Building a 'Safe House'

[Kiishka]

I'm wanting to begin building an aviary for my birds in the near future. I'm sure glad I didn't build my previous plans- I'd have dead birds and a destroyed aviary by now. Has anyone ever had to contend with extremely prey-driven dogs? How do you keep them safe if room separation isn't an option? I thought the rescued hunting-trained bird dogs were had, but now we have a Dutch Shepherd detection K9 who is certain death to anything prey-like (cats, birds, etc), and is immensely athletic to boot. Has anyone ever made one that hangs on a wall? Do you have pictures or ideas? I hate having them in their tiny retrofitted cage, but I want them to be safe- I've already lost an escapee to her earlier this year, and I was heartbroken.

[Rox]

The only thing I can think of for an over zealous dog like yours would be to put an electric fence around the perimeter of the aviary.

Good luck!

[Learning Finch]

yep.. dog needs to know whos boss. Even a shock collor if needbee. if the dog like to be indoors then put him outside everytime he nudges the cage. he will learn of be an out door dog. you may have to decide what you want... you cant have destructive animals if you want others.

[Colt]

Are you wanting an aviary outside or inside? After reading the posts I wasn't sure exactly where you wanted it at.

poohbear designed and built some pretty large flight cages. Not an "aviary" since you can't walk in it, but something like this can definitely be up off the floor. http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27454

As far as dogs with high prey drive, with the training your dog received on top of what she was bred for (herding) it's pretty much a given that she's going to be a P.I.T.A. when it comes to little things moving rapidly. My old bosses had a Belgium Malamute. We called her the malligator. She was a beast. With really firm training (it doesn't really have to do with showing the dog who's boss, just getting her to respond positively to training) you might get pass some of it, but don't really expect personality change. It won't happen. Especially since former training built on what was already there.

Shock collars can be effective training tools. If you use it, don't play with it. Just go to the highest level. I've seen a lot of people with determined dogs build up the level of shock slowly until it doesn't phase the dog. German pinch collars can be effective when she is on a leash. If the aviary is outside a hot wire 6-8 inches off the ground and another about 24-36 (depending on the height of the dog) can prevent her from going through the aviary wire. you could also bury an inground pet fence several feet outside of the aviary and teach her not to approach it.

Here is the website for Tyler Obedience Training Club or TOTC. There is a contact section. I'm not sure if you can get in touch with my old boss through that (who has the malamute) but you might addressing the email to Dave Visniscki. Hopefully they will pass it along and he could help you with some ideas. (He's also on Facebook.)

[Ria]

How do you keep her away from the birds right now?

[mayble]

Plexiglass.

[Zebrafincher]

I always presume dogs (and cats) and birds NEVER mix well! I know some people have done it (ie budgies and dogs) but dogs and cats are designed to kill small squeaky things, whether birds or mice, unfortunately.

[Kiishka]

I'm hoping for an indoor aviary or flight cage. Right now she's kept away by the fact that the cage is hung 5 feet off the ground from the ceiling >.< she lurks under it and loves to eat their feathers and dropped seed. She's a 2 year old Dutch Shepherd, and is in high-intensity training to be a detection K9 which does nothing but build her prey drive.

I'm actually a trainer, have been for over a decade now (I'm training her in Accelerant Detection, my boyfriend is a fire investigator and is her handler). I have used an e collar on her to allow her to be around a cat (she quivered with predatory rage as it rubbed all over her face, but wouldn't bite it- she understands the collar), but if the collar is off or if our eyes aren't on her constantly, it's murder time. If the birds are fairly high off the ground, she shouldn't bother them- she's already used to them being high up, and she doesn't try to rip the cage down or otherwise get to them. As far as plexi-glass goes- would they get enough air flow with 3 solid sides and a wire top, or would they need at least one wire side for proper air flow?

I really just didn't know if anyone had seen or built a true wall-mount system, rather than a ground level or base-mounted system. Thanks for all the feedback!

[wilkifam]

We have 4 dogs. 2 German Shepherds, 1 papillion/beagle cross (he is the worst when it comes to birds. Got one of my OC Waxbills last year), and a MinPin, who we also do not trust near the birds. The German Shepherds do not bother the birds at all, although we do not deliberately leave them alone in the room with our parrots. Pete went into the living room yesterday to find the two GSD's and Nzinga (african Gray) all co-existing happily together on the floor. (Nzinga had escaped from her cage).

[Nerien]

Build a second layer of cage/wire several inches outside of the bird cage, so that the dog cannot get to the cage itself. You could use chicken wire or something stronger, build the frame/cage strong enough to resist the dog trying to get through it. A bit of electric fence wire might also be necessary if he won't readily accept training that tells him not to attack the cage.