African Grey Timneh dilemna

[paxvet]

Anyone know a solution here? We have a sweet 17 year old female African Grey Timneh for 3 years. I love her and truly hate looking for a another home but she will obsessively chase our terrier and bite her at any opportunity. The 12 Ib dog is miserable. I have placed ads looking for an owner that would be able to give her tons of attention but it's been really difficult to find someone. We ask a homing fee to rule out the riff raff that want her free to sell. I don't like leaving her in her cage except at night. She hates being in the cage during the day and will be where ever my wife and I are. I'm a retired/disabled veteran and am home with her all the time which I love. She will sit on her perch in the living area but will soon climb down to antagonize the dog. Some Parrot Rescues are pretty intense as well to deal with. Any suggestions? I live in Los Angeles, CA.
Thanks!

[liz]

Protect your terrier. What part of the dog is the grey after? Does it bite his back? Put a sweater on him to deter him. When you think the grey is after him, pick him up.

If you have two kids and one is a bully - what would you do? You would protect the weaker one until you could controll the aggresor.

Right now he attacks the dog - the dog yelps - you yell at the grey (which is getting your attention).

Rambo hides behind the toilet to jump out and bite my aunt who will scream bloody murder. He loves it. Now we check the bathroom before she goes in. Prevention instead of attention with punishment.

Protect the dog with clothing until you can break the pattern.

[Michael]

Poor dog, hope she ends up in a good home.

[liz]

Poor dog, hope she ends up in a good home.

LOL

[Mona]

Hi Paxvet:

I think the cage is the answer. You are going to have to start conditioning your Timneh to stay in a cage for hours in the day and take her out when you can separate her from the dog.

How big is the cage? Do you have any toys? TAG's usually love boxes to dig in (especially hens) and things to root around in. One cheap toy that we give to our Senegal is we take out a used medicine bottle with a child proof cap, wash it out, put a cork in it and throw it in the cage. The Senegal will play with this for hours.

My birds are caged while I am at work (unfortunately, my family is not home during the day) and I let them out for an hour every evening when I am home. Otherwise, we move the cages near the couch where we relax to watch TV. The birds get a lot of "ambient" attention but they don't need to be out. This works out very well, but it is a matter of doing some training. It sounds like your bird is "trained" to expect to be out all of the time. It is not cruel or wrong to have them in a cage as long as the cage is big enough, as long as they are fed in their cage and as long as they have lots of toys and things to do. It really can work out for the best of everybody.

Personally, I think your TAG will have a much, much better life and better prospects for the future if you start thinking about "training" the bird to spend time in the cage. When you take the bird out, make sure the dog is not where it can be attacked.....in a different room or with a different person.

Any behavior that is not reinforced will eventually becoming extinct. It can take quite a bit of time but if the bird doesn't chase or attack the bird, eventually the bird will forget about doing it. Especially if the bird is reinforced for other things. This is how I have managed my Senegals over the years if I see any tendency to aggression. The cage is the answer. If you do not have a big cage, this might be a great Xmas present.

Thx