(This is iila izii-bloo (pronounced: ee-lah [lenni lenape for warrior] is he blue). iila is a blue headed pionus parrot born in 2001. Sometimes I call him "Corally Bill" as his beak has coral coloring on it.)
( This is Talon TallBird, a sun conure parrot. She was born in the spring of 2000 and is my first parrot.)
The PACK
9 October 2006, This is a new chapter that I just thought to add as the pack dynamics are very interesting. I will try to recall some of them to catch me up to the present date.
Cally immediately took over the role of "mother" and "teacher" of little Whisp. Rain really wanted to play with Whisp but didn't quite know how to do that. I feared for Whisp's safety when Rain stamped her foot trying to get Whispy to play with her and had Rain get up on the couch and just watch Cally and Whisp.
SmokeyHaze, about 2 weeks after Whisp arrived, got up the nerve to interact with Whisp for the first time while Whisp was playing by herself. He got off the couch and took away the little stuffed toy that Whisp was playing with and began shaking the toy while Whisp stood there and watched. Rain, overseeing the whole event, carefully got off the couch and took the toy right out of Smokey's mouth then dropped it in front of Whisp, then turned and gave Smokey "the eye". Smokey retreated to the upper back of the couch from whence he'd come and Rain settled herself back in her spot on the couch to watch Whisp play with the stuffed toy.
Whisp thinks all the stuffed toys are hers, no matter the size. When she is finished playing or is tired she will bring all the stuffed toys to Rain's dog bed and pile them around her, falling asleep in the middle of the heap.
The other day Lily was standing on the floor and Whisp decided to try to play with her. This was a first for both and Lily didn't want any of it. Whisp ran past her (she runs so fast she is just a blur) not touching her and Lily snarked as Whisp whipped by. Then Whisp spun around and ran past Lily again this time racing thru the kitchen, down the hallway and back into the living room past Lily who again snarked as Whisp whipped by. This went on for about 5-6 passes before Cally got off the couch and stepped between Lily and Whisp. As Whips streaked by Cally, Lily snarked and Cally turned and snarked at Lily. Whisp spun around and whipped past Cally and this time Cally took off after her and the chase was on. Cally and Whisp played chase for a bit and then wrestled with a few of the stuffed toys before Cally tuckered out and retreated for the safety and comfort of the couch.
iila izii-bloo (pronounced: ee-lah is he blue) the blue headed pionus parrot has begun to mimic Whisp's tiny whimpers that he hears when Whisp is on my bed and can't get off...as Whisp calls to me to help her down. iila barks like my min pin SnapDragon who crossed the rainbow bridge back in 2004 and who illa really liked and missed terribly...the barking iila does is really loud and rather obnoxious. When he doesn't quiet when asked I cover his acrylic house for a time out. iila has taken up making tiny whimpering sounds like Whisp, pleading to be uncovered. iila loves Whisp.
Meals for the dogs are all served in the living room so that I can sit on the couch overseeing the dogs. None of the dogs growl at each other when eating, none of the dogs try to steal food from one another. When treats are being given out all the dogs sit quietly waiting for their treat and I give them out in a specific order. There is no pushing or shoving, no grabbing of a treat that has fallen on the floor from the recipient's missed catch. The dogs all mind their manners and wait their turns. Lily had to learn that snarking is not tolerated around any food items be they hers or mine or any of the others. Begging is not permitted at all. Having established rules for the pack it is very easy for Whisp to learn what is and is not alright when it comes to her food and my food. Lily brought with her some pretty bad habits and they are being extinguished...Lily had not learned never bite humans as well as begging and food guarding - she is a smart dog and is learning new ways, my way of the pack.
Okay, I can hear some of you asking "why do you oversee your dogs meals?" The answer is in part because I am the leader and it is my job to see that they eat what they are served in less than 15 minutes. As my dogs meals are specific to the dog and all measured specific to each dog I can see how each appetite is, how fast each is eating or not eating and what if any food is left as this can be a early indicator of one not feeling well or in the case of Whisp having a growth spurt and needing more food. For example, when Rain was a baby and growing into her body she was fed 5 times a day with snacks. My dogs are fed 2 times a day, breakfast and dinner plus a mid day and 2 hours before bed time snack of healthy fresh fruit or fresh veggie snack ...except Whisp who gets three meals a day plus the snacks and part of each of her meals and snacks are used as training treats.
Having a pack of such varying sizes (90#s down to not even 2#s) and varying ages (baby Whisp of 19 weeks old to senior Lily at nearly 12 years old) one must maintain order thru fair and consistent rules. It is much easier to establish a new behavior than to undo/retrain bad behavior and overseeing the dogs meals is part of maintaining good behavior.
