A retriever and a bird???

[Guest Anonymous]

okay, HUUUUGE IF here, BUT...
I'm looking into getting a parrot. Odds are my parents won't let me :roll: But I'm going to do all the research I can first, and then maybe I can convince them, that is if it would be a good thing for me. If I do research and find it probably won't work, I won't get one at all.
So, I'm sitting here wondering how will Coal do with a feathered freind?
He's a LAB :lol: but besides with toys, doesnt' really have much retrieving in him, last I checked he's not THAT interested in birds, but I still have seen him chase a couple when he was younger.
We had a lab when I was little and my sister brought home a baby robin, which when got older actually sat on Blue and rode him around, but Blue was a dog with an exceptional behavior! He was VERY calm and raised with us three hellions :lol: :wink: Wasn't much that got that dog upset. Coal is still a young pup, who LOVES to play. He's learned to play nicely with my cat Daiquiri, but she has been raised since a kitten to tollerate dogs too, in fact if she knows that dog, she can warm up to it quite well. Her and Hazel were REALLY close, Hazel slept with Dak between her paws when she was a kitten. It has also taken a LOT of training to teach Coal to learn to be careful when playing with the kitty. However his Leave It command is getting very well, so I think it just might be possible to teach him to be nice to a birdy :wink: Wondering if anyone out there has birds as well as dogs and how they interact?
thanks!

[schippsmom]

:Dog_run:

I know a woman who has both dogs and birds and as much as I love her birds there is no way I'd want the responsibly of owning them. Do ALOT of research before getting one, they are very time consuming animals. Also, to feed them properly is very expensive.

The dogs are min pins and they could care less about the birds. I guess she had bigger dogs at one time and they didn't care for the birds, it just depends on the dogs. They never hurt the birds but she never gave them the chance.

Paula & Re-Run

[Marble]

bearing in mind that she was incredible with everything alive......we had a black lab growing up and always had finches, parakeets and a cockatiel. i remember one time when the dog was lying on the floor the cockatiel (who was quite fiesty) came up to the dog and when my dog tried to smell the bird (very politely) the bird bit her on the nose! my dog just walked away but i have always remembered how tolerant she was....our next lab was very animal aggressive though, very different story.

[KP]

I think it really depends on the dog. I had a boyfriend who's dad had 4 birds and he had a dane and two mastiff's. All were indoor animals and they did fine together.

We've had my lab around all kinds of different animals all her life. She would chase any of them mostly just to sniff but I'd hate to see her actually catch one if I wasn't paying attention. She's more out to play with them and she's curious. I don't think she'd intentionally kill anything but I'm not willing to take that chance. We used to have a bunny named Ben. I kept him out all the time when I was home...or tried to anyway.

I figured eventually she would get used to him and leave him alone...espeically with the corrections but about 3 months later she still would not leave him alone no matter what. I hated keeping him caged so much. It just wasn't a good match. She wasn't being aggressive with him or anything but it was stressful for him so I got him a better suited home. I miss him :( He used to kiss my nose.

I'm beginning to really like birds. I used to hate them because I got bit really hard once and it broke my skin but I've worked with them a little and I'm starting to get used to them a little more. Socialization and attention is a huge must with raising a bird. I'm sure you already know that. So many people get birds and expect them to just sit in a corner all 80-90 years of their lives and they need lots of attention. I almost think they are even more sensitive in that area than a dog. They can be really affectionate.

Personally just working with them, if I got a bird I'd get one from a rescue for lots of reasons but one is that it's neat to see them progress. I worked with a bird once where the owner kept it shut up in a closet all the time. He was so unsocialzed and skittish at first. A real biter. It was quite a learning experience for both of us.

[TDG]

if you think that dogs are demanding at times, don't get a parrot. they require a lot more one-on-one time than dogs and can get quite noisy if they don't get things to happen their way.

and no, you can't crate train a parrot to shut up and leave you alone when you aren't in the mood for dealing with them and want some quiet time.

other than that, i'd be more concerned about your cat would react to the bird. dogs adapt much easier and you will [b]never[/b] be able to trust a cat around a bird unsupervised.

[kendalyn]

Since you are a high school student and looking at colleges soon I would say getting a parrot is a bad idea.

Parrots are much much more demanding than a dog and can be twice as irritating. They scream. Have you heard a parrot scream? It's shockingly loud. They can develop neurotic behavior (feather plucking and such) if not raised very diligently. Getting a parrot is a big lifestyle change. It will really limit your time.

Also, their cages are humongous. If you're looking at finding an apartment while you're in college with a dog AND a parrot with a giant cage, be prepared to shell out some major bucks. Landlords usually aren't fond of birds because they can be so loud.

The parrot could very well outlive you also. And even if he/she doesn't outlive you, you could have this pet for a good portion of your entire life. I have an aunt who owns a macaw. She is aging and her bird will most likely outlive her. Someone in our family is going to have to inherit this bird. Guess how many people are looking forward to that? It's a nice bird and all, but I know I certainly wouldn't be able to pick up where she left off with it.

How Coal will react to the bird is good to be concerned about, but really that is one of the smallest obstacles. If you want to get into birds, I would really start off with something smaller and a little less maintenance. Maybe a parakeet or finches.

You might have trouble finding a parrot to adopt. Most rescues won't consider homes that don't have a lot of bird experience. And hopefully a breeder would require the same thing.

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies...

kendalyn, thanks for the concern, but I found your post a little offensive... as if it's just a spur of the moment thing and I'm just going to run off this second and buy one :roll:

[quote]Since you are a high school student and looking at colleges soon I would say getting a parrot is a bad idea. [/quote]
I'm NOT going to College.

[quote]How Coal will react to the bird is good to be concerned about, but really that is one of the smallest obstacles.[/quote]
Seeing as this is a dog forum, I thought it would be appropriate to only ask my DOG related question, I wasn't going to rattle on about all my other bird related concerns! Just a small portion of it related my dog so I thought I'd ask the DOG forum. I've been doing research on the other topics of owning a parrot. I'm not stupid, I WILL do research before even looking into what TYPE of bird I want, just on general bird care, and i won't rest until I feel 100% confident!

As for the cats, they don't go in my room anyway. :lol: Taz will if Jared's in there, or if I bring one of them in there, but they don't usually go in there on their own because of the dog. But if I did have a bird Id' deffently watch out for the cats and take special percausions on that.

And Coal, you guys are probably right, it will all depend on him I guess. But I think with good training he should be alright :D
Thanks for the replies once again!

[imported_Kat]

In work we had the most fantastic African Grey that was picked up wandering down a bad area in Belfast singing the wrong political song for the area! He was picked up by the USPCA and brought to our surgery. Now that was a bird who was more intelligent and socila than a lot of humans. He kep saying Tommy and Tommy boy and so that was what we called him. little bty little that bird developed a vocabulary that would rival any adult. He had sucha personality. If we had a dog in a cage he would whistle at it and click and say "wanna go for a walk, walkies come on lets go". The poor wee dog would have been up wagging the tail furiously all excited thinking it was going for a walk. He really was a bad wee bugger like that :lol: :lol: He sat in the waiting room in a big cage during surgery times and would say "well hello there " in a very sultry voice. The wee old women that came in with their poms and chihuahua's were always looking around for the voice lol! He would do a fantastic imitation of the phone ringing too and I would be up and down like a yoyo, then when it did ring, he would imitate my voice perfectly only more high pitched and say "hello Mr Archbolds veterinary surgery, how can I help you". :roll: he was a wild distraction and a pain in the a$$ too! If I was sitting eating my lunch, he would go "Katrinnnaaaa giz a bit" then as an after thought he would add please, and if i said no he would tell me to feck off, and start screaming at me so we ended up having shouting matches and I really do mean full blown swearing and yelling! :lol:

Oh yes he was a bird in a million, and ended up in a court case battle, where his original owner's husband had sold him for drink money. The person who he sold him to let him escape by accident, but in the end they got custody of him. The saturday afternoon when I had to take him out of his cage, he knew something was up. He screamed at me when I tried to take him out and was pleading with me saying please no no. It broke my heart and I had to resort to a towel over his head to get him out :(

Parrots are amazing company if they are reared properly and handled well. What I will say is that you must give them loads of time in the early stages then provide them with plenty of stimulation and preferably let them have free flight in a room or a large cage. Tommy had a kong stuffed with fruits inside it and wee treats, but he would have preferred to be having a conversation with someone or an argument :wink:

[kendalyn]

