Training dog to like bird

[MPJJJ]

We will be getting a cockatiel this week. Our dog is obedianced trained, he knows the basic commands. He has already shown an agression towards squirrels and cats. How can i train him to tolerate the bird, so that the bird can be free to roam the house as he does?

[Itlbokay]

We adopted a parakeet last summer, our dog and he actually play together....I kid you not.

My dog loves to chase the rabbits in our yard and can sometimes be aggressive towards other dogs -we had no idea how this was going to go with them. The parakeet had been passed around from home to home and it took him a little while to trust us. First we had to hand train the bird, while doing so one of us would keep an eye on the dog. Once the hand training was accomplished we would let the bird out of the cage, again being watchful of any signs that the dog may want to eat/hurt the bird. Then one day when it was just mself and the pets at home, I let them get close to each other while giving my dog lots of calm, gentle words.....and the bird pecked at the dogs feet, walked under his chest while he was in a sit/stay and played with his hair and since then it has been fine. This has all happened in the last month or so and I am amazed at how they now play with each other.

I think that your dog is obedience trained already will come in very handy for getting them used to each other....I know it helped us.

Good Luck!

[polka123]

Originally Posted by MPJJJ

We will be getting a cockatiel this week. Our dog is obedianced trained, he knows the basic commands. He has already shown an agression towards squirrels and cats. How can i train him to tolerate the bird, so that the bird can be free to roam the house as he does?

your dog is already showing a higher "prey drive" (this does not mean kill drive). Be prepared that having a bird may not work in your home. Prey drives are a great training tool that Service Dog Trainers look for. PD/Bomb/Drug dog trainers esp. look for this drive.

Back to the bird thing... you already stated that your dog has "aggression" towards smaller animals, a bird MAY be no different to him.
You may be able to correct him when/IF he goes after the bird, but remember, this drive can be very strong & go past training.
You may NEVER have a problem, but to be safe, I would never leave the 2 alone together.
I had a dog with a mild prey drive kill one on my cockatiels.
This dog had an Obed title also & never had a problem with cats.
I have 2 GSDs with high prey drives & we did get rid of all my DH's big birds to be safe.
You an try a water squirt as a training tool but again, I would not leave them alone unattended.
As I said, many folks can have dogs & birds with no problems at all but the issue of him showing prey drive toward the smaller animals really concerns me.

[Itlbokay]

Originally Posted by polka123

You may NEVER have a problem, but to be safe, I would never leave the 2 alone together.

Right, I meant to post that as well. I would not recomment leaving a bird flying free, and alone, with a dog either. I don't do so with ours, even though I think it would be alright...I'm just not willing to take that chance.