Rain, as a working mobility Service Dog needs her meals on schedule as well as her toileting so that she doesn't have accidents or need to go out to relieve herself while in a meeting or other inconvenient time. Additionally with Rain being out and about with me I think it is important that she doesn't get a "big head" and think that she is special. I set the rules, Cally is my enforcer and the rest need to follow, and they do follow very well and the pack lives in harmony.
Lily brought with her some pretty bad habits and I am in the process of extinguishing them. Lily had not been taught not to ever bite human skin nor was she taught that begging and food guarding are not good and that snarking doesn't bring good responses. I don't want Whisp to pick of any of these behaviors from Lily.
A few weeks ago Lily and Cally "got into it" with each other in the kitchen out of my view. There was a lot of noise and when they returned to the living room it was obvious both their "noses were out of joint." Then following day I heard a similar row in the kitchen and this time I went to check it out. Lily and Cally were posturing and making lots of noise, there was some biting though not of a severe nature as it didn't draw blood. Cally and Lily are of the same weight and similar size. I know that Cally has never been in a true "dog fight" but I am not sure about Lily's past fighting.
My thought was that Lily was vying for the higher position. I watched silently until I saw Lily back down and then I said "all right girls, knock it off." They both looked at me and headed for the living room, Cally in the lead and Lily following behind. They had worked it out themselves and I didn't support either one of them thus agreeing with their decision. Since that day there have been no other challenges from Lily toward any of the dogs and Cally has maintained her position in my pack.
14 October 2006, Lily is learning from Rain. The little dogs all go outside first and I typically leave Rain in the heated part of the house, the laundry room, so that when the little dogs come in I don't have to worry that Rain might accidentally step on one of them. After I let them all back into the heated part of the house via the laundry room, Rain is then permitted to go outside running to the patio door and sitting nicely waiting for me to open it for her.
When Rain comes back in and I open the steel door Lily has been standing there in the laundry room and snarks at Rain as she comes into the house. Rain has never responded to Lily's snarking and looks down at her as if she is just a rude little dog...until recently. When Rain came in from outside on her way thru the kitchen with Lily snarking at her Rain side stepped the other little dogs, as usual and then stepped over Lily with her front feet and then dragging her back feet which rolled Lily over. After being rolled over several times by Rain, Lily has stopped not only trying to block Rain but is no longer snarking at her, proof that Lily can learn new behaviors.
29 October 2006, I can't recall when I stopped supervising Rain's general movement around Whisp, it must be many weeks now. Whisp has learned to side step Rain or just stop and stand still and Rain goes speeding by on the way outside or back inside. Rain hasn't even bumped little Whisp so I know that she is paying attention to where the puppy is in relation to her big feet. The other day Rain initiated play with Whisp while Whisp was on the couch. Rain got one of the soft toys and offered it to Whisp. When Whisp took hold she shook her head and Rain let go of the toy. Rain watched for a little bit then took hold of the toy again and Whisp began pulling backwards and growling in play. I kind of expected Rain to yank the toy as she had done one time while Whisp had a hold of it and Whisp flew off the couch still hanging onto the toy - I managed to grab Whisp before she let go or fell to the floor. Rain just hung on to the toy giving some resistance to Whisp's pulling and they played like that for about 10 minutes or so. Sometimes Rain would let go so Whisp to shake the toy hard and vigorously then she would take hold again. I think that Rain had learned from watching the way Cally played with Whisp or maybe Rain realized that she is bigger than little Whisp....keep in mind that Rain was raised by a Chihuahua, lives with Chihuahuas and thinks she is a Chihuahua albeit a 90# Chihuahua. LOL!
22 November 2006 This week Whisp alerted for the first time. We were in the kitchen and she noticed something in the back yard. Rather than bark Whisp said BUFF BUFF BUFF about as loud as a loud whisper. I looked to see what she was Buffing at, none of the other dogs were present at the time, and as soon as I looked her job was finished. The other evening while we were watching TV Whisp buffed a couple of times and Cally ran to see what it was Whisp was buffing at. By Cally's body language I think she thought Whisp was alerting to a mouse...no mouse, thank heaven. As soon as Cally responded to Whisp's buffing, Whisp stopped. None of my dogs have ever done this before and I think it is rather neat. Whisp, not sure of what she is seeing or hearing, buffing to get our attention to come check it out. Oh that is so much nicer than just barking. What a smart little girl.
17 December 2006 Lily is doing much better with the pack now. She will lie on the couch next to Cally and she recently raced up and down the switchback trying to get Whisp to play "chase" this is a big change for this old dog. Her snarking at Rain as she heads outside has increased though and I need to work harder at getting her to stop it.
13 January 2007 Lily nearly died tonight. One of the things my dