Birds and dogs...

Hi all. I'll soon be bringing home a parrot. I'm not sure on the species yet as I'm going to rehome a bird from a local rescue, I'm not loyal to any one species, I'm looking to find the best fit for me personality wise.

So now, my question. I have 3 large dogs, a boxer, an English mastiff an a Cane Corso. All well trained, friendly and wouldn't hurt a fly. That said, none of them have ever seen a bird before. I don't worry that they would hurt a bird, but I do know that they will be curious about any new thing I bring home, especially if it's a living thing that's moving and making noise. The boxer and the corso and hyper and will want to sniff, lick and generally annoy a small critter. Again, I don't have any fear that my dogs would hurt a bird. But I don't want them to freak the bird out and start his new life in my home off on a bad note. I'm sure once the bird has been around a while, they'll settle down and learn to coexist. Any tips on introducing a bird to a dog without scarring either?

Dogs aren't known to eat bugs, of course they wouldn't harm a fly. Although, I'd be afraid they might attack the bird out of pure instinct...

Buttttt it's not unknown for dogs and birds to become buddies. Not quite sure how to do it because i'm too scared to try it myself haha. Good luck with it though!

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There's always that what if....We would never know even with the best trained dogs what they would do with a flying bird. Most of their instinct is telling them to go chase it. In the midst of chasing they may hurt or kill the bird unintentionally. When I introduce birds to dogs I leave the birds in their cage and allow the dogs to sniff around but do not allow them to jump on the cage or bother the bird excessively. If they do, they get yanked back away from the cage. I only have my macaws out with me when the dogs are out, they don't bother my macaws as much as they grew up with Willie around and all have been nipped by Willie since they were younger so they know what that beak can do. So Lola was a easy fit to have her out with me. But all the other birds I do not trust my dogs with them as they will not hesitate to kill one. Also when no one is home, should not leave the dogs in the same room with a bird cause your not there to observe and you never know what the dogs would do.

This would be much harder to do with bigger birds (however, My vet had a small ekkie who was trained this way) I put Felix in a large rodent ball to run around when I am putsing in the house and can't supervise them (Felix & the dog) w/ 100% attention. I never leave Felix in the ball when I leave the house and if I have to leave the room I either take the ball (w/ Felix in it) or brace it on the couch so he can't run around every where just to be safe. It has been great for Felix as he gets the chance to be independant and safe around the dog all at the same time... I'll post a pic of Felix in his ball tmrw when he wakes up

Hi Nitsuj, welcome I'm from about the same area you are. Dogs and birds, I have both and you have to be very careful about it. Make sure you get a very sturdy cage regardless of the species of bird you get. I have 5 dogs and a cat, but I had birds before this 'crop' of dogs and they grew up with them, the same with the cat, so they accept the bird but I never let the birds out without securing the room so only the birds are out. We are consoling a fellow member just today that lost her bird to her dog. It happens and it happens FAST. I know you say your dogs won't hurt a flea, but dogs are predators and sometimes nature takes over, like if something flees from them, the natural thing is to chase. Introduce them slowly and steady, make sure the cage is strong and secure, and things should go well enough. I'm in the process now of trying to locate a vet that specializes in birds in the Pittsburgh area but so far I have not been able to locate one, so if you know of one, or anybody reading this, please share that information with me. I definitely would prefer it in my phone book now rather than when it's an emergency situation. Perhaps you would too. Good luck and welcome to the forums

Hey there. We have a Pomeranian, a rat terrier, a bull terrier and a hound mix. I would never trust any of them around my birds. They act stupid as soon as they see them. You can see how they act around yours but...it's seriously not worth the risk especially with a group of dogs acting like a pack