First Time Parrot Owner

[SM3939]

Hi Everyone! I'm a first timer to the bird world. I will be picking up my 9 month old White Bellied Caique on Monday. Hopefully the DNA results will come back early next week to determine the sex. I have visited with the bird multiple times and I was beyond amazed by the Caique's personality. The ladies at the store kept saying that this particular bird chose me. I won't lie, I have been pretty terrified of birds so I even shocked myself how comfortable I was with this little one. He/She was belly up and wanted scratches. Loved being pet on the head, gave kisses, called out for me when I walked away from the cage. I was head over heels in love. I have been reading forum after forum about the best care I can give my bird. I opted to purchase a much larger cage than the recommended size to ensure a happy bird. I know this may be a catchall question but any and all advice for everything is greatly appreciated. I've been reading on sexual maturity and the little attitudes Caique's may have. My bird actually had a small temper tantrum in the store yesterday and I was shocked at how tolerable it was. He/she was a bit nippier than usual but responded very well to simple "No" and seemed very eager to please. Besides, I love the feisty ones. I'd love to hear more experiences, what to do, what not to do. I would also love specific advice on bird/dog integration. I have 4 large dogs. I intend to have a very slow and gradual integration rg: the dogs. The placement of the cage will be by 2 windows and my fish tank with a pen enclosure to create a boundary for the dogs. Thank you in advance for all of the advice!

[Wolf]

The integration of bird and dogs is relatively simple and straight forward. Never allow the dogs to touch the bird and always keep close to the bird if you have it out of the cage and there are dogs in the house. The best thing to do is to put the dogs outside when you have the bird out especially for the first few months as you don't know what the bird will do when you first let it out of the cage. Always remember that you can not move as fast as the dogs and to them a bird is food.
Don't let the pet store clip your birds wings as this is the only means that it has to escape from your dogs if you mess up. It also is not good for the bird mentally, physically or emotionally. For the first month at least don't concern yourself with training the bird, this is the time to work on bonding with the bird and earning its trust. There will be plenty of time for training later as long as you protect the bird from the dogs.

[SM3939]

Thank you for your response. When the bird gets outside time, the dogs can have playtime in the backyard and over several months time, hopefully we are able to have the bird on the perch right next to me while everyone is hanging out. 2 of my 4 have zero prey drive while my other 2 have one. I've had reptiles and rodents in the home and they were all fine and recognized them as part of the pack. As far as the wings go, the wings were previously clipped so I guess I will be overzealous in my diligence. If I have to keep everyone on rotation, so be it. I will do it. I'm sure the dogs won't mind having lots of outside time in their toy filled yard. I'll be sure to make sure birdy is 100% comfortable with us before even thinking of introducing him/her to any of the dogs. Thank you again!

[Pajarita]

Well, I am afraid that this plan will not work because the bird needs hours of out-of-cage time and you can't keep the dogs outside for hours so see if you can lock them up in a room, instead.