My other pets

[pixellator]

Hi Everyone! I'm Jessica. I have 3 hermies, but I haven't seen one of them for a long time. I think he's still alive down in the substrate.
But I also have a beta fish, a border collie mix, and two parakeets. I woke up this morning and my newest parakeet was dead. I bring the birds in their cages with me to the bedroom almost every night and I never heard a squawk overnight. She looked so healthy yesterday. I had recently separated the birds into two cages because the male looked like the other was pecking at him.

So my dog is part Aussie shepherd and part border collie. She is high-strung. She treats the birdies like her sheep. Today she is acting as if she just lost a sheep. She's nervous and keeps on looking for the other bird. I tried to show her the bird is dead but without taking it out of the cage, of course -- who knows if she really just wants to eat it? Does anybody else know if herding dogs can adopt other species as their substitute flock?

[Laurie LeAnn]

I'm sorry you lost your bird..I just got a cockatiel when he was 6 weeks old and finished hand raising him. He is now 11 months old. Your bird may of been sick and you didn't know it. They hide their illnesses until it's to late. Puffed up or ruffled feathers, labored breathing, discharge from nose or eyes and a non active bird are signs that your bird is sick as is hanging out at the bottom of the cage..any of these signs? You should always keep your new bird away from your other bird for at least 2-3 weeks to insure that your new bird doesn't have a contagious illness. As far as your dog.. don't trust a dog or a cat around your bird.. so many bad stories of oh my dog would never, my cat would never.. look at these cute pictures...then on the forum the next thing I'm reading is my dog jumped up while my bird was out and bit him in half! The cat attacked my bird while he was on the floor..birds are flock animals and would probably imprint on anything..I myself would rather have my bird be his buddy not an animal.other issues..how long has your crab been down? What size is it and how long have you owned it?? I hope I helped you out a little..my birds name is stormy , he tells himself to quiet down, says pretty bird, what cha doing.. whistles Adam's family, happy and you know it and Andy Griffith. Sometimes he does a re mix of all.. I get kisses from him to..he is spoiled. I have only 2 crabs left..min 55 gallon tank..spoiled to!

[landlubber]

Hi Jessica,

I am sorry you lost your bird.

As a previous dog trainer I have seen many of the herding breeds herd all manner of things, children, other pets........I have even seen tiny little puppy herding dogs trying to herd other puppies during training class. Herding dogs were bred to work, and are highly intelligent so they can make independent decisions while herding. These kinds of dogs need a LOT of exercise and mental stimulation or they can get high strung because their breeding is telling them they need to DOING something and they don't have anything to do that uses those skills they are born with. Training is one fantastic way to deplete energy from higher strung dogs (mental energy actually is more tiring because the brain requires SO much energy to learn something new). Plus, being a herding dog and so smart and bred to work closely with their humans your little Aussie should pick up any new tricks or commands really fast. I always LOVED training herding dogs!

[pixellator]

Hi Lorie LeAnn and Landlubber,
I'm so sorry I missed your replies. Just today I started reading down the list of last replies under the button "View your posts".

Very true, and good advice to never trust your dog with other pets! I keep my other animals secured when I leave the dog alone in the house.

I'm walking Kara a couple of miles a day but I've been forgetting to train her with new tasks. She loves that and I've been so busy last year I let her training slip. That's a great reminder. All I need to do is bring the training treats along with me as we walk and I can have her work on the basics again. She remembers how to offer a paw, other paw, sit, down, heel, return, beg, pray, roll over, bang bang (and she plays dead), and I haven't quite gotten her consistent with "take a bow" and "shake" (as in shake off that rain from your back).

Thanks for introducing me to your pets Laurie LeAnn!