Dog Help !!

[itzjbean]

I have a big dog, a 100 lb. doberman who is part of our pack and can't stand to be separated from us. The way it works in my house is, the birds are either on top of their cage way high up or they are on my shoulder. I don't allow birds to walk around on the ground, since I have cats too. (i lock them away when birds come out for a while).

 

[ninamom]

I have a large dog and a GCC now, had a cute lovebird who passed away. Our dog is trained to leave it with other items, I think that's important training no matter what. I allow my dog to sniff the cage supervised so that the bird is not a major curiosity. I have kids and a few times our lovebird had managed to escape the cage at night and when we all went in to the living room he was out and our dog walked in with us. Scared me half to death but our dog stayed and obeyed. Now with that being said, I don't trust my dog and the bird. I love both and our dog has never shown aggression to our birds but you never know if they fly or flutter and our dog could react by grabbing it. So when the bird is out, our dog is in a different room. I agree that you cannot be too careful.
I would suggest a tall pet or kid gate around the cage so that your dog can't get too close.
I also suggest acrylic panels which help protect the cage.

cheers!

 

[Scott]

Great thread!

And a great opportunity for us all to remind ourselves of the need for vigilance.

I love reminders, personally! I figure I can never be too careful.

You know it, Gail! Reminders are a helpful antidote for complacency. We're all human and can get lulled into false sense of security.

 

[buurd]

I have a large dog and a GCC now, had a cute lovebird who passed away. Our dog is trained to leave it with other items, I think that's important training no matter what. I allow my dog to sniff the cage supervised so that the bird is not a major curiosity. I have kids and a few times our lovebird had managed to escape the cage at night and when we all went in to the living room he was out and our dog walked in with us. Scared me half to death but our dog stayed and obeyed. Now with that being said, I don't trust my dog and the bird. I love both and our dog has never shown aggression to our birds but you never know if they fly or flutter and our dog could react by grabbing it. So when the bird is out, our dog is in a different room. I agree that you cannot be too careful.
I would suggest a tall pet or kid gate around the cage so that your dog can't get too close.
I also suggest acrylic panels which help protect the cage.

cheers!

Such good advice, about the acrylic panels for cages that might be within a dog's reach (even while jumping).

For the lower portion of the bird's cage, it's protection, and it is also a seed catcher Depending on how you install the pieces, you can also remove the panels and wash them from both sides.
Acrylic isnt so expensive that you can break the bank installing pieces. You can even go to a manufacturing company and get the pieces custom cut. [If you use nuts and bolts, get stainless steel.]

And I have a high prey dog, but still give her the general commands to cease and desist, so she knows that I am unhappy with her, either staring, getting too close, etc..

She knows when something is 'mine,' and she is not allowed (to touch or have). I give those commands with the birds also, because I think she understands that a little better. If she steals a piece of pizza from me, she's going to be in trouble with me; and the same, sort of, with the birds, but worse ( From my demeanor, she can see this is more serious, even that pizza ::58: ).

She can obviously tell they arent inanimate objects, and sees that I treasure them by the way I treat them; that they are in our family.
I show her how I treat them. I reinforce that she has to be 'gentle,' which she also understands as being 'patient, slow, soft, careful,' etc).
She's not going to get a chance to touch them, but she still has to follow the family rules I lay down, and know that the birds have a place in it, too.

Dogs, unlike humans, dont feel a compunction to be friendly to other species that they look at as being prey. They dont look at them as a beautiful majestic creature. They look at them like they are confusing little goblins who yell (sometimes human words!) , poop all over (like the dogs wish they could, but are forbidden to :25, and worst of all, can potentially attack them from above, like an eagle or a hawk :46:.

Certain dogs might tolerate a bird messing with them, but I doubt that they look at them with the amount of empathy they have for other dogs (sometimes) or humans.*
[Has anyone ever had a dog show obvious mourning signs and grief for a bird, that's not just human projection onto their behavior? Im curious, now.]

Personally I do not call the birds 'babies,' because I've referred to her stuffed toys as her 'babies' and dont want to confuse her with the bird's purpose. Words matter to dogs; they understand a large enough vocabulary. They just dont understand things completely; not like grown humans do. They are at, kind of like, a 2 yr old human's level of intelligence.

And in case i sound perfect, I assure you, Im not. I lose focus like anyone else. I just try to bang home to myself -all day, every day- the main rules of behavior, for everyone, now that there are birds in the house.

 

[Laurasea]

An important command you can teach your dog is Wait. I teach my dogs the word Wait, they Wait at the dog before going out, they Wait before they can eat their food, they Wait before they can chase a toy. This command Wait has kind if turned into a freeze. And this command helped me recently! Neptune is now flying, and he landed on my dog, I was too far away to grab either so I yelled Wait! The dog froze with Neptune on her head and was able to safely separate them.

 

[DavidL]

I have a big dog and don't have any problems so far. It usually depends on the training of a dog and how it copes with other animals. Mine is kind even with cats.

 

[T00tsyd]

I have my daughter's dog here for a week while she is away. He is a gun dog and shows minimal interest in Syd. Syd on the other hand....! I put the dog out of the room while Syd is out and he has had to get used to having much less free time than usual and he has reconnected with his toys. If I was to let them mingle, I feel sure that both would end up in the dog's bed but the dog would have the injuries. In any case it is simply not worth the risk to either of them.