# Average time out of cage per day?



## wandalee (Feb 17, 2013)

I'm reading that a lot of people give their birds a lot of time out of the cage. I bought my tiel as a friend for me, and I'm all for lots of time out of the cage (once he's tame) but I'm realizing I haven't put much thought into that! As I have an inside dog (that wants to eat Jeordie) I'm finding I'm not having him out of the cage as much as I want to! I'd love for him to hang out on the couch with me of an evening etc.. but that's what my dog does lol ..so I don't see that happening :/

So basically, I'm wondering how many hours a day do most of you let your birds out?


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## Miki (Feb 9, 2013)

You should be able to very quickly train your dog to be around your bird (always closely supervised). We did when I lived at home with my bird and my mom's dog. We sprayed the dog with a water gun everytime she got inapropriate with the bird and praised when she ignored or friendly sniffed the bird.


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## urbandecayno5 (Oct 24, 2012)

I have one dog that doesn't care about the bird and one dog that would kill it..i personally don't think its that easy to train a dog to not go after the bird especially if it has a high prey drive

My tiel is out 7-8 hours a day..my dads retired so hes in there with her when I'm not...she's in a separate room from my dogs and they aren't allowed in when she's out..better safe then sorry


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## Cybird (Feb 13, 2013)

I wish I could say I had that problem. but I can't. cause I don't. Our dog is scared to death of minion. Lord knows why.
time wise I take him out a couple hours a day. (I never keep track though) I'd say probably 3-4 hours a day.


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## cheery (Nov 15, 2012)

Oscar is out 2 hours in a morning and 5-6 hours at night. He's started calling us if he isn't out now the lighter mornings are here. It was never a problem for Beauty because he couldn't fly so his cage was open permanently and he just went in for food. However, if he thought you should be up he would walk to the bottom of the stairs and whistle you. Very depressing on a Sunday morning!


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I get my tiel out for about an hour before I leave for work. Then he's out with me from the time I get home from work until his bedtime. Sometimes my fiance can get him out for awhile in the afternoon. So he's out probably 3-6 hours a day during the week and then probably 8-10 a day on the weekends.


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## Charlie's Mom (Jan 16, 2013)

urbandecayno5 said:


> I have one dog that doesn't care about the bird and one dog that would kill it..i personally don't think its that easy to train a dog to not go after the bird especially if it has a high prey drive
> 
> My tiel is out 7-8 hours a day..my dads retired so hes in there with her when I'm not...she's in a separate room from my dogs and they aren't allowed in when she's out..better safe then sorry


I agree, I have a dog that loves my chickens and although I do not think my dog would hurt my bird on purpose just his size alone would make me think. the bird flew out once and the dog ran and stepped on his tail.
It is not going to be easy training him at all...
You cannot get a dog to reason.


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## Loopy Lou (Jul 26, 2012)

My tiels cage is open pretty much all day. The only time i close it is bedtime and if i have to go out or for a sleep.


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## Charlie's Mom (Jan 16, 2013)

wandalee said:


> I'm reading that a lot of people give their birds a lot of time out of the cage. I bought my tiel as a friend for me, and I'm all for lots of time out of the cage (once he's tame) but I'm realizing I haven't put much thought into that! As I have an inside dog (that wants to eat Jeordie) I'm finding I'm not having him out of the cage as much as I want to! I'd love for him to hang out on the couch with me of an evening etc.. but that's what my dog does lol ..so I don't see that happening :/
> 
> So basically, I'm wondering how many hours a day do most of you let your birds out?


I have the same problem you do, but my boy is trained and will stay very close. I take him out when the dog goes out for about 15 minutes at a time in the morning and then in the afternoon. 
When it gets warm I will be able to have him out longer,
I do, however have a solution for me it may help you.

I am going to set up a nice gym for my bird in my bedroom and let him there while I do things, or in my sewing room while I sew. This way he is out more.

My dog is 8 years old and very healthy but when he passes I am not getting another, it will be me and the bird alone..

I believe as long as your bird is near you all day in his cage and you talk to him he dies not really need that mush out of cage experience if you can’t give it.


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## klaire0178 (Feb 11, 2013)

Bobbi is shut away while I'm cooking, out or at bedtime. The rest of the time he's out, we have a small dog who is fine with him. Would never leave them alone together though


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## dshiro2012 (Feb 4, 2013)

I have a cat along with my 4 cockatiels. I end up putting her in another room and closing the door to let my birds out. I let them out for 1 hour or an hour and a half every night before bed-time, when my son goes to sleep so it's quiet and I can bond with them.  My cat used to be okay with the cockatiels, but she's recently discovered Pigeons nesting outside of our bedroom window and now thinks it fun to paw at the cage. My 'tiels of course just stare at her and walk up and down the front of the cage to tease her....Bad little 'tiels! LOL


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## wandalee (Feb 17, 2013)

Charlie's Mom said:


> I agree, I have a dog that loves my chickens and although I do not think my dog would hurt my bird on purpose just his size alone would make me think. the bird flew out once and the dog ran and stepped on his tail.
> It is not going to be easy training him at all...
> You cannot get a dog to reason.


