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German Shepherd?

DurgaRose

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I am considering different dog breeds for a future furry friend. Does anyone have German Shepherd? Are they safe around birds? As much as I'd love to get a rescue I will probably get a puppy, pure bred so he/she can be raised by me and around the birds.
 

SumitaSinh

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kayosa

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Nope. Nothing with a high prey drive is safe for birds. My sister saw two GSD tear apart a goat that climbed over the fence. It took seconds. Anytime a dog goes from friendly to hunter it takes seconds. Golden retrievers, they are a great family dog, but goes after birds because that are breed to retrieve birds. I often remind people while dogs are our companions, they are domestic Wolves, Canis lupus familiaris, the subspecies of the wolf.
Smaller dogs are less likely to destroy a bird in seconds but... they aren’t safe either. My friend had a sweet cattle dog who never hurt a chicken, but one day he was running to greet his owner and a chicken flew right in front of him. It was one bite, chicken died, dog Knew he was in the wrong. It was just a terrible accident. So even a good dog will follow their instinct and can do harm. No dogs are truly safe around birds.
 

DesertBird

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German Shepherds are definitely not safe with birds. Their prey drive is too high. You need to look for a dog breed that wasn't bred for hunting, retrieving, anything like that. But, even then I would not let the dog be together with the birds.
 

Sparkles99

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macawpower58

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No dogs are safe around birds, especially untrained ones.
GSDs do have a high prey drive and if you're not in charge get out of control.
I have had 5 of them with my birds in the last 20+ years, and never had any issues.
Mind though that I was heavily into training, showing and trialing my dogs.

There are breeds that are lower prey drive, but IMO it's the training that's most important.
 

Zara

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Nope. Nothing with a high prey drive is safe for birds. My sister saw two GSD tear apart a goat that climbed over the fence. It took seconds. Anytime a dog goes from friendly to hunter it takes seconds. Golden retrievers, they are a great family dog, but goes after birds because that are breed to retrieve birds. I often remind people while dogs are our companions, they are domestic Wolves, Canis lupus familiaris, the subspecies of the wolf.
Smaller dogs are less likely to destroy a bird in seconds but... they aren’t safe either. My friend had a sweet cattle dog who never hurt a chicken, but one day he was running to greet his owner and a chicken flew right in front of him. It was one bite, chicken died, dog Knew he was in the wrong. It was just a terrible accident. So even a good dog will follow their instinct and can do harm. No dogs are truly safe around birds.
So true, even those friendly dogs are not safe to be around them.

A few years ago, my mums neighbour knocked on her door. She opened to find him stood there with a chicken under his arm. He asked if she still had her dog, and if she had let the dog out of the garden. She said no and went to look to find him running around on the grass in the garden.
Turns out, the dog had managed to get out of his half of the garden, under the fence and into the neighbours chicken coup. He chased them all wanting to play and accidently killed them (heart attacks? shock?) He didn´t bite any of them, he just wanted to play.

Another case was here on AA, a members friend went to their house and without asking, let the bird out of the cage. The dog got excited and accidently trampled the bird.

All friendly dogs, all killers.

I know my Jacob is friendly and laid back, but I could imagine him accidently trampling. He´s just clumsy like that and bounces little bunny hops when he´s excited. I only let him in here if all the birds are caged, or only have Gis out with me so I can keep the two apart.
 

macawpower58

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Same here, my Too got out, was hopping down the hall.
My one GSD gently stepped over her with his two front feet, but forgot he had back feet and tumbled her over with them. She wasn't hurt. Could have been much worse.
We tell people it's unsafe, because we know it's unsafe, over time most of us will have had close calls.
If you live with birds 5, 10 and 20 years, odds are accidents will happen.
Play it safe. Why purposefully risk them, when even with extreme caution it may still happen.
 

aooratrix

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You can never trust any dog or cat with a bird. If you're not there to supervise, the animals make the decisions, and that's not good. I have had a rescued GSD and my current rescue, a Dogo Argentino, around my birds. They are NEVER left alone, even though my dogs are well-trained. Also, steer clear of generalizations. Prey drive is a spectrum. I've known high drive GSDs and some that wouldn't have chased a squirrel coated in dog treats. You want to avoid a high drive dog. And if you're not going to do obedience training and practice it for the life of the dog, you shouldn't have a dog and a parrot. Pick one if you're not inclined to or able to train a dog.
 

Sweet Louise

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Even trained dogs may not overcome prey drive. Louise flew over the schnauzers and the wing flaps were too much. One lunged at her. They are little dogs and she was high It wasn’t close, couldn’t reach her but it was still too close. They are trained to stay away from the bird and have low prey drives. If Louise had been in reach, it would have been bad.
 

