Anyone with cockatiels and a yorkie? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

newyorkiepup · 05-30-2008, 09:43 AM

We are picking up our yorkie puppy on Thursday from the breeder. We have 5 cockatiels at home. They are used to being out of the cage most of the time and on our shoulders when we are home. I don't want that to change for them, but I do want them to be safe. Does anyone else have cockatiels along with their yorkie? Can you share how it has gone? Any advice on introducing them and teaching the puppy that the birds are off limits?

hartygirl · 05-30-2008, 10:19 AM

I have only one cockatiel and things have changed for him a little.

He used to have an open door all the time to come and go as he pleased now he spends more time in his cage.

We brought Addison home and the two of them got along great. We were just very careful for both of their sakes. We didn't want Feathers to get pounced on or bitten and also he could have done some damage to Addy if he bit her face or ears.

We started by keeping them out in the same room then slowly after a few days I would hold Addy and Feathers would be on my shoulder. Eventually they could care less about eachother, but still were never allowed to be alone together.

Feathers only likes to be away from his cage for about 10-15 min at a time so he heads abck or starts being naughty so we take him back. When he flaps his wings or starts to fly it gets Addy all freaked out and that can be dangerous.

Now that we have Brady too Feathers comes out even less, I just don't think he wants to be out as much. We put his cage on the floor and both the dogs sniff him and he sings. He is not afraid of them nor them of him, but when he flys around they get SUPER hyper.

My advise is to supervise intensly and make sure they get to spend a lot of time together while your dog is a pup. My Addy does better with Feathers than Brady. But somehow we all manage to live in harmony!

Good luck, sorry if this confused you at all. If you need anything you can PM me and I'll explain more!

I see you are in my hometown!
I miss the cities so much, all of my family is there. And the food, I miss that the most!

YorkieChick1 · 05-30-2008, 10:21 AM

I can't help you with the cockatiels but I have chickens and I never let the Yorkies out with them! Yorkies are still terriers and they have that ratting drive!! In fact mine sit at the French door and look out at the chickens and lick their lips!! My chihuahuas are good with the chickens though!! You might be Ok if you raise the puppy with your birds and your puppy learns not to touch them, it might be a long process and one that you will have to monitor carefully! Good luck!

chachi · 05-30-2008, 10:25 AM

You will always have to supervise them. One of mine just caught a wild baby bird last week and had it in her mouth. I am getting ready to get a bird also but it will only be out when I can watch it

BubblPopElectrc · 05-30-2008, 10:33 AM

I would never have both of them out at the same time. One of your cockatiels could fly down onto the floor and your dog could mistake it for a toy or it's terrier instinct could take over and they could easily kill the bird.

One time I had my parrotlet out of it's cage and she flew towards Brooklyn and Brooklyn tried to bit her out of fear.

You also have to be careful about the placement of your bird cage(s). Another time I had my parrotlet in her travel cage and it was sitting on the floor. In an instant, Britney tried to bit my parrotlet through the cage. If I wouldn't have been there Britney could've killed the bird.

ARCHIE · 05-30-2008, 10:36 AM

We had a GS when my daughter had her cockatiel. Charlie was his name and he loved spaghetti. Pepper never paid much attention to him. Charlie stayed
up high, counter, sink, cage, table so I never had a problem.
Buddy on the other hand, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm not sure. Your Yorkie
is coming after the fact so hopefully in time he will consider him to be a
sibling.

deb22 · 05-30-2008, 10:41 AM

Be careful. We have eight Parrots and while the Macaws are in no danger. My cockatiels probably would be. Penny has never had the chance around our small birds. But I don't trust her. Our birds are in a separate room. Being she is a puppy MAYBE you could train her to "be friends".
One of my customers put a deposit on a sun conure and decided against it because her Yorkies killed two Blue Jays right out of the air.

4doggiemama · 05-30-2008, 10:45 AM

Have a 14 yr. old Cockatiel, Duchess. Was given to us by our neighbors when they went to the mission field. They had always clipped her wings and kept her in a small tall cage. Guess they did put her on their shoulders some. We allowed her wings to grow and have the freedom to come and go from her cage. Our cat, Kitty, (may he R.I.P.) was deathly afraid of Duchess. Duchess would even sit on Cassie, our Pommie, (may she R.I.P.) Now I have "terriers" and I have to be more careful. They go crazy when she flies around the room and goes back to her cage. She's doing it less, though, because she is getting old. If she does land on the ground the Yorkies become afraid of her.