I don't think it would be easy at all, either. Paulie is a mini foxy x jack russel. He's always been a bird chaser. He's ended up in the backyard twice by accident with our chooks, my hubby controlled him with his voice and he didn't hurt anyone. The chooks are big "birds" though so I'm not sure he's fully aware they are birds lol..

Paulie is so jealous! Every time I talk to Jeordie or whistle he runs over and jumps at the cage. Yesterday Jeordie was on the front wall with his tail feathers poking out and Paulie started munching on them 

I guess I just wanted to know that I'll still be able to train him to his full potential, without hours & hours out of the cage..

Thanks for your replies everyone


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## hanna (Apr 14, 2012)

When we are at home the cage door is open all the time, so Joe can go out and in how he likes it. Of course we can see him all the time, we put him back and close the door if we have to work in the garage or in the garden and have to go in and out all the time.
Atm Joe is hanging out with us in the Computer room, I got a playpan on the desk, with seeds, a mirror, a shiny creampot, some korks and straws.


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## Sapphire4373 (Feb 8, 2013)

My tiels are all the entire time I am home from when I get up in the morning around 7am until it gets dark out which right now here is around 5pm. 

I will have to find the pics of the birds just crawling all over my dog and he just laid their like a mama bird or something lol. I wouldn't say ALL dogs are easily trained, mine seemed to be. He became a hearder for me with the chicks all over the floor when I had 17 of them learning how to fly!

I also trained my cat when I got her 5 years ago..... NO BIRDS! She would try to sit up on the cage or chase them around if they flew around or were hanging out on the couch, but enough times of a firm NO BIRDS, now even she could care less.

Every animal is different, just like humans. Persistence pays off, keep working at it and it will happen. Your bird will be walking around on your dog in no time.


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

Normally my wifes alarm goes off around 6, by 7 she is headed to work and I'm headed to the bird room/office. Cage is uncovered, door opened.

Normally bedtime is 9:30-10:00 They are free between those times to go where they will. It is roughly a 10x12 room with a self closing door. They have an extensive play area next to their cage where they are encouraged to room, forage for seeds, climb, etc.

Keyboard mouse I tend to cover with a towel when I'm not in the room. Plus they have been trained that those area's are off limits. A small tube of packing tape will quickly teach them to stay off Monitors etc. Sticky, scary, unfun, but they don't step on it firmly enough to get really caught. (Best to monitor closely though at first)

I very much agree with Sapphire, training is possible. Consistency and persistence helps.


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## wandalee (Feb 17, 2013)

I will definitely give it a go, but I'm not really mad on giving him an 'opportunity' because it would only take one snap! And I love my new little friend already!


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I leave my tiels' door open all day, because they can be trusted to climb out and hang out on top of their cage and on their play stand/java tree only. They never get into trouble (not that there is much for them to get into in the bird room). I have cats, but the birds have their own room so it's not a worry for me. My tiels are terrified of my cats, so I can't even have them in the same room even if the tiels are securely in their cage.


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## Nokota (Jan 27, 2013)

Here is the solution to your problem!

If this worked for my Golden Retriever, a natural bird hunter who had already eaten a budgie whole once (as a puppy. He was a surprise Christmas gift from a friend of my dad's), it can work for any dog.

Get a block of foam about the size of your bird and sculpt it into a body and head, then get some cheap white craft feathers (not the fluffy kind, the solid kind) and stick them in it as if they were wings and tail. Rub this ALL OVER your birds toys, in his droppings, whatever. Make it smell like him. Then hang it from a piece of thread so you can dangle it in front of your dog. Try to make it as convincing as you can.

If you have a ceiling fan, hang the "bird" from that just above eye height of the dog, and then get out and air horn or other horribly loud device. (I used my trumpet)

Turn the ceiling fan on low.

Let the dog in the room.

HIDE

Any time the dog goes for the "bird" give it a blast of the horn. It won't take very long for him to get the idea.

This is the part most people don't like: Now that the dog is afraid of the "bird", we're going to chase him around with it. Yep.

Have some small treats in one hand, the "bird" dangling from the other, and have another person hidden from view with the loud noise maker. Chase the dog around the house with the bird, SLOWLY. Any attention shown to the "bird" as well as not moving away from the bird gets a horrible noise, whereas moving away from the "bird" willingly when chased gets him a treat.

The dog will begin to view the bird as a PREDATOR and not his prey.

The result? In one week, my dog Cooper, a bred foul hunting species, moves quickly away from the fake bird. He also avoids both of our birds when they are out, actively, and if I try to put one on his back, he freaks out and runs away ^_^ He is literally afraid of getting too close to the birds, though he tolerates them at a distance. He can even be left unsupervised with them and no ill ever comes of it, though don't expect this good a result in every case.

Although, he DID once eat our old budgie.

I hope my "stay away from birdie" training guide helps you, and good luck!


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

No matter how much you can trust them its still a big risk 

A while back some family dog attacked their 5 year old son and he was killed, they couldn't understand it as was a loving pet and had no problems before hand and was in the family for years.
The dog just snapped that day  

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2


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## Nokota (Jan 27, 2013)

lperry82 said:


> No matter how much you can trust them its still a big risk
> 
> A while back some family dog attacked their 5 year old son and he was killed, they couldn't understand it as was a loving pet and had no problems before hand and was in the family for years.
> The dog just snapped that day
> ...


That's a dog attacking a KID. something very unusual was obviously wrong with the dog and I don't think that that is really relevant here. SERIOUSLY wrong with that dog...


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## SunnyNShandy (May 24, 2012)

With all due respect, I dont approve of negative training techniques such as blowing horns or chasing your dog to fear a fake bird. I prefer positive clicker training and or being the adult/person in the matter and managing the situation. I do clicker training for all of my dogs and "click" the positive and ignore the negative. that being said, I would also never put my birds in danger with a questionable larger dog. My dogs are all used to birds and are tiny dogs tha cannot reach a cage or a bird in flight- but even so - the birds are safely caged and the dogs are not allowed in the living room when I am not home. The birds are out and about when I am home. 

You'll need to find a happy medium and see what works for you. I suggest teaching your dog "leave it" asap tho in a positive manner so any interest at all is met with disinterest if you see it.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

So, there can be anything wrong with any dog, just like the dog who attacked and killed the kid. Animals are natural predatory animals, and any of them can "snap" and eat our precious little birds regardless of how trained or scared they are of the birds. Do not underestimate what can happen when "sane" well-mannered dogs are allowed around they're natural prey animals.

I also don't condone negative reinforcement training. Use that fake bird and put the bird in front of your dog. Say "leave it" in a firm voice and then award a treat when he removes his nose or looks away from the bird. My dog knows this command so well that I can toss a handful of treats on the ground around him and he won't touch them until I tell him to..and all his training was done with positive reinforcement.


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## wandalee (Feb 17, 2013)

bjknight93 said:


> Use that fake bird and put the bird in front of your dog. Say "leave it" in a firm voice and then award a treat when he removes his nose or looks away from the bird.


This sounds like a good idea. I will have to start construction on a fake birdie 
For starters, I would be happy for my dog to learn to not not sook and carry on whenever I even speak to my bird! He so jealous.. any 'happy voice' he hears he thinks it should be directed at him lol 

I have lots of work cut out for me!









I had the chairs there to keep him away and found him like this.. not sure if he is making friends or waiting for dinner!!


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## Nokota (Jan 27, 2013)

SunnyNShandy said:


> With all due respect, I dont approve of negative training techniques such as blowing horns or chasing your dog to fear a fake bird. I prefer positive clicker training and or being the adult/person in the matter and managing the situation. I do clicker training for all of my dogs and "click" the positive and ignore the negative. that being said, I would also never put my birds in danger with a questionable larger dog. My dogs are all used to birds and are tiny dogs tha cannot reach a cage or a bird in flight- but even so - the birds are safely caged and the dogs are not allowed in the living room when I am not home. The birds are out and about when I am home.
> 
> You'll need to find a happy medium and see what works for you. I suggest teaching your dog "leave it" asap tho in a positive manner so any interest at all is met with disinterest if you see it.


The scare was only to get him to understand the idea. If you read the whole post, you'd know that treat training followed. Sometimes negative and positive reinforcement together work best and Cooper is NOT afraid of my bird, he just avoids him, nor do I let them out together when I'm not there.


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## Mysticone713 (Feb 15, 2013)

Jellybean hates being in his cage. So he is usually out of the cage about 8-12 hrs a day (from sun up to sun down).


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## Indigobug1987 (Feb 18, 2012)

Well if i'm home my birds are generally out of the cage. Unless i have company or were in and out of the house a lot. (my birds are not clipped) At least 2-3 uninterrupted hours of playtime a day, sometimes a lot more if its my day off.

I don't think its hard to train a dog to leave your birds alone. I have three pit bull terriers that are all cool with our tiels perching on them and grooming them. It wasn't easy to trust them at first but after a few supervised encounters they did fine. 

Now some dogs will try to prey on your birds. Whenever my dogs got that look in their eye they got told how bad they were, if they tried for my bird they got the snot beat outa them. I made them fear the birds then brought the bird back and praised them for just sniffing or ignoring the bird and it grew into mutual respect for them. (not all in one day of course, many days/weeks) All it takes is your authority over the dogs and their understanding that the bird is not to be preyed upon and its part of the family. That might sound mean but it works extremely well.


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## cheery (Nov 15, 2012)

Not sure I can agree with beating the snot out of them. I don't agree with any animal getting beat. I understand what your intentions were but quite certain the route you took should have been taken.


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