Magala
Moving in
- Joined
- 9/13/16
- Messages
- 11
- Real Name
- Donna Lucchesi
I have had dogs as pets most of my life and I have had birds for 11 years, (cockatiel, Cleo and parakeet - RIP Chico) and now two lovies, Gatsby and Olive.
My previous heart dog, Maggie, was a dominant girl and challenged me up until she became too sick to do so. She succumbed to oral melanoma 6 years ago. So I became very adept at handling a dominant dog, and it wasn't always fun for her or me.
Anyway, to my point... I've been reading on this forum that there is no such thing as dominance with our lovebirds. Is this really true?
My Olive, aka Grumperina, can be very, very nasty and her bites hurt! She's bitten thru 2 layers of bandaids on my finger... Grrrrrr. I try not to give her a reaction to her bites, but sometimes it's impossible.
I've learned to let her come out of her cage when she wants to, because when I go in to have her step up, she warns me and believe you me, I definitely heed her warning. Now when she goes up to my shoulder or my head, I was told by the vet techs to get her below my eye level because of the dominance issue. I'm fine with her sitting on my shoulder and burrowing in my shirt. Most times she gets much too excited and I need to remove her....that's when the fun begins. Will she be a good birdie and step up or will she bite???? It's always a gamble. The same goes when she flits off and lands on the table... Behave or fluff up, head down and beak ready???? Sometimes she'll allow me to scratch her neck and head, sometimes I get the beak. What's a momma to do?
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
My previous heart dog, Maggie, was a dominant girl and challenged me up until she became too sick to do so. She succumbed to oral melanoma 6 years ago. So I became very adept at handling a dominant dog, and it wasn't always fun for her or me.
Anyway, to my point... I've been reading on this forum that there is no such thing as dominance with our lovebirds. Is this really true?
My Olive, aka Grumperina, can be very, very nasty and her bites hurt! She's bitten thru 2 layers of bandaids on my finger... Grrrrrr. I try not to give her a reaction to her bites, but sometimes it's impossible.
I've learned to let her come out of her cage when she wants to, because when I go in to have her step up, she warns me and believe you me, I definitely heed her warning. Now when she goes up to my shoulder or my head, I was told by the vet techs to get her below my eye level because of the dominance issue. I'm fine with her sitting on my shoulder and burrowing in my shirt. Most times she gets much too excited and I need to remove her....that's when the fun begins. Will she be a good birdie and step up or will she bite???? It's always a gamble. The same goes when she flits off and lands on the table... Behave or fluff up, head down and beak ready???? Sometimes she'll allow me to scratch her neck and head, sometimes I get the beak. What's a momma to do?
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.