cat (13lbs). The dog actually doesn't mind the birds at all but he doesn't like them close to him as he usually gets his ears chewed on lol. Sometimes if he's excited & they're flying around he'll run after them but I know he'd never hurt them. He grew up with all kinds of animals- parakeets, cats, hamsters, ferrets. I can trust him.
If he's a hyper, jumpy dog I think it would be easier, as someone said before to contain the dog rather than the bird when you let him out of the cage. Although I really don't think it's a big deal having them in the same area if you're there to supervise I understand some small dogs like Jack Russels have that hunting instinct & others with very high energy just don't know how to act lol. If you're at all concerned you should put the dog in a crate or in another room or leashed up to something while the bird is out of cage.
When you first get the bird give him however much time he needs to feel comfortable & after he's used to everything I suggest working on getting the dog used to the bird. Always make sure his energy is toned down if he's high energy. Chances are your bird will have more of an attitude towards the dog than vise versa. But I could be wrong.
I also don't see a problem with having cats and birds AS LONG AS YOU ARE ALWAYS THERE TO SUPERVISE OUT OF CAGE TIME. My cat is indoor/outdoor. This helps because many times with nice weather if he's outside I don't even have to worry about letting the birds out of their cage. BUT being outdoor/indoor he HAS brought home birds before (he never manages to kill them -___________- just catches them & brings them home for me to chase around and let outside again then clean up feathers after) but I know he knows not to mess with house birds.
The first few weeks with the bird whenever the cat would stalk the bird cage - & I mean like even one remotely predator-ish look from the cat to the bird- the cat got a jet of water to the face from my squirt bottle that would send him running out of the room.
Now I can trust him & the birds in the same room as long as I'm there. Any funny business & a stern verbal correction will usually set him straight. Many times without me even doing ANYTHING if a bird flies by he will just leave the room. It probably wasn't the nicest way to condition him but it was for the safety of the birds & it wasn't painful for him, just unpleasant to learn that way. I honestly don't THINK he would intentionally hurt my birds because my cat is more playful & curious than anything but it's still better to be on the safe side coz he is afterall, a cat- & a cat capable of catching flighted birds.
Also it's best (I think) not to clip your birds wings if you plan having cats & dogs in the same house with them so if anything were to ever go wrong your bird would still have a fair chance at getting away from danger. I had both my birds clipped when I first got them in order to bond & train them but they're both growing the feathers back out now & getting to be really good at flying.
Anyway that was long. I wish you luck. Just know it can be done but you have to be diligent & just use common sense mostly. I think you'll be fine
From Mel, Loqui, Lila (birds), Romeo (dog) AND Charlie (cat) lol :09:
