Close call for Daisy.

[Courtzrocks]

Ok my cockatiel Daisy is living with my mum who is about a 3 and a half hour drive away. She has a big cage for him and a closed in verandah that he pretty much lives in and flies around. She also has two dogs, one of them (the older one) doesnt much like Daisy, he will chase him when he flies but when he realises it is Daisy (daisy is a boy by the way) he gets scared (daisy bites the dogs HARD) and walks away.

She also has a puppy who hasnt come to learn yet from the biting. Usually the dogs arent in the same room as Daisy but daisy was sitting on the sink and mum didnt realise the puppy has got inside. Anyways I called mum yesterday and she told me that Minke (the puppy) had bitten Daisy!! Daisy flew and then mum heard a scream. Turned around and the puppy was staring at daisy and daisy was screaming...the damn dog had tried to bite Daisy!!! Daisy was so stressed and had a graze up his leg, no puncture though luckily.

She cleaned it and bought some antibiotics from the vet to put in the water today. Called mum today and said he was doing fine and acting like he usually does. Was so angry though in that first phone call, felt sick, thought that was the end for my 17yr old boy.

Mum is checking the dog door latch to see if it was broken cos she didnt know how she got in. Such a relief he is ok. Anyways that was my drama for the week.

[birdsnreps]

omg!! poor daisy!! that would have been a terrible ending for him and you guys too :( good thing your mom cleaned him up and got meds from the vet!! i bet he will be ok :)

[Pa. Nancy]

Whew!!! Glad he's o.k. BTW I have a male Daisy too.

[Courtzrocks]

Yeah apparently he is acting like nothing happened. Doing fine. Lol there must be something about naming boy birds daisy lol, i have met a few people who have done that haha.

[greencinacheeks]

whew is right....glad everything is ok and Daisy is acting fine!! yay!!

~Nate

[Courtzrocks]

I know i was so angry when i first heard but it wasnt mums fault, she didnt know the puppy got in and the puppy was just doing what puppies do but im glad it turned out ok. He has been with us for 17 years and it seemed too soon for him to go.

[joe01880]

You are lucky, VERY lucky. Its common sense not to allow a dog access to a pet bird or a bird access to a dog unless one or both are caged or crated at the time.
The bird is naturally scared of a dog, even a dog with alot of self control with regards to birds, a puppy has no self control and any dog if bitten will bite back out of instinct and your tiel could be killed in the blink of an eye. The dog(s) do not even have to bite the bird but only swat it with their paws and your baby could be badly injured or killed.
Regardless of who is watching your bird, mom, other family member or a friend if the home is not safe for your bird he should not be there, and if a dog got to him he is NOT safe!

[Courtzrocks]

As I said the dogs were outside and the latch on the dog door must have been broken, Daisy is usually on the verandah in his cage and the dogs have no access to him out there, it is like a mini avairy cos it is closed off. He is taken inside when the dogs are locked outside. If the grown dog happens to be inside when daisy it out we arent as concerned as he is scared of daisy but the puppy is our worry. My mum has mainly had him the whole time and this is the first time out of 17 years something like this has happened so considering that I think he had done ok for nothing else to have ever gone wrong. Because of this she is being extra cautious when taking him out.

The door has been replaced and an extra latch attached (I made sure she did cos i was angry too). I appreciate the concern and told mum that if she didnt keep the dogs out ill take him now but it has all been fixed and is doing fine. Also he is my bird but more so mum's as Daisy has chosen her as her favourite and would be kinda mean/heartbreaking to take him away. I thought by telling this it would make people more aware of the little accidents that happen so maybe this might not happen to anyone else. Thank you for your concern though.

[Pa. Nancy]

Kinda nasty there Joe.

I'll tell you about the close call I had last summer. I have 5 Tiels. They are here in the computer/bird/craft room with me. Sometimes they are out sometimes not. I own a Dachshund that is 8 years old.

I had been calling around all day looking for a part for a pump for my pond. I finally found a place. I was in such a hurry to go get the part, I forgot I had the birds out. When I got back an hour later, I opened the door from the basement to the kitchen. And standing right there was one of my birds. HORROR hit me, my blood ran cold. I thought OH NO!!! Well at least I have one bird left. I was afraid to walk into my room.

When I did walk in there was my Dachshund (the pic below) standing there will all these birds scattering about the floor. She looked up at me with a puzzled look on her face, as if to say: Mom just look at all these birds running around here, they don't belong here.

I tell you I was SO HAPPY. I rounded them up and I gave that dog so much praise, lovin, and biscuits. You could just tell she was so happy with what she had done. I had worked with her since we got the first bird (the one in the pic with her, they are buddies) Now I would never trust her completely of course. The one in the pic loves to ride on her back, and she likes it too, because she knows she will get a biscuit afterwards.

[Oviraptor]

What a close call indeed! You got your freebie!