is it ok to let my bird and dogs play together ?

[Mwolfe1080]

I know this is weird, and in honest I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I was scared until I realized my sunconure was actively participating. But my sunconure and my gfs two yorkies play together. I wish this site would let me post videos of this because it's damn near crazy. Anyways the dogs have toys that they fight over and lately my bird has decided to enter the mix and fight over the toy too. In fact I have a great picture of him on top of one of their toys fending off the other two as they try and take it away. My question is should I let this continue? I've tried stoping it by putting the bird on the cage but he just marches right down to the floor and does this little charge thing and takes the toy away again. The boy yorkie is scared but the girl not so much she will attempt to get the toy and I've seen the bird bite Delilah but she didn't scream which makes me think he didn't bite her hard so I'm inclined to just let them have fun as long as I'm there and can insure things don't get out of hand. I've also walked in and seen all three of them just huddled up together sleeping. So I don't think that they would intentionally hurt the other. However do any of you have any ideas or experience with this? I know it's damn near un believable.

 

[snowflake311]

It is not safe. Yes the dogs might not mean to hurt the bird but they can. Yeah they are small dogs but they are still larger than the bird. I would not allow this. I like my dogs to ignore the bird. I have worked hard on getting them to ignore all birds.

The dog slobber alone is not safe for the bird. what you see as play could be the bird defending him self.

 

[Flboy]

Yes, I have experience in this area, I had to bury our first bird! Yes, they were all buddies! We were within 5 feet and couldn't move fast enough!
The dog's saliva is also a danger to your Sun!

 

[Kiwibird]

Predators and prey never mix well. No end to the stories of just how many incidents occur between birds and dogs that result in serious injury or death to the bird. They shouldn't ever be allowed to interact physically.

 

[SilverSage]

Don't do it. I know it SEEMS cute but it won't be when an accidental or playful nip or stomp leads to a crushing injury or a punctured air sack, or even just death by bacterial infection because you are letting the bird put his mouth on things the dogs have slobbered on.

My first dead bird was dead in the jaws of my dog who DIDNT MEAN TO DO IT.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

Please do not allow this to continue at all. As others have said, even the saliva from the dogs can be deadly to your parrot. If one of the birds' foot toys falls on the floor and one of the dogs so much as goes over and sniff it, it will be washed before being given back to the birds to prevent the transfer of bacteria.

I have put a lot of work into ensuring my dogs ignore the birds both in and out of their cages. In addition, they are extremely well trained with the "leave it" command. Still, I would never let the birds play with the dogs, or even be on the floor when the dogs are in the same area. Even as well trained as they are, they are still predators and birds are still prey, and accidents do happen. As small as they are, it doesn't take much to injure a bird. I know my dogs, when playing with each other with toys, sometimes get rough enough to cause each other to yelp. What could cause another dog to yelp could be fatal to a bird.

I'm sorry if that seems a bit harsh, or blunt, but I just want to make sure you realize how dangerous letting the two interact can be.

 

[Sandy19]

I have three dogs and I introduced Peanut to all of them so she's not spooked or scared of them, my dopey basset hound likes to sniff her butt. She likes them which is strange because she's scared of people, but not bothered in the least by dogs. I don't let her play freely with them, however. If they were to accidentally step on her or nip her they could kill her very easily.

 

[T00tsyd]

I have a very large dog German ShepherdxWeimaraner - he is 9 years old and completely obedience trained. I also now have a 4+ month old conure. I have spent a lot of time over the last month since he joined us training my dog to leave it. He is brilliant but I know he is stressed because he is licking his lips to calm himself. Now when he sees me opening the cage he asks to leave the room and happily watches through the glass doors until Syd goes back home in his cage, then bounds back in checking carefully that Syd is where he should be.

I trust my dog completely, but accidents happen and it isn't fair to ask the impossible and as Syd gets braver he is quite likely to try and land on the dog which could be a disaster.

 

[Lacewing]

I can say with confidence there is no member on any bird forum that will say it's ok to let cats and dogs play together with a bird of any size. Also ferrets and other small furry animals

 

[wrench13]

Short answer - no. Long answer - Nooooooooooo!
In German - Niene' or Nicht. In Brooklyn-ese - Nope.
Gettin the general idea? 999 times out of 1000 ,yes but that one time
could be deadly. Do you like those odds?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Just to confirm and support the previous comments, really, really not worth the risk.

You might find this interesting, who the heck wants to invite trips to the AV?

Saliva Is Dangerous For Parrots

This is some text taken from the link:-

Cats, dogs gerbils, humans…all mammals… carry a type of bacteria in their bodies that is referred to as “gram negative” bacteria. It is present in our body fluids and we are equipped to deal with it in normal amounts. Birds, however, do not carry gram negative bacteria in their bodies and are not prepared to battle it.
Saliva is the most common way to transmit gram negative bacteria to parrots (who, hopefully, do not have access to any other body fluids from ourselves or our pets.) This means we should be careful when we kiss our birds and we should never let them eat from our mouths or our utensils.
The claws of mammals are often coated with gram negative bacteria. That means that if there is an attack, it isn’t only the bite that is dangerous to a bird. Any scratch, no matter how superficial it seems, must be tended to by a veterinarian immediately.
To test for gram negative bacteria in an ill bird, your vet will use a process called gram staining which separates the gram negative cells from the gram positive cells. A purple dye is introduced to a sample taken from your bird which will leave the thinner cell walls of gram negative bacteria a pink color and the thicker walled cells of gram positive bacteria purple. Your vet can then make an assessment as to the degree of gram negative invasion and medicate appropriately.

 

[LordTriggs]

nope!

I would never let a bird and dog play. Especially a Terrier, they can be nasty when they want, then there's the saliva which will be on the toy. I think what you're seeing is your sun claming the toy as theirs and defending it from the dogs instead of playing

 

[LeaKP]

Nature is nature. We can't prevent animals from behaving instinctively. My Nigel (CAG) has never bitten anyone, but the beak is real and the possibility of a bite is ever present so I do my best to respect that reality.. Same goes for dogs, cats, any animal. They have the capacity to be animals even when we are sure they won't and if/when they do, we can't be angry at them. They've just done what comes naturally to them. Best to keep apart. Just my 2 cents.