She spreads her wings out and hisses at them. Actually, it is quite humorous. Our daughter's cat, Missy Cat, just ignores Duchess. Now just mention outside birds and there is complete hysteria, cat and dogs.

Epsilon · 05-30-2008, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

We had a GS when my daughter had her cockatiel. Charlie was his name and he loved spaghetti. Pepper never paid much attention to him. Charlie stayed
up high, counter, sink, cage, table so I never had a problem.
Buddy on the other hand, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm not sure. Your Yorkie
is coming after the fact so hopefully in time he will consider him to be a
sibling.

I think if you introduce them as soon as you bring your puppy home and let it be known that the birds are family, you shouldn't have too much a problem. I still wouldn't let them be in the same room when you aren't home... but I think they could get along fine.

We all know yorkies are ratters... I owned RATS when I got my first yorkie. I introduced them young and Gizmo learned that the rats were family and the rats learned that Gizmo was family. I could let one of the rats run around the Gizmo would actually play extremely gently with them. He never tried to bite them or hurt them.

Just like dogs and cats can get along despite their natural predator/prey background, I think other combinations of animals can get along as long as they realize and understand that they are family.

Akina · 05-30-2008, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YorkieChick1

I can't help you with the cockatiels but I have chickens and I never let the Yorkies out with them! Yorkies are still terriers and they have that ratting drive!! In fact mine sit at the French door and look out at the chickens and lick their lips!! My chihuahuas are good with the chickens though!! You might be Ok if you raise the puppy with your birds and your puppy learns not to touch them, it might be a long process and one that you will have to monitor carefully! Good luck!

WHAT??? Pretty Brook licking her lips over chicken????
I hope she is imagining KFC!!!!!

newyorkiepup · 05-30-2008, 11:03 AM

I would never leave them together unsupervised, but my hope is that I can have a bird on my shoulder and a puppy on my lap and have everyone living in harmony. I think too that if we just let the puppy know from the beginning that his new "pack" is actually a "flock" and that we're all a family and birdies are not toys or food, that we'll be okay. I hope so anyway. I want to try to keep things as normal as possible for the birds. They were here first. And I love them dearly. They are so very tame. They preen my eyelashes and they fly to me when I leave the room. They are so bonded to me and I'm not going to break that bond. So if they don't get along, then we may have to have times where the puppy is locked up and I have just birdy time. It wouldn't be fair for the birds to have to stay locked up all the time while the dog has run of the house. It's their house too.

francis53 · 05-30-2008, 11:45 AM

We have 10 birds and 7 dogs and for the most part everyone gets along. My smaller birds do not have their wings clipped so that they can fly away from the dogs if need be. I worry more about the bigger birds (african greys and macaw) because they can't fly away, and sometimes they get frightened and end up on the floor, but only one of my dogs every really bothers the birds. She just barks at them, has never been brave enought to actually get too close,lol. All of our birds get to come out every evening for a couple of hours, other than that they are kept in nice roomy cages with lots of toys.
Our Indian Ringneck parrot, Blue, actually has all the dogs afraid of her, cause she has bit all of them at least once for getting to close to her space in between our stove and fridge, she bites us also, you don't want to be barefoot when she is on the floor

She can also fly, but is not the least bit afraid to be down on the floor with the dogs and she is not much bigger than a cockatiel!
Anyway, I'm just trying to say, yes, you can have your birds and your dog.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things go!

newyorkiepup · 05-30-2008, 12:28 PM

Thanks for making me feel better, Francis. I was getting a bit worried with what others were saying. I have wanted a puppy my entire life (my mom is allergic to everything so we only ever had some fish and a couple hermit crabs growing up). I always thought I'd get a dog when I had my own house. Then I met my husband and he had birds. I knew nothing about birds then. But now they have stolen my heart. I love my cockatiels so much! People that don't have birds can't understand that they are just as cuddly as a cat or dog when they are tame birds. They want to be on me and petted ALL the time. They beg for me to give them little scritches on the head. I would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to them because we got a puppy, but I would also be so sad if my relationship with them had to change drastically because I have to protect them. We will take precautions and always make sure they are supervised but I hope we can find peace that does not include locking the birds in the cage all the time. That is not a suitable solution. We have a finished basement in our house with a family room. The birds never go down there. It may have to be that dog time is downstairs and bird time is upstairs.