[quote name='HazelNutMeg']But I'm going to do all the research I can first, and then maybe I can convince them, that is if it would be a good thing for me. If I do research and find it probably won't work, I won't get one at all.
[/quote]

I did give you more information than you specifically asked for, but I assumed being ready to do some research, you might like some extra information. I never said you were going to run out and buy one on a whim. I didn't even imply it. But don't say you want to learn about parrots and get mad when someone gives you information that you don't want to hear. I used to live next door to a lady who did parrot rescue. I've seen the neurotic, obsessive, annoying and aggressive behavior these birds can exhibit. :o Me saying you shouldn't have a parrot really isn't personal. I think that almost nobody should have them. Especially not somebody with a lot of responsibilites already. :wink:

[quote name='HazelNutMeg']I'm NOT going to College.
[/quote]

Sorry, my mistake. I remembered awhile ago you asked about dog training schools that you could go to. I assumed that was still your intention.

[Guest Anonymous]

Kat that's halarious :lol: :lol: He sounded like a real winner, too bad you guys had to give him up :(

No, I'm sorry kendalyn :oops: I'm not doing so well right now mentally, different medications at different dosages and basiclly feel like I'm a lab rat lately, seeing the doc EVERY WEEK, I'm really moody, really bitchy, and not in the right mind to appretiate things. Thank you very much for the extra info :) I'm sorry I was hostile.
Yes, I do still want to work with dogs and stuff, I don't know WHERE yet, and I won't be staying anywhere on a campus or anything. But I really did not even THINK about me moving and taking a parrot :o Although I'm sure my Gumpa and Grandma would take it in LMAO, my sister got a love bird then had to move back here for a while and couldn't take the bird with her, so let it stay with them, it's now their bird and they treat it as if it were a child :lol: They just love it! So weird too, I would have NEVER thought of them as bird people :wink: nah, I wouldn't dump it off on them, don't worry :wink: But I will give that aspect some more thought now, thanks.

[kendalyn]

No problem! I can understand how frustrating switching meds can be. It's pretty rough. :wink:

Parrots are kind of a touchy subject with me too so I might have overeacted. I'm really afraid that when this relative dies, I could be stuck with the parrot since everyone knows I'm an animal lover. I really don't think I can properly care for this bird and I'm not sure what I'll do if it ends up being my responsibility. The good thing is that her bird is like 50 or something. It's in good health so another 20 years is conceivable, but it could be worse :-?

[Annushka]

Many people I know own dogs and birds. My agility trainer has a lab, a bc and a parrot and they get on very good. Her lab, Vita, takes care of a bird, she tries to protect it from the owners (!) :wink:
Another my friend has an American Cocker. When she decided to buy a parrot, she was worried about their relationships too. But then she saw this scene : a crying spaniel was lying under the bed and the parrot attacked him again and again! But later they became good friends. :D

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks guys! I think if I get one it will be good as long as I teach Coal to be respectful, and the bird too :wink: I sat down with Dak (my cat) and Coal this afternoon because they have been having some squables, it didn't go well, but at least I tried :lol: Guess they'll have to sort it out themselves :wink: Their normally pretty good together though.

[Sharpeigirl]

Shara, I have 8 birds & 2 dogs, & I don't have any problems. Of course my birds have a room to themselves where the dogs aren't alowed, but If I chose to bring one out into the liveing room, the dogs know to go lie down. I do have to watch my ferrets around the birds though. They'd make short work out of a pretty good sized bird given the chance.

[izzy]

I don't know if this is useful, but...

My grandmother has a parrot and 2 dogs, the parrot has a cage but he lives outside of it, he love to walk after my grandma' and so many times he walk all over the house on it's own, i can say that parrot almost speak perfect spanish 'cause he knows a lot of words and phrases, everytime he don't like something like a cookie that you are offering to him, he says "no quiero" that means "i don't want it", he knows the name of the dogs and call them "lobo!" and "duke!". He call "mama" to my grandma', his name is Pancho.

The dogs got used to live with him, i can't say they love him, i guess they just tolerate him in peace.

I'll take some pics of this funny guy for you.

[Annushka]

[b]HazelNutMeg[/b]
Good luck to you!!!!

[Peng1zrule]

(what did I hit?)
continuing....it's a bird! she's a bird dog! what she did was instinct...I wouldn't ever trust her with any of my birds, and I have three kinds of parrots.