MonicaMc
Well-known member
- Sep 12, 2012
- 7,960
- 44
- Parrots
- Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
This is a little OT, but it ties into parrot behaviors.
Dogs and parrots have different ways of thinking and behaving, which should come as no surprise... dogs are predators... parrots are prey... so there's bound to be a lot of differences! However, their behaviors are also quite similar...
The history... or rather what led up to the behaviors of my dog 'acting out'.
I recently moved back in February from a property of 1/3 of an acre into a smaller place where you rent the property but own the 'home'. The yard is extremely small compared to the old place, and the owners and managers don't like it if you leave your pets out all the time.
In the old place, Kodi, my dog (akita mix, possibly half pit) used to spend most of the days outside and sometimes even the nights, too! He loves being outside, and he even had a track from one side of the yard to the other, a track around our two raised plant beds, and one through the back yard. He had a little less than half of that 1/3 of an acre to himself! (plus the neighborhood, when he escaped the yard!). I'd take him out occasionally for a run around the neighborhood, maybe down to the 7/11, or out hiking!
Life changes and having to move, I rarely get to take him out on walks or runs and the yard is hardly large enough for him to run in. He manages, but its just not a lot of room.
Now that you know a bit of history... to the story!
Recently, Kodi had decided he didn't want to come inside the house! The evil cat (that abuses him... poor pup) is inside and he can't romp around and have fun. In short, it's boring inside and who knows what the cat does to him when no one is home! He didn't like coming in for treats, and it was even getting difficult to get him inside to eat his food! When called inside, he'd act as if he was in trouble, ears down, tail slowly wagging and a pitiful look on his face! He was not being yelled at and he wasn't being demanded to come in. In a positive voice, we'd say "Kodi, wanna come in? Wanna eat? Are you hungry?" Eat would usually get his response, but it was getting to the point that he'd ignore that, too! If we walked outside to go get him, he'd run towards the gate! Completely abnormal behavior for him.
One evening, when I didn't get home too late, and I didn't have any plans, I found his booties. He tolerates them and usually takes a few minutes of wearing before he gets used to them, but he understood - booties equal outside! There's also the fact that I have to let him run around first in the booties to make sure I got them on tight enough! Well, when he saw those booties, and I was trying to put them on, he was *so* excited that his body was literally shaking and his teeth were chattering! He looked like a frozen, miserable pup, but he was literally that happy!
Finally get his booties on, get him in his harness, and after a few minor inconveniences, we took off! Took him down to a little park by the river which is about a mile away! Kodi was so happy to be out that he ran all the way there! I walked him around for a bit, and we went down to the water for a couple of mins. On the way back, he was dragging, so I allowed him off leash so he could follow at his own pace.
Since then, he's had *NO* problems coming inside the house! He still loves going outside, but he happily runs back in, too! We don't even need to mention food! Although, I'm still incorporating treats when he does come in, and also having him come inside for a few minutes before going back outside, and he's fine!
Now to the point...
When something is not going right in our birds world, they have no way of verbally telling us whats wrong. They try to communicate with us in the only way they know how, which is by acting out! It could be biting, screaming, abnormal behaviors, plucking, mutilating, etc! A happy parrot is a quiet parrot.
A bird that normally doesn't bite that suddenly starts biting could be biting because he doesn't feel well and he's sick... or maybe a new pet or a piece of furniture is causing the bird to bite or scream.
If the bird is unhappy and is screaming or biting or acting out in other ways, rather than ignore the behavior, find out why it's happening! And then try to correct it! Your bird will be much happier for it!
Dogs and parrots have different ways of thinking and behaving, which should come as no surprise... dogs are predators... parrots are prey... so there's bound to be a lot of differences! However, their behaviors are also quite similar...
The history... or rather what led up to the behaviors of my dog 'acting out'.
I recently moved back in February from a property of 1/3 of an acre into a smaller place where you rent the property but own the 'home'. The yard is extremely small compared to the old place, and the owners and managers don't like it if you leave your pets out all the time.
In the old place, Kodi, my dog (akita mix, possibly half pit) used to spend most of the days outside and sometimes even the nights, too! He loves being outside, and he even had a track from one side of the yard to the other, a track around our two raised plant beds, and one through the back yard. He had a little less than half of that 1/3 of an acre to himself! (plus the neighborhood, when he escaped the yard!). I'd take him out occasionally for a run around the neighborhood, maybe down to the 7/11, or out hiking!
Life changes and having to move, I rarely get to take him out on walks or runs and the yard is hardly large enough for him to run in. He manages, but its just not a lot of room.
Now that you know a bit of history... to the story!
Recently, Kodi had decided he didn't want to come inside the house! The evil cat (that abuses him... poor pup) is inside and he can't romp around and have fun. In short, it's boring inside and who knows what the cat does to him when no one is home! He didn't like coming in for treats, and it was even getting difficult to get him inside to eat his food! When called inside, he'd act as if he was in trouble, ears down, tail slowly wagging and a pitiful look on his face! He was not being yelled at and he wasn't being demanded to come in. In a positive voice, we'd say "Kodi, wanna come in? Wanna eat? Are you hungry?" Eat would usually get his response, but it was getting to the point that he'd ignore that, too! If we walked outside to go get him, he'd run towards the gate! Completely abnormal behavior for him.
One evening, when I didn't get home too late, and I didn't have any plans, I found his booties. He tolerates them and usually takes a few minutes of wearing before he gets used to them, but he understood - booties equal outside! There's also the fact that I have to let him run around first in the booties to make sure I got them on tight enough! Well, when he saw those booties, and I was trying to put them on, he was *so* excited that his body was literally shaking and his teeth were chattering! He looked like a frozen, miserable pup, but he was literally that happy!
Finally get his booties on, get him in his harness, and after a few minor inconveniences, we took off! Took him down to a little park by the river which is about a mile away! Kodi was so happy to be out that he ran all the way there! I walked him around for a bit, and we went down to the water for a couple of mins. On the way back, he was dragging, so I allowed him off leash so he could follow at his own pace.
Since then, he's had *NO* problems coming inside the house! He still loves going outside, but he happily runs back in, too! We don't even need to mention food! Although, I'm still incorporating treats when he does come in, and also having him come inside for a few minutes before going back outside, and he's fine!
Now to the point...
When something is not going right in our birds world, they have no way of verbally telling us whats wrong. They try to communicate with us in the only way they know how, which is by acting out! It could be biting, screaming, abnormal behaviors, plucking, mutilating, etc! A happy parrot is a quiet parrot.
A bird that normally doesn't bite that suddenly starts biting could be biting because he doesn't feel well and he's sick... or maybe a new pet or a piece of furniture is causing the bird to bite or scream.
If the bird is unhappy and is screaming or biting or acting out in other ways, rather than ignore the behavior, find out why it's happening! And then try to correct it! Your bird will be much happier for it!
Plus, it's fun to romp in and bury his nose!
