Ok, gettin a new puppy!!!!! On our way to get it. It will be INSIDE for a few days, then outside mostly.
Do's and dont's? IN regards to keeping it with/around the birds?
Fiest...for my son.
Mark

CONGRATULATIONS and dont forget the pics...............plse..........

Congratualtions on your new furkid!!!!. I have fostered many dogs, mostly older ones and there will be a transition period for both feather and fur kids. Never leave the pup alone with the birds. I believe in crate training for dogs and when the dogs first come to my home they are crated in eyes view of the birds. If they seem at all interested in the birds I will redirect their attention to something else (toy, etc). They need to know from the start that the birds are part of the family and not toys or prey. They soon learn that the birds are family and I have never had any problems with them living together. Again, I never leave them unsupervised together ever. The birds rule the roost and both my dogs and cats know it LOL. Best of luck on your new pup.

Congrat's on the new puppy, I can't wait to see some pic's.

Hug's

Hi Mark. We got our puppy 3 months after Zakiya came to live with us. Z was just 7 months old and the pup was 2 months old. I feel it is important to make sure that all the animals believe they are part of the family. I know with us, they all know they are loved and valued and as weird as it sounds, I think they all respect each others position in the family. We made sure Hondo, (our rotty) knew Z (our CAG) was not to be messed with. Hondo would sniff around Z's cage, perch or us when we were holding her. We would let Hondo sniff Z as well and tell him what a good boy he was for being gentle. Always holding him by the collar so he didn't get too fiesty. It's been almost 3 months with the pup here and there seems to be harmony. Last night I was reading on the couch, Hondo was laying down on the floor and Z was walking across the room to get to me. Hondo was the road block, he lifted his head, Z stopped and looked at him like, "um..I'm trying to get by here" and Hondo went back to sleep. Just be very careful to ALWAYS supervise them when they may be together. It is a juggling act in the beginning for sure. And it is alot of work, but it is oh so worth it to have pets living happily together. Good Luck!

Here's just a small example of the scene anytime during the day when we first got Hondo! Notice Zakiyas rearend on the right hand side of the perch stand.

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Why does the dog have to be outside mostly? I think they should always be with us. Not meant to be alone.

My biggest "don't" would be DON'T keep it mostly outside. Dogs are pack animals, and do not thrive being left alone in the yard. Instead of being carefree and happy outside alone, they will develop all sorts of undesirable behaviors. Some of which might be enough to lose it its happy home--constant barking, digging, aggressive behavior, etc. Most of which won't be good for its mental/emotional state, and some of which will be bad for its health.

DO make sure any other dogs that were there first know that they're still first in your heart.

DO make sure to crate train your dog.

DO make sure to take it to obedience classes--start as early as your vet deems healthy. Puppies learn most of their social behaviors by the age of 3 to 4 months. You want them to be good ones :-).

DO be consistent in its training, and DO use positive reinforcement to help make a more emotionally and mentally stable dog with fewer issues than using other training methods.

Although they may seem un-bird-related, all of these things will help socialize your dog to other animals and help all of them to get along, and keep peace in your own private animal kingdom. Keep in mind, though, that some dog breeds have high prey drives. Neither it nor you will be able to effectively control that drive, and then the only good option is to make sure that your dog is NEVER in the same room with a bird. Our chow/wolf mix is one example of a dog with an extremely high prey drive. She is NEVER allowed near the birds, either in or out of their cages. She WOULD kill any bird or small animal, including cats, given half a chance. On the other hand, our Border Collies, although they have a high prey drive (which is why they make such excellent livestock dogs--their "eye" can freeze a flock from a long way away--our own Hope Leslie can freeze a flock of sheep from over 100 yards away), have been bred for generations to HERD, not HUNT. I can trust any of my BCs around any of my birds, any time.

Until you have a chance to get to know your dog extremely well--and even then, depending on all sorts of things--never leave the dog unattended with your bird. It's a tragedy just waiting to happen.

Congratulations on your new puppy. Dog knows, I LOVE puppies!! Probably a goodly part of the reason why we have 11 dogs :-).

My wife is extremely allergic to dogs. Not deathly, but just a little while around them and she'll start sneezing/blowing itching. It's really bad. Just for a minute or two is not a problem.
It will be able to stay in if it's really cold and especially when it's a puppy.

We are not all built the same. She likes animals, she does not want them INSIDE the house. Even though she loves Cleo and Dood, she doesn't really like Cleo and Dood inside, but.....they are.
In 24 years of marriage, there are gives and takes.
It'll all be fine. It'll be well cared for and it will NOT run loose in the yard despite having 18 acres to run on.

Im so sorry your wife is allergic to dogs .. I cant imagine not having furkids as part of the family. I have a doggy door that mine use to freely go outside when they want. I agree that dogs must be a part of the famiy if you want a happy and healthy pup. My brother-in-law is also allergic to animal fur and takes shots for it, their dog lives in the house.