Hi. We had a yorkie (got him when he was 8 months old). We already had Sydney (he is now 19) for a few years. When we brought Archie (the yorkie) home, he was sitting on my lap, Sydney came over and before we could do anything, the bird bit the dog's nose. Ever since, they were oddly enough good friends. Archie was also very good with our other cockatiels we got after him. When Archie died at age 17, and he was being held by my husband, Sydney flew over and bent over, looking at him with such a sad look in his eyes. Of course, we did not allow them in the same room together without one of us watching to be on the safe side. A few years later, we got a terrier mix puppy named Tulip. She is now 3. We have a mesh curtain and a baby gate for the bird room, so dog and the birds (we have the 2 parent birds and 3 9 month old babies) can't get to eachother unless we are there, watching. The dog will sit on my lap while a bird is on my shoulder, and I keep hold of the dog to be safe, but she is pretty good. We tell he no birdie as a reminder. She mostly does not pay attention to them. And has never stared at them, or sniffed. She is a small dog, but we still are cautious. One good thing is (if possible) to get the dog while still a puppy, because they are more likely to learn not to hurt the bird. But a dog any age can learn not to. None of our birds are nervous around her, and she likes to play with her toys and runs around with her toys. I think keeping your bird in a separate room from the dog is a good idea, and if they are in the same room, or if your dog can see the bird in the other room and acts like he's being a bit predatory keep telling him no birdie, and when he pays no attentiion to the bird, walks away, stops staring, etc. praise him. Also it seems that playing with a dog by grabbing one end of a toy while the other end is in the dog's mouth and pulling seems to make some aggressive, so don't play with him like that. not knowing, at first we played like that a little with tulip and noticed it was making her aggressive, so we stopped playing with her that way, and it ended. With Archie the yorkie it didn't affect him at all. Depends on the dog. Watch for signs with the dog for any kind of play, etc. that seems to make the dog aggressive and don't allow it. A dog that is aggressive (I don't mean that your dog is) may be more likely to go after a bird. Just keep a watch if they are together, and things should be fine.
