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Dog excited when my parrot is on hand

Bitesize91

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Hi all!

I wanted to ask some suggestions on how to calm my red heeler mix down when my Amazon is out of his cage. Remi (the heeler) totally ignores Sweet Pea (my Amazon) if he's in or on top of his cage. The moment we show interest in the bird, Remi is all over us and the bird. Super excited, jumping all over the place, knocking things over and in general just being a pest when the bird's out. We've had Sweet Pea for about a year and a half now, so I'd hope this would eventually subside with time and they got used to each other, but it absolutely has not. I've tried training sessions but he's so hyper focused on the bird that I don't think im really getting through to him. Without the bird in the equation, training is "normal" but doesn't seem to carry over when Sweet Pea is on hand. To put it in training terms, his reaction/proximity to Sweet Pea is a much higher rearward to him than any treat I can give him, so I think the treats aren't holding a high enough value. Would letting him sniff a molted feather be considered a positive reinforcer for Remi?

Suggestions other than a professional trainer (though that option doesn't seem to far away at this point)?
 

Mizzely

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Any training that goes against base instinct is extremely difficult, especially with prey driven behaviors.

If my bird is out on me, my dog is in his kennel. Not worth the risk to me to go against his instincts, and he's not even excitable usually around the birds.
 

Shezbug

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Better safe than sorry- keep them separate. My dog literally has such little prey drive that she will move aside for a mouse to eat in her food dish (much to my disgust lol) but I still would never allow her to be in the room while my bird is uncaged- just not worth the risk.
 

Zara

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My dog literally has such little prey drive that she will move aside for a mouse to eat in her food dish (much to my disgust lol) but I still would never allow her to be in the room while my bird is uncaged- just not worth the risk.
My dog was the same. So the concerns I had were the dog accidentally stepping on/crushing the bird by accident - easily done by a clumsy or excited dog.
 

Bitesize91

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You guys all have very valid points - thank you! Currently, they're never alone together unsupervised. And even when they are supervised, Sweet Pea is always well out of Remi's reach, for the exact reasons yall stated - accidents happen. It's good to know other parrot parents also keep their animals separated. I was starting to think I was a bad animal mom for the times I put the dogs away while Sweet Pea was out.

I'll keep up Remi's training anyway. It never hurts to improve on good doggie skills like sit, leave it, down and stay!
 

Shannan

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I agree that separation is best but that being said, you asked about training him to not be so excited which is admirable given that accidents happen (such as a door not latching properly when you have kept them separated). For the dog, I would train him to go to a mat. Really work on this so that every time you say mat, the dog goes to the assigned mat. This is so useful for so many behaviors such as bolting out a door, greeting people, begging at the table, etc. Start just by treating him every time he places a foot on the mat. Then condition it for longer and longer periods. Try to use a relief word such as ok to release the dog preferably before the dog leaves the mat. Then you can use the mat command to teach the dog appropriate behavior when the bird is out.
 

Bitesize91

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I agree that separation is best but that being said, you asked about training him to not be so excited which is admirable given that accidents happen (such as a door not latching properly when you have kept them separated). For the dog, I would train him to go to a mat. Really work on this so that every time you say mat, the dog goes to the assigned mat. This is so useful for so many behaviors such as bolting out a door, greeting people, begging at the table, etc. Start just by treating him every time he places a foot on the mat. Then condition it for longer and longer periods. Try to use a relief word such as ok to release the dog preferably before the dog leaves the mat. Then you can use the mat command to teach the dog appropriate behavior when the bird is out.
Thank you for the mat suggestion! He has a bed that he absolutely loves, so I think I'll start incorporating that in. I was so focused on the calming down part that I didn't think about stationing Remi at a place he already likes to be! Looks like I need to go get some extra toys specifically for when I have sweet pea out. Oh darn, another trip to the pet store

Agreed, my main concern was that some thing would happen (and your door not latching is a perfect example - our apartment is older, and even with a lock you can still push most inside doors open) and I want to make sure Remi is calm enough to immediately listen to commands, even if I can't get his full attention away from the bird. It's proving to be a challenge for sure!
 

Sparkles99

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I believe it’s a bad idea to have any dog out with a bird.

My birds live in a separate room, because I don’t want to risk anything. My dog is small, but any dog’s prey drive can be triggered.

If you want to hire a professional trainer, I’d do it for basics & fun stuff instead. :)
 

Shannan

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I believe it’s a bad idea to have any dog out with a bird.

My birds live in a separate room, because I don’t want to risk anything. My dog is small, but any dog’s prey drive can be triggered.

If you want to hire a professional trainer, I’d do it for basics & fun stuff instead. :)

I agree that the dog and the bird should not be out together but I also know that having a good recall or distraction training on a dog can save a birds life because no matter how careful we are accidents happen, a door doesn't latch, the bird escapes their cage, a dog slips through your legs as you go into the room. So I think training the dog to go to a mat, leave it etc is helpful. I have chickens and on more than one occasion a chicken has jumped into the dog yard (6 foot fence). I have saved their lives because I taught my dog the leave it command and the mat command. It gave me just enough time to get there and rescue the bird. Separate as much as possible and train train train. It may be the difference one day between life and death.
 
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