I'll look into the bite training...I don't believe he hurts them on purpose...he's been here 16 and a half years and this is only the second incident. I was in the kitchen when he was chasing and laughing. Usually the birds are on the right of me in one room and the dogs on the other side in the living room. I'm looking at the parrots as I type this....the dogs are quite happy and spoiled so yeah no poor dogs needed. This happens everytime I try to find a board....people who can't keep their criticism to themselves. Trust me I've been in rescue for over 20yr and know more more than you ever could. I like boards for insights on issues I haven't encountered...you never stop learning...your poor friends though...glad you aren't mine. Poor people!
Wow, I can promise you that no offense was meant by the reply, I'm sorry but "separating your bird from your dogs if they are biting them" is simply common sense! You say that you have over 20 years of rescue experience and that "there's no way we'll ever know more than you do" (you're quite arrogant in making that assumption, as I have just as much rescue and personal ownership and breeding experience), yet you still have one dog that was bitten and required surgery and another who has a hole bitten through his nostril. Really? With all of your "expertise" this doesn't tell you to separate your bird from your dogs? Exactly what kinds of rescues have you volunteered at?
Instead of being so arrogant and acting like everyone else is uneducated and being overdramatic simply because they are more concerned about the welfare of your dogs than you are, why don't you try listening to someone else for a change, rather than immediately going on the defensive? "No poor dogs here" you say smugly, yet one has had to have surgery and one has an injured nostril because of your carelessness. You also say that "boards are always like this", well what does that tell you, or what should it tell you? If you're being told by multiple experienced people that you need to change something you're doing (or not doing) then maybe you should ask yourself what that means. I'm hoping you're not arrogant enough to say that you're 100% sure that your bird won't ever seriously injure, mame, or even kill one of you dogs, because if you are then you're very, very wrong and not half as smart as you tell everyone that you are. What if that had been your dog's eye instead of his nostril? What if your macaw had not just simply bitten through your dog's skin (which required surgery anyway) but rather bitten through into a main artery in its neck, or bitten off an appendage? It happens every day, and just because your bird just recently started doing this and hadn't done it for years prior does not mean it will not continue to escalate, in fact that is typically how it happens. And the first member that replied to you in a responsible way and you proceeded to berate him, he was correct in saying that you are obviously not always supervising your bird with your dogs because you admitted as such. If you think that's OK, especially in light of what has already happened to your dogs, then you really do need to take a minute to think about what might be the next thing to happen to one of your dogs, or to your bird. What if one of your dogs finally snaps after your bird scares it, chases it, or god forbid bites it again? It takes one good bite from any of the dog breeds you mentioned to kill your macaw instantly. Once again, if you think you know that none of this will ever happen, that you know that your bird "doesn't mean to purposely hurt the dogs", it's certainly your choice to continue on the way you are now. You can continue to take your dogs in for little surgeries and procedures to treat injuries caused by your bird, but I guarantee you that if you don't either keep your macaw completely separate from all of your dogs, or at the very least never let them alone together without supervising them very closely, you are going to end up with either a severely injured or permanently disabled dog, or a dead bird.
"Dance like nobody's watching..."
