Need input on helping our Grey to live his best life

[sasha]

We have a 12 year old timneh African grey that we have had since he was 16 weeks old. He never has gotten enough personal interaction with us due to being a young, busy family at the time we got him and still are now. Time flies and here we are 12 years later. His cage is in our kitchen but he only gets out of it maybe two days a week. He is fully flighted and is given full access to the house. However we have to limit the time he is out due to having a very prey-driven dachshund.
My question for all of you experienced bird owners is at what point and/or how do you decide if rehoming would make him happier or not. We have thought of rehoming him so that he can get the interaction that he deserves. However would that be more strsssful to him than being alone so much? We want to do what is best for him.
Thank you for your help!

 

[Shannan]

Oh my I love Timneh's. One of the questions I would ask is how temporary is the current situation and what can you do differently that could benefit the bird. (and your family). We had dachshunds when Walter was very young and in fact the dachshund was the only critter in almost 40 years that almost got the bird so I understand your stress. Perhaps you can set up more scheduled times for him to get out. Also how big is his cage? If he spends a lot of time in it, it needs to be as big as you can afford and he needs Lots of things to do. forage activities, interactions with you (even through the cage). Walter had some special needs as he was nearly blind with physical limitations so the cage was the safest place for him when he wasn't in my lap but having him in the center of he house and interacting with him through out the day definitely made a difference. After he passed away I figured out that I came by his cage and talked to him or gave him skritches literally a hundred times a day.

It is a tough decision that only you can make and no one here will judge your poorly if you make the best decision for the bird. I would say generally he needs more out time but if this is only temporary, (like the dog is old, or your life situation will allow the dog to be outside or in another room more and the bird allowed more freedom then maybe try to make it work but if you feel in your heart that you are not able to give him what he needs then consider taking your time to find him the perfect home. (Oh, this is making me want a bird again so badly..... ).

 

[Shezbug]

Would it be possible to crate train your dog and allow extra out of cage time and make the pets share the free roaming time a bit more evenly?
All my dogs and cats learned to love the crate and their quiet time in them, I’ve nearly always had incompatible pets so I’ve had to ensure everyone gets their fair share of safe people and free roaming in the home time.

There’s no guarantee you’ll find a better home (as far as your bird feels you his family/flock) so if I were in your shoes I personally would try to solve the issue that’s bothering you at home first.

I would just hate to encourage you to move your bird on if there’s any chance at all that you can make some changes that make you feel more at ease about his life with you.
In saying this, I’d like to also make sure you know I’m more than happy to support, suggest or assist where I can if you feel you’ve run over all possible options and it’s best to rehome.