im new to this forum.

[mark kenneth]

hi everyone,
I am a proud owner of an African grey. She is around 7yrs old but is not hand reared. I got her from a friend of the family who didn't want her. she likes the mrs and mother-in-law but isn't so keen on me.before any sarcastic message come back,no I don't want to get a divorce lol.she whistles and talks and says all of our names.
I would like to get her out of the cage but I am worried that my wife has a dog and she doesn't like harry. I don't think its fair to lock the dog out of the living room but at the same time I don't think it would be fair on harry only coming out of her cage for short periods of time.
I also have the worry about once she is out of the cage will I get her back in.she is well fed and cleaned out daily and is spoilt rotten. she loves a chop bone , pomegranate is her favourite tho. any advise and help would be much appreciated.

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.

[Wolf]

Hi Mark, welcome to the forum, I moved your post to introductions as I think that you will get a better response here than where it was posted.

It is time for me to feed my birds but I will come back and reply to you with more soon.

[Wolf]

I am back. I assume that Harry is your Grey, and that you may not be certain of the birds sex. If this is true it may be a good idea to have Harry DNA sex tested as it could make a difference in dietary requirements, especially during breeding season. Greys need more calcium than many other parrots, but it does need to be in balance with the rest of the birds nutrients and for this reason I would like to request more information about Harry's diet, such as what Harry is given to eat as well as when Harry receives what foods.

It is very difficult, without more information to say what to do about your wife's dog and Harry, it depends on both of their reactions to each other. The easiest approach is to keep the dog out of the room when you have Harry out, but I understand that this is not what you want to have. I have three large dogs, 7 cats and 7 birds with the sizes of birds ranging from a parrotlet up to an amazon and we all share the living room without one type of animal attacking any of the other types. This is not by chance and has taken a lot of effort on my part until now when I can be in a mostly supervisory capacity as they all respond very well to my voice especially when they are excited. Still I keep a very close eye on each and every one of them as cats and dogs are predators who quite naturally include birds in their diets.

One factor that you have mentioned could be quite beneficial in properly introducing your wife's dog to Harry is that Harry likes your wife. I am now assuming again, so correct me if I am wrong. I would think that the dog may be a small breed that spend a lot of time with your wife. So if your wife can control the dog, you can bring Harry into the room and sit next to her with Harry. This places you in position to grab Harry if need be and to move away, while your wife is in position to grab the dog to help keep them apart until the dog understands to leave the bird alone. This does take the full attention of both of you to prevent injury to your bird. Still you must understand that this may not be workable and that despite how you may want it to be you may have to keep the dog and the bird separated from each other when Harry is out.

As I have said it all depends on each of their reactions to each other. Before you try this, lets look at how the dog acts towards Harry when Harry is in the cage and the dog is near by. This could tell us whether or not it is even worth taking the risk of introducing them.

Does Harry fly or has she had her wings clipped? This is also a major factor in this as there is no bird that can escape from any predator if it can't fly. It also makes a big difference in how the bird responds to everything around it, as well as the birds overall health and well being.

How long have you had Harry? Please take some time to tell us as much about Harry as you can as it will help us to better understand her and allow us to give you much more accurate answers. Parrots are extremely intelligent and just like human children they are all very unique individuals and what works to teach one will not always work for another bird.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum, Mark, Harry and Mrs!

There is another way to sex a gray and that is looking at the tail undercoverts (the shorter feathers that 'cover' the beginning of the long feathers under the tail). If they have a thin gray edge to them, you have a girl and, if they don't, you have a boy but, of course, DNAing is always the 100% sure way of finding out.

You say that Harry was not hand-fed but, to tell you the truth, I find that very difficult to believe. Why would anybody breeding grays NOT handfeed? It would make no sense whatsoever as a parent-raised bird which has never imprinted to people would never make as good a pet as a handfed one.

Wolf is correct that, depending on the breed of the dog and its individual temperament, it is entirely possible to get them used to having a bird around BUT you also have to take into consideration the bird's reaction to the dog because if the bird is terrified of it, you need to work on him/her first. But, if the circumstances are not propitious for it, you would be better off keeping the dog outside the living room for the out-of-cage time (which should be no less than 4 hours every single day). Dogs sleep A LOT during the day so it would be no real hardship for him/her to be in another room for a few hours. I have 5 dogs and what I do is put a baby gate on the kitchen doorway to keep them there while the birds are out in the living and dining room - works just fine! The birds do fly into the kitchen but they mostly keep on the higher surfaces and they dogs leave them alone -even Sweeetpea Senegal, which LOVES to go to ground and does it all the time!

I will ask you to do a bit more in-depth research about their diet because I have to tell you that meat is a big no-no for birds. Parrots eat insects (two species of cockatoos quite a lot but most of the others not too many) but their meat has virtually no fat and no bad cholesterol which pork, chicken and beef do. One would think that meat is meat but that is not so, they are all different and, for an animal that did not evolve to consume animal fat and bad cholesterol, eating them is real bad because nature did not give them a mechanism to get rid of it (as carnivores and omnivores have).

[Georges mom]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I too had the dog problem when I brought George home 8 months ago. George doesn't fly and only walks around on the floor and climbs on whatever. Mia my toy poodle loves everything and wanted immediately to be his friend. He hates her and will go after her every chance he can. She learned real fast to obey my command of stay by mama and / or a snap and a point to leave the room. All it took was one close encounter and George nipped her for her to abandon that possible friendship. Mia has the whole house where as George for the most part hangs out in the family room and kitchen. When I bring him upstairs he stays on this portable perch stand and Mia could care less cuz she knows he stays there. There have been instances where George has flown down to the ground and Mia just bolts out of the room. They have to get to know each other's personalities and training the dog to certain commands, they should be able to coexist nicely. mia and George are polar opposites when it comes to personalities but somehow it all works and everyone stays happy. Be patient and give it some time.