Introducing dogs/ controlling children

[Tammie]

Hello, I am getting a 3 1/2 month old BH caique. But...... We have 2 large hyper dogs with no manners. Chocolate lab 3 years old and natural instinct of being a hunter, and a 1 year old boxer/bulldog mix. How do I introduce these dogs to the bird or vice versa without Oliver( bird) being traumatized? Also, as far as cage placement, where is the best place for the cage considering. I was thinking on our bedroom so I can pull door while I'm not home to keep dogs away, or should cage be placed in a spare bedroom where we are still in and out but not as often. Is it a must to place bird where we are in house? Also have a 6 year old nephew who has developed his own " bossy" ways of handling the bird when we visit it. Nephew was at one time a little skeptical but has become comfortable enough to take the bird at will and is kind of bossy to the bird. Not hurting bird but more of a controlling way as to he wants to hold the bird when he wants to no matter who is already holding him. He will just sweep the bird away from whoever is holding him.As well as try to force toys upon him. Oliver is unsure of toys and not ready for that. My nephew is a BRAT! Now the bird has been very beaky and biting our hands and fingers not hard but constantly. I don't want this to become an aggression issue. Is my nephew stressing him out?

 

[Flboy]

You really want the bird to be part of the family, but the dogs WILL kill him!
Nephew? Kennel! My grandkids were horrible! But it was very clear, Not Around Me!
He will hurt the bird! I would say, 100% no handling! Your bird is smart enough to see the issues! Not sure of your experience level, they are not pets! You are responsible for this little guy's social development!
FYI, if you are letting a six year old run the show, your caique will take you to a new level!

I feel your pain!

 

[Tammie]

Yes I have heard and read caiques need boundaries to establish that " I" am boss. But what kind of boundaries should be established with this species considering they are headstrong themselves. I am not a new bird owner by any means. I have had parakeets, lovebirds, finches, cockatiels, but never had any issues with a bird wanting to be pushy.

 

[CherylCali]

On the dogs I agree on having a bird room seperate. There's never any guarantee that the bird won't go down to where the dogs are. I have lost a very precious, intelligent bird this way. You really have to think of worst case scenario, and make your normal daily precautions as though that is the case.
On the child, he just needs to be trained on what proper interaction is, he will make the bird fearful and possibly cause a bite. It sounds like he is causing stress. The problem with that is that he may fling the bird or otherwise really hurt the bird by not knowing how to respond.
I have 6 grandchildren, all very young. One very young wild boy, almost feral. They just simply aren't allowed to touch anything that belongs to the bird. Swift punishment and disciplines when any rules are broken is the best policy.
On a side note, when I'm the one with my wild boy, very different child. Very well behaved. Simply because I am extremely strict. If I say no I absolutely mean it.

CherylCali

 

[Tammie]

Thank you. I bought the bird with all intentions of it being for the family to enjoy, but I bony need the bird to become mean. That would defeat the whole purpose.

 

[jenphilly]

Nosey questions... who lives in your home? Is your nephew living in the house?

I agree with the comments that if your 6 year old nephew is running the show and telling the adults what gonna happen, a parrot is going to terrorize the home. Its big difference between tiels and a caique. Caiques are funny, outgoing and jokingly referred to as the bipolar parrots in the bird world. Your nephew is bullying the bird and while I can't tell you what to do with your nephew as duct tape, rope and a gag in the closet is probably still illegal. You have not mentioned the parents in this situation, while having a family bird is wonderful, who wants to be part of a family where you get mistreated and terrorized. While I understand this is not your child, a serious talk with the parents about what will happen to your nephew's flesh might be needed. While a caique is a smaller bird, please do not underestimate their ability to do some serious damage to flesh, while they may not send you to the hospital needing stitches, I swear I'll take a pressure bite from my macaw over a grinding slicing bite from a conure, sennie, caique size bird. Just personally speaking, if the kid does not live in the home, the bird does back to the safety of his cage when the kid is visiting. If he lives in the home, then guess its time someone set boundaries for the kid even more important then boundaries for the bird.

The dogs... the answer is simple... you never introduce dogs and birds. I know there are those quite videos you see out there, but you already know you have a dog with a high prey drive. You essentially are bringing home a new play toy. The best thing is to keep them separate. When your bird is out with you and a parrot needs to spend time with their flock, being kept in a separate room all the time is much like solitary confinement for people, its not healthy .... parrots belong in a flock, and you are their flock. You definitely need to determine a schedule where the dogs have interaction and then the bird has his safe interaction without the presence or threat of the dog. Birds will fly, and keep in mind that dog with a hunting instinct will catch the bird mid flight or before it lands on the ground.

Caging... the best thing for the bird is to have two cages. A cage in the general family area where he can safely be in the center of activity in a cage if the dogs are in the room. And a cage in a spare bedroom where he can get quiet, secure and safe sleep for 10+ hours each night, and a safe cage with the bedroom door shut to keep the dogs from knocking over the cage when you are not home.

Wish you the best of luck, but really serious attention to safety needs to be considered. Sometimes animals just don't mix... I personally have a macaw that no one told is supposed to be up high, he plays on the floor, and does not like play stands, he has tunnels he plays in and toy several toy buckets around the home. As much as I would love to have a dog, I know for safety purposes, I cannot have a dog in the home without totally changing Max's lifestyle, and that's not fair to him. Not suggesting anything, just sharing the decision we've had to make in our home.

Do wish you the best of luck with the challenges you have ahead of you.

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi Tammie, welcome to the forum . You've already received some great advice here. I agree with what others have said about both your nephew and your dogs. As far as your dog go, some animals do not mix, and there is really no reason your bird and dogs need to be introduced each other period. Best of luck.

 

[Tammie]

Thank you all for the responses. My husband and I live with my mother in law, sister in law, and nephew in a very large home. So I plan on keeping the bird in our bedroom as that is where my husband and I spend most of our time for our own space and safe from the dogs. My mother in law is the one wanting the bird cage to be able to be downstairs amongst the family. I do have my own opinion on that so I am leaning NOT! But wanted reassurance. As far as my nephew, he is an only child, with his single mother and is spoiled rotten. No boundaries as a child really. He pretty much runs his mother most times and headstrong, stubborn and thinks he knows all. Very argumentative!! A monster she has created, my own children, now grown and moved out NEVER pulled that behavior with me. They knew better. So I do agree on duct tape, and gag in a closet! But no..... I'm sure the law wouldn't approve. Sadly. Lol!!!!

 

[Tammie]

The good about my nephew is he is very involved in sports so he is not home much during the week until evenings and weekend late afternoon. So that is a plus. As far as the dogs, the boxer/bulldog likes to sleep about 22 hours out of 24 and the lab is sometimes his napping partner. They are inseparable. So I do at least have a plan in mind to make this work, and I hope I succeed.

 

[CherylCali]

It sounds like you have a plan. You can definitely make it work.

CherylCali

 

[snowflake311]

About dogs and birds. Some dogs are perfect with birds others can never be trusted my small Pom mix is great with birds so was our old Pit bull. My other dog now a 5 year old shepherd mix. Can not be trusted BUT she is very good about listening and well trained. If she is in the room when Sprinkles is out I keep Cookie my dog on a leash for more control. When she is around the bird she gets treat for ignoring the bird. I use the Leave it command if she is showing too much interest and this works well.

You need to work with your dogs. Train leave it! This way if the bird is on the ground you can make sure your dogs will leave it. I have also used wild birds outside for training. We had a baby bird fall on the ground. I have been working with my dog since I got her to ignore birds. So when the baby was down She looked at it and let it live. Rodents are not so lucky they are dead if they come in the yard.

SO I say the more trained your dog is the better off all of you will be.

My birds are in a bird room. where they can be out safe. At night Cookie likes to be outside so Cookie stays outside and I bring Sprinkles my bird down to the living room to be with the family.

 

[Teddscau]

Oh my gosh, I hate it when children/adults come to my place. It doesn't matter how old they are, they're going to stick their fingers in your parrots' cages. It's so annoying because everytime you have humans over, there's going to be some idiot provoking the birds. You know, they'll go right up to the poor little one's cage, and stick their finger right in his face. Then, the little guy, feeling threatened, will open his beak and display nervous/aggressive body language. The human thinks this is funny, and quickly sticks his or her finger right in the bird's face again, then pulls away before they're bitten. OVER AND OVER AGAIN. My gosh, you shouldn't have to tell people to be respectful of the freaking bird! I mean, parrots are prey animals with complex social rules who demand to be shown some respect! If it isn't socially acceptable to get right up in someone's face, poking at them and insulting them, then don't do it with any non-humans!

I'm sorry, but my gosh. If you're behaving like that around an animal, you deserve to bleed. A lot. As for dogs, they definitely don't tend to go well with birds. Noah and our 3lbs chihuahua, Abby, keep picking fights with each other. He wants to beat her up and she wants to grab him. I swear, that's an accident waiting to happen.

 

[sonja]

If you can't move out, then I'd get a lock for your bedroom door and leave the bird in there, without the dogs. Without a lock, the kid will have nothing stopping him from doing as he wants with the bird, which will likely lead to a very bad outcome for the bird in one way or another.

 

[GaleriaGila]

My advice... maximum paranoia.. imagine anything that COULD go wrong and guard against it.
Good luck, and welcome to the Forums!

 

[Scott]

My advice... maximum paranoia.. imagine anything that COULD go wrong and guard against it.
Good luck, and welcome to the Forums!

So much great advice given, Tammie, but the above quote really sums it up for me. I lost a precious Citron to a high-prey dog and made tremendous changes after the fact. Still haunts me to this day, so please carefully consider the safeguards necessary before bringing home your bird. It *can* work very well, but your entire family must always be on guard.

 

[SirEdwin89]

I just wanted to take a second to applaud you for being so open with your question. Many times people will go out of their way to leave out things they think would cause people to give them answers they don't want. Like leaving out the dogs high hunting drive, or even the fact that they have dogs to begin with.

Making a balance is definitely possible, it just requires some very strong ground rules. You are asking the right questions though!