African Grey & New Animal in the house

[Isis]

Hello Everyone--

I own an African Grey Parrot, and he has been my best friend for the past couple of years.

My daughter recently got a Chihuahua, and I must say that Tui is not taking to having this new animal around. (We are going on the second week of the dog being here.

The first couple of days with the dog were interesting with the dog starting to fit in. However, yesterday, I left the house for a few hours (which I have done in the past with no issues, but this was the first time that I did leave them totally alone.) And when I came back, Tui had pulled out a small patch of feathers on his chest.

I have made great strides to make sure that I spent some extra time with Tui because I was worried about him feeling a bit jealous, these past couple of weeks, but could tell that he was nervous having this new animal around.

Any suggestions on how to calm my bird down? I don't want him to become a feather picker, and I have not seen this behavior with him before.

[pennyandrocky]

how do you react when the dog goes near tui? i let my dog sniff at the birds and she's always under cages at mealtimes.the dog has been around birds since she was a puppy so she doesn't pay much attention unless they're throwing food.the only time i seperate them is when the birds get aggressive with the dog i just call the bird away without making a big deal so no one gets nervous or jealous.another issue might be the dog getting too close to toys or cage parrots are very possesive of their things so it's always best to introduce a new pet in neutral territory away from anything the bird sees as belonging to him.

[Isis]

I have made sure that we are in neutral territory. However, sometimes that is hard to figure out with Tui. There are times where I think he thinks he owns all of us......

I have let the dog and bird interact while I am close at hand so that if something were to happen, I would be right there. There were a few times where Tui started to get aggressive, but did my best to NOT react harshly and hastily.

Again, the first couple of days, the dog was going a bit nuts being in this new territory, and I did have to pay close attention to the bird flying around like he ususally does, and did not want accidents to occur. But since it has been about a week and a half after that, and now Tui is picking, I obviously missed something.

Tui has now picked out a larger patch, and while I am worried, I am trying my best to be calm about everything. I figure I need to take him to the vet just to make sure that all is really okay. I am hoping that this is just a small phase.....and that we will move forward. But because I have not changed feeding or how long he is out, and even given some extra time, etc, etc......I just needed some recommendations that perhaps I have not thought of.

Thanks for your answer!

[Grey_Moon]

Unfortunately Jacko to this day hates other animals and I tried *everything* that was suggested to me and in the end she refused to tolerate either other birds or dogs/cats. So unfortunately, it may be that your grey is a one-pet bird and it would be best in that case to either rehome the dog or keep them out of sight of each other untill your daughter is old enough/ready to move out on her own and take her dog.

It is *EXTREMELY* important to know that your grey's feather plucking issue is NOT necessarily psychological or in reaction to stress---*please* get a vet appointment and get him looked at. It is possible that this period of stress for your bird (the new animal competition---the dog) brought to the surface any subclinical health issues/allowed a new infection or problem to take hold.

Good luck!