Okay, please don't laugh at this question, but I just have to ask. Here it goes.....

I own 3 Congo African Grey Parrots which I have chosen to house in a different area of our home since we aquired our GSP. Knowing that our Pup comes a strong working pedigree for Police, PP, and SchH..his prey drive is fairly high. As you know, Parrots flutter...(they are medium sized, not small) and the last thing I want is for an acciden to happen. So I made a wise decision.

Reading Ed's " Teaching a dog to get along with a cat", I've tried to impliment this technique with my parrots. Now, when I bring the parrots up to the same room as Zeus is in........Zeus (who is in his create) just sits calmly and "acts" like he's not bothered with them at all. Don't worry, it would be a very long time (if ever) that I would allow them to be near each other. Although I've seen dogs and birds together and have successful relationships.

Let me also make it clear, that I KNOW and NEVER forget the natural instincts of animals. Both my parrots and the Dog. That is something I would never take forgranted. However, a dog can be trained. My parrots are smart and fairly socialized in the sense they have no fear of Zeus. They want to go check him out. If anything Zeus is unsure of just what they are....and where they belong.

So my question is:

Can I teach my GSD pup to respect them, and leave them alone........while I am teaching the pup all the foundation work of a working a dog? Is this unreasonable? If I can or if it is possible, any suggested techniques in teaching the pup this would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone who owns birds and dogs together, I'd like to hear your experiences, feedback, list of do's and don'ts etc.

Thanks all,

For a dog with strong prey drive, there'll never be a 100% safety factor. Animals can live together for several years, but then one day prey drive kicks in and something really bad happens.
Sorry, that's just the way it is. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I have to say I agree 150% with Will. I used to house sit for a bird breeder, and they also had 5 house dogs. Yes, they can live together, but it requires more vigilance than dogs and cats in my opinion. The dog breeds they had were Akita, Standard Poodle (2), Sheltie, and spitz. Birds were African Greys, Yellow Neck Amazon, redbellies, senegals, and a variety of cockatiels. Most of the birds were housed in breeding pairs in the basement, but they had resident birds in the kitchen as well.

I seem to recall an out of the blue incident involving one of the standard poodles and either the Grey or Amazon that lived in the kitchen. He lived, but it was not pretty. Standard poodles are not "high prey" dogs, either.

Both are social creatures and need attention, but be very careful with mixing the attentions. I would not have both out together if I were you.

Greys are great birds. I loved that Didjube would call the dogs... "Royce" and wistle and everything... then he did a great mimic of the smoker in the house waking up too.. "ha-cough,hack"... and would do an entire phone conversation including the beep of the phone being turned off... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Will and Deanna,

I can accept this fact. This is what I thought also. I adore my Greys (raised them from the shell) and wouldn't put them in slighest possible danger. I have them housed in a different living room (no accessability for the dog to get in, plus the dog will be created when we cannot watch him or gone from the house.......always, no matter how old he is. This is my "extra" safety measure.

Deanna,

Yes, Greys awesome birds! My one male has a very large vocabulary and speaks in context. When I leave the room he says "Mommy come back"!. When he's nervous or scared....he reassures himself by saying "It's okay, Don't be scared". That is just taste of what he does and says. They are indeed highly socialable and loads of fun to have in the family.

Thanks for your input...both of you.