Raising a bird is always pleasing to your eyes and ears. Interacting with them can take away your boredom or fatigue in a matter of minutes.
However, raising birds along with a dog is always challenging, especially when the birds are obsessed with your dog.
So, through this article, we are gonna look into what you can do in such a situation for the well-being of your birds.
By the way, here is the quick answer.
A bird can be obsessed with a household dog because birds love to play with dog hair, the bird has past experience with dogs or peck seeds from the dog’s coat. This can be solved by bringing another partner to the bird, keeping birds in a separate room, and brushing the dog’s hair to remove seeds.
As everyone knows, birds are very fragile, and it doesn’t require having a larger dog to damage your bird(s). Even a small chihuahua can cause significant damage to your birds and, in the worst case, even death.
So, Imma explains everything you need to know as a responsible pet owner. Trust me; you won’t regret reading this article.
Why does your bird(s) is obsessed with your dog?
My aunt(my mom’s younger sister) is fond of raising birds, especially cockatiels. She has four cockatiels and two Lovebirds. Also, she is a proud mama of a beautiful girly Golden retriever called “Winnie”.
Winnie is absolutely not interested in these birds whatsoever. But the problem is one of the stubborn cockatiels is extremely obsessed with this dog.
So, we had to take precautions and the necessary actions pretty much quickly. First, to start off, we needed to understand the reasons for this obsession.
1. Birds love to play with dog’s long hair.
Many bird owners are reluctant to cut their bird’s wings so they can fly anywhere they want inside the house and explore the house.
However, the main downside of this is that your bird may land on the doNothing terrible will happen if the dog is super gentle with the been. But, who knows?
Many birds would love to preen the dogs’ long hair just like they play with your mom’s and sister’s hair. It’s so funny even to watch.
2. Bird has past experiences with dogs.
If your bird is rehomed one, chances are she might have close experiences and interactions with household dogs, resulting in showing some level of friendliness/obsession over your dog.
3. The bird is accustomed to the dog.
This is a common circumstance why do most birds tend to be fearless around dogs.
If your dog is always hanging around and sleeping nearby the birdcage, chances are your bird(s) will get used to your dog. This is why most specialists recommend keeping the birdcage in a separate room.
4. To peck seeds from dog’s coat.
This is something that most pet owners don’t even realize. It’s true that our four-legged friends tend to play around our backyards and wander around through the woods.
So, what happens when a dog goes through wild plants that have tens of thousands of seeds? Chances are those wild seeds are likely to attach to their coat, especially on dogs with a long coat.
Birds have a sharp visual acuity, so they can easily see those wild seeds attached to your dog’s hair, resulting in being obsessed with the dog.
How to make your bird be less interested in your dog?
It doesn’t really matter what the reason is; if your bird is super obsessed with your dog, the bird is in a life-threatening situation.
Again, don’t get me wrong! The dog can be an extremely gentle dog like a service dog but think about this. Even dog saliva is hazardous to birds due to harmful bacteria.
So, it’s wise to find a way to break down this bird’s obsession over your dog. Lemme help you!
1. Bring a partner.
If you own only one bird and this bird is obsessed with your dog, one of the best ways to solve this issue is to bring another companion to your bird. But, make sure to find an opposite-gender companion.
Because birds are special flock animals that prefer to live in pairs with their flocks.
2. Keep birds in a separate room.
As I mentioned earlier, if your dog is hanging around the bird’s cage, chances are the bird has been getting used to the dog.
So, the first thing you should do is keep the birds in a separate room. Ensure to make this room dog-proof. You can easily do this with a dog gate.
However, it’s much harder to restrict a huge dog from entering the room with an average dog gate as they tend to knock down that dog gate easily.
Therefore, choosing the right dog gate that exactly suits your dog is super important.
Further, limiting the dog’s access to the bird room is sufficient. There is no need to enclose the room completely; there is no need to worry if the bird can still see the dog through the door.
But consider closing the door whenever you take birds out from the cage.
3. Comb your dog’s hair.
Every time your dog had a good time in the backyard or woods, consider examining the dog coat for any wild seeds that birds love, and if you found them, be sure to comb its hair.
Anyhow combing your dog’s hair whenever she comes inside the house is a good practice.
4. Address your dog’s obsession over your bird.
If your bird is super obsessed with your dog, as a result, the dog also can be obsessed with the bird. So, addressing your dog’s obsession over the bird is also important. So, you can read more about this through the link contained in this paragraph.
5. Don’t keep them nearby.
Even if your dog is gentle around birds, do not keep your bird nearby or on the dog if you really want to break the bird’s obsession over your dog.
Things to be aware of.
It seems now you are well aware of why does your bird is super obsessed with your dog and what to do about that. However, there are a few more things you need to be aware of.
Don’t let the dog lick bird: Supervising your dog and not letting her lick your bird is super important as dogs carry various bacterias in their mouths, especially including Pasteurella bacteria which is extremely hazardous to birds.
Birds tend to nip: You know what? Birds are nipping artists, especially parrots with their keen and curved beaks. Imagine your dog is resting on the floor and having a good time, and suddenly the bird sneaks behind her and nip her. What could happen? Just be aware that anything can happen; maybe the bird will have to pay with its life. Don’t get me wrong. We cannot trust these four-legged creatures around birds even they are super gentle. Even if the dog does not intend to harm the bird, a small movement of the dog can cause serious damage to your bird.
Eating from the dog food bowl: Don’t let the bird(s) peck from the dog’s food bowl. Even though your dog is super gentle around the birds, If she has a resource guarding behavior issue, all of a sudden, she will turn to the bird and lead to disaster.
Supervise them closely: As I mentioned earlier, birds are extremely fragile, so you need to supervise both your dog and the bird when they are near each other. But, make sure to keep the doggo in arm’s reach. However, my advice is not to let them get too close. I strongly suggest you keep the birds in their cages when you are going to be right there. Always keep remembering that birds are the prey of dogs, especially retrievers or terriers in the real world.
If you decide to bring another dog: If you decide to bring another dog, you cannot predict the new dog’s personality and temperament the new dog, especially when the new dog is rescued. Therefore, choosing a bird-friendly dog breed is super important.
Train your dog: Raising dogs and birds together is really challenging. So, it’s better to have proper control over your dog. Since dogs are highly intelligent creatures, training them to ignore your birds is always super important. Therefore, make sure to properly socialize your dog, give sufficient obedience training so she will obey your commands, provide an adequate amount of daily exercises and make her burn her excess energy. Moreover, positive reinforcement is key to making your dog less interested in your birds. If you still cannot manage your dog’s behavior, consider seeking help from a dog behaviorist.
Conclusion.
As many pet owners confirm, keeping birds and dogs together is always challenging. This becomes tough when your birds become obsessed with your dog. Because birds are very fragile and always vulnerable around dogs. So, in this complete guide, we’ve discussed the reasons for this issue and the possible solutions that you can try out. Hope this helps.