Hankmacaw

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I know that many bird owners have dogs and love then to pieces. I don't like dogs and have never been tempted to get one since I have owned birds. I've probably had 8 or 9 dogs in my lifetime, but they were all working dogs (cattle ranches ) and not play things. When I got my first bird 24 years ago I made the decision that I would never have a dog or cat as long as I had birds - my choice, just as getting a dog and risking your birds is your choice. It sure isn't the bird's choice.
 

Sparkles99

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IMO, regardless of whether or not you have birds, all dogs should be trained continually throughout their lifetime. I've never had or lived with one, but it seems like such a tragedy to have an animal that likes working with people, is clever & can learn relegated to the status of a smelly cat. Every dog I've ever met & liked was trained, groomed & socialized to a high degree. My favourite was actually one of the working GSDs that guarded our high school. He was spectacular in every sense of the word.
 

Mizzely

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IMO, regardless of whether or not you have birds, all dogs should be trained continually throughout their lifetime. I've never had or lived with one, but it seems like such a tragedy to have an animal that likes working with people, is clever & can learn relegated to the status of a smelly cat. Every dog I've ever met & liked was trained, groomed & socialized to a high degree. My favourite was actually one of the working GSDs that guarded our high school. He was spectacular in every sense of the word.
Yes, a dog that is well trained is an amazing animal. :heart:
 

Reds

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I have a multi pet house hold. I have an African grey(5 months) a German shepherd(7yrs) a pit bull(2yrs) and a cat(rescue) Plus 2 children.
(I crave chaos apparently :lol:) My African grey was the last to be added to my family and they all get along great! I have had them all since babies so I know all of their history and training. However they are still only out around each other when closely supervised, just because anything can happen with any animal (or human). I do believe it’s all how they are raised. My grey throws the veggies he doesn’t want to my dogs, sadly my dogs don’t like the veggies either I will add my grey is also fully flighted so he can fly out of danger or uncomfortable situations. But he just flys on my shepherds back and goes for a ride
 

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fluffypoptarts

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No dog is safe around birds. My dogs are kept completely separated from the birds at all times. When I have birds out in the bird room(s), I lock the doors. My wife knows to assume that they are out.
 

Gigibirds

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Ok so people probably aren't going to agree with me and call me a bad pet owner and whatever, but this is my opinion:
As long as your raise your puppy right and only let it out with the birds under CLOSE supervision then you should be fine. When I got my dachshund puppy the vet said that she was going to eat my bird, because they have a SUPER strong prey drive. But guess what? she's afraid of my birds! I raised them right, and my bird bit the dog on her nose as a lil' pup so now Heidi (my dog) is scared. You can get a German Shepard, and you should be fine, depending on the training you give them. BUT, accidents do happen, and even a perfectly trained dog (or scared dog) can still change their attitude for just long enough to kill a bird. So I would say that you can get a dog, but train it well, supervise them if they are out together, and know that accidents can happen. Good luck!!

(also if you wanted a dog that sleeps under blankets all day long and is the laziest couch potato that you will ever meet, then I 100% suggest a mini-dachshund!! :roflmao: )
 

Sodapop&Co.

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Ok so people probably aren't going to agree with me and call me a bad pet owner and whatever, but this is my opinion:
As long as your raise your puppy right and only let it out with the birds under CLOSE supervision then you should be fine. When I got my dachshund puppy the vet said that she was going to eat my bird, because they have a SUPER strong prey drive. But guess what? she's afraid of my birds! I raised them right, and my bird bit the dog on her nose as a lil' pup so now Heidi (my dog) is scared. You can get a German Shepard, and you should be fine, depending on the training you give them. BUT, accidents do happen, and even a perfectly trained dog (or scared dog) can still change their attitude for just long enough to kill a bird. So I would say that you can get a dog, but train it well, supervise them if they are out together, and know that accidents can happen. Good luck!!

(also if you wanted a dog that sleeps under blankets all day long and is the laziest couch potato that you will ever meet, then I 100% suggest a mini-dachshund!! :roflmao: )
Right, cuz dogs (and other critters) never attack out of fear. :)
 

Gigibirds

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Lol I knew someone was going to point that out! Heidi isn't terrified of the birds, but she is wise enough to keep her distance. She knows that they hurt so she doesn't wan't anything to do with them. But she doesn't tremble at the sight of them or anything lol.

Anyways I'll just say: :agreetodisagree: every dog and bird is different. I would never trust (for example) my aunt's dog with my birds, but my dog knows. With some birds and dogs it can work, but for some it never will! it just depends on the animals.
 
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Nikomania

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I have 3 german shepherds, one of whom is a 12 week old pup. While my older 2 completely ignore my flock, they're still not allowed to be in the same room as the birds when out. And definitely a big fat no for the puppy.
 
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