francis53 · 05-30-2008, 01:36 PM

QUOTE=newyorkiepup;2021032]Thanks for making me feel better, Francis. I was getting a bit worried with what others were saying. I have wanted a puppy my entire life (my mom is allergic to everything so we only ever had some fish and a couple hermit crabs growing up). I always thought I'd get a dog when I had my own house. Then I met my husband and he had birds. I knew nothing about birds then. But now they have stolen my heart. I love my cockatiels so much! People that don't have birds can't understand that they are just as cuddly as a cat or dog when they are tame birds. They want to be on me and petted ALL the time. They beg for me to give them little scritches on the head. I would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to them because we got a puppy, but I would also be so sad if my relationship with them had to change drastically because I have to protect them. We will take precautions and always make sure they are supervised but I hope we can find peace that does not include locking the birds in the cage all the time. That is not a suitable solution. We have a finished basement in our house with a family room. The birds never go down there. It may have to be that dog time is downstairs and bird time is upstairs.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I think it is quite doable to have both dogs and birds, for the most part my dogs are just so used to the birds they don't even pay that much attention to them. Of course, we never allow the birds out without supervision. A couple of my dogs sometimes get a bit excited when the birds fly, but they don't really chase them or anything.
I know what you mean about birds, we love our birds very much. We have a macaw, 2 african greys, a quaker, greencheek conure, IRN, and 4 parrotlets. People don't understand how much fun they can be! Our macaw and greys can really talk and the greys bark just like the dogs, that's not always fun,lol.
It sounds like you are prepared to take it slow and let everyone get used to the new family member, so it should be just fine!

Is this your first puppy? You picked a wonderful breed to start with, they are very special little dogs. Wishing you lots of enjoyment with all your pets.[

bjh · 05-30-2008, 02:12 PM

I re-homed a sweet 3 year old female, Missy, several years ago to a nice lady that did bird rescues. Missy adjusted very well in her new environment and when I checked on Missy last time her owner told me how Missy and one of the birds (a cockatoo I think) would go walking together from room to room and check on the other birds before bedtime. Apparently Missy was quite a bird lover. Missy was always very calm and gentle. I would think it would depend totally on your Yorkies personality whether or not they would adjust to birds.

05-30-2008, 09:43 AM	#1
newyorkiepup Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2008 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Posts: 77	Anyone with cockatiels and a yorkie? We are picking up our yorkie puppy on Thursday from the breeder. We have 5 cockatiels at home. They are used to being out of the cage most of the time and on our shoulders when we are home. I don't want that to change for them, but I do want them to be safe. Does anyone else have cockatiels along with their yorkie? Can you share how it has gone? Any advice on introducing them and teaching the puppy that the birds are off limits?

05-30-2008, 10:19 AM	#2
hartygirl megan - g Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: South Texas Posts: 2,324	I have only one cockatiel and things have changed for him a little. He used to have an open door all the time to come and go as he pleased now he spends more time in his cage. We brought Addison home and the two of them got along great. We were just very careful for both of their sakes. We didn't want Feathers to get pounced on or bitten and also he could have done some damage to Addy if he bit her face or ears. We started by keeping them out in the same room then slowly after a few days I would hold Addy and Feathers would be on my shoulder. Eventually they could care less about eachother, but still were never allowed to be alone together. Feathers only likes to be away from his cage for about 10-15 min at a time so he heads abck or starts being naughty so we take him back. When he flaps his wings or starts to fly it gets Addy all freaked out and that can be dangerous. Now that we have Brady too Feathers comes out even less, I just don't think he wants to be out as much. We put his cage on the floor and both the dogs sniff him and he sings. He is not afraid of them nor them of him, but when he flys around they get SUPER hyper. My advise is to supervise intensly and make sure they get to spend a lot of time together while your dog is a pup. My Addy does better with Feathers than Brady. But somehow we all manage to live in harmony! Good luck, sorry if this confused you at all. If you need anything you can PM me and I'll explain more! I see you are in my hometown! I miss the cities so much, all of my family is there. And the food, I miss that the most! __________________ Last edited by hartygirl; 05-30-2008 at 10:21 AM.

05-30-2008, 10:21 AM	#3
YorkieChick1 Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 2,249	I can't help you with the cockatiels but I have chickens and I never let the Yorkies out with them! Yorkies are still terriers and they have that ratting drive!! In fact mine sit at the French door and look out at the chickens and lick their lips!! My chihuahuas are good with the chickens though!! You might be Ok if you raise the puppy with your birds and your puppy learns not to touch them, it might be a long process and one that you will have to monitor carefully! Good luck! __________________ Nanci 's her furbabies!! Brooke,Binky,Bunny,Buster & BooBoo And My Chichis: Baby & Bitsy There's nothing that brightens my day more than a puppy kiss!

05-30-2008, 10:25 AM	#4
chachi I Love My Yorkies Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 37,147	You will always have to supervise them. One of mine just caught a wild baby bird last week and had it in her mouth. I am getting ready to get a bird also but it will only be out when I can watch it __________________ Chachi's & Jewels Mom Jewels http://www.dogster.com/?132431 Chachi http://www.dogster.com/?132427

05-30-2008, 10:33 AM	#5
BubblPopElectrc Kyle Plus 3 Donating Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 6,929	I would never have both of them out at the same time. One of your cockatiels could fly down onto the floor and your dog could mistake it for a toy or it's terrier instinct could take over and they could easily kill the bird. One time I had my parrotlet out of it's cage and she flew towards Brooklyn and Brooklyn tried to bit her out of fear. You also have to be careful about the placement of your bird cage(s). Another time I had my parrotlet in her travel cage and it was sitting on the floor. In an instant, Britney tried to bit my parrotlet through the cage. If I wouldn't have been there Britney could've killed the bird. __________________ Kyle (me), Britney, Brooklyn, and Coral

05-30-2008, 10:36 AM	#6
ARCHIE No Longer A Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NEW YORK Posts: 16,218	We had a GS when my daughter had her cockatiel. Charlie was his name and he loved spaghetti. Pepper never paid much attention to him. Charlie stayed up high, counter, sink, cage, table so I never had a problem. Buddy on the other hand, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm not sure. Your Yorkie is coming after the fact so hopefully in time he will consider him to be a sibling.

05-30-2008, 10:41 AM	#7
deb22 Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: us Posts: 1,500	Be careful. We have eight Parrots and while the Macaws are in no danger. My cockatiels probably would be. Penny has never had the chance around our small birds. But I don't trust her. Our birds are in a separate room. Being she is a puppy MAYBE you could train her to "be friends". One of my customers put a deposit on a sun conure and decided against it because her Yorkies killed two Blue Jays right out of the air. __________________ Deb and Penny (aka Miss Picky Pants) Member of the Spoiled Rotten Club

05-30-2008, 10:45 AM	#8
4doggiemama Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: KS Posts: 3,289	Have a 14 yr. old Cockatiel, Duchess. Was given to us by our neighbors when they went to the mission field. They had always clipped her wings and kept her in a small tall cage. Guess they did put her on their shoulders some. We allowed her wings to grow and have the freedom to come and go from her cage. Our cat, Kitty, (may he R.I.P.) was deathly afraid of Duchess. Duchess would even sit on Cassie, our Pommie, (may she R.I.P.) Now I have "terriers" and I have to be more careful. They go crazy when she flies around the room and goes back to her cage. She's doing it less, though, because she is getting old. If she does land on the ground the Yorkies become afraid of her. She spreads her wings out and hisses at them. Actually, it is quite humorous. Our daughter's cat, Missy Cat, just ignores Duchess. Now just mention outside birds and there is complete hysteria, cat and dogs. __________________ Joanne Eli ChipperEva Snowboy Rosie(R.I.P. 1996-July 29, 2013) Cocoa(R.I.P 1998-April 26, 2012):

05-30-2008, 11:03 AM	#11
newyorkiepup Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2008 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Posts: 77	I would never leave them together unsupervised, but my hope is that I can have a bird on my shoulder and a puppy on my lap and have everyone living in harmony. I think too that if we just let the puppy know from the beginning that his new "pack" is actually a "flock" and that we're all a family and birdies are not toys or food, that we'll be okay. I hope so anyway. I want to try to keep things as normal as possible for the birds. They were here first. And I love them dearly. They are so very tame. They preen my eyelashes and they fly to me when I leave the room. They are so bonded to me and I'm not going to break that bond. So if they don't get along, then we may have to have times where the puppy is locked up and I have just birdy time. It wouldn't be fair for the birds to have to stay locked up all the time while the dog has run of the house. It's their house too.

05-30-2008, 11:45 AM	#12
francis53 Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Colorado Posts: 714	We have 10 birds and 7 dogs and for the most part everyone gets along. My smaller birds do not have their wings clipped so that they can fly away from the dogs if need be. I worry more about the bigger birds (african greys and macaw) because they can't fly away, and sometimes they get frightened and end up on the floor, but only one of my dogs every really bothers the birds. She just barks at them, has never been brave enought to actually get too close,lol. All of our birds get to come out every evening for a couple of hours, other than that they are kept in nice roomy cages with lots of toys. Our Indian Ringneck parrot, Blue, actually has all the dogs afraid of her, cause she has bit all of them at least once for getting to close to her space in between our stove and fridge, she bites us also, you don't want to be barefoot when she is on the floor She can also fly, but is not the least bit afraid to be down on the floor with the dogs and she is not much bigger than a cockatiel! Anyway, I'm just trying to say, yes, you can have your birds and your dog. Good luck and keep us posted on how things go!

05-30-2008, 12:28 PM	#13
newyorkiepup Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2008 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Posts: 77	Thanks for making me feel better, Francis. I was getting a bit worried with what others were saying. I have wanted a puppy my entire life (my mom is allergic to everything so we only ever had some fish and a couple hermit crabs growing up). I always thought I'd get a dog when I had my own house. Then I met my husband and he had birds. I knew nothing about birds then. But now they have stolen my heart. I love my cockatiels so much! People that don't have birds can't understand that they are just as cuddly as a cat or dog when they are tame birds. They want to be on me and petted ALL the time. They beg for me to give them little scritches on the head. I would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to them because we got a puppy, but I would also be so sad if my relationship with them had to change drastically because I have to protect them. We will take precautions and always make sure they are supervised but I hope we can find peace that does not include locking the birds in the cage all the time. That is not a suitable solution. We have a finished basement in our house with a family room. The birds never go down there. It may have to be that dog time is downstairs and bird time is upstairs.

05-30-2008, 01:36 PM	#14
francis53 Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Colorado Posts: 714	QUOTE=newyorkiepup;2021032]Thanks for making me feel better, Francis. I was getting a bit worried with what others were saying. I have wanted a puppy my entire life (my mom is allergic to everything so we only ever had some fish and a couple hermit crabs growing up). I always thought I'd get a dog when I had my own house. Then I met my husband and he had birds. I knew nothing about birds then. But now they have stolen my heart. I love my cockatiels so much! People that don't have birds can't understand that they are just as cuddly as a cat or dog when they are tame birds. They want to be on me and petted ALL the time. They beg for me to give them little scritches on the head. I would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to them because we got a puppy, but I would also be so sad if my relationship with them had to change drastically because I have to protect them. We will take precautions and always make sure they are supervised but I hope we can find peace that does not include locking the birds in the cage all the time. That is not a suitable solution. We have a finished basement in our house with a family room. The birds never go down there. It may have to be that dog time is downstairs and bird time is upstairs.[/QUOTE] Yes, I think it is quite doable to have both dogs and birds, for the most part my dogs are just so used to the birds they don't even pay that much attention to them. Of course, we never allow the birds out without supervision. A couple of my dogs sometimes get a bit excited when the birds fly, but they don't really chase them or anything. I know what you mean about birds, we love our birds very much. We have a macaw, 2 african greys, a quaker, greencheek conure, IRN, and 4 parrotlets. People don't understand how much fun they can be! Our macaw and greys can really talk and the greys bark just like the dogs, that's not always fun,lol. It sounds like you are prepared to take it slow and let everyone get used to the new family member, so it should be just fine! Is this your first puppy? You picked a wonderful breed to start with, they are very special little dogs. Wishing you lots of enjoyment with all your pets.[

05-30-2008, 02:12 PM	#15
bjh Donating YT 5000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 7,959	I re-homed a sweet 3 year old female, Missy, several years ago to a nice lady that did bird rescues. Missy adjusted very well in her new environment and when I checked on Missy last time her owner told me how Missy and one of the birds (a cockatoo I think) would go walking together from room to room and check on the other birds before bedtime. Apparently Missy was quite a bird lover. Missy was always very calm and gentle. I would think it would depend totally on your Yorkies personality whether or not they would adjust to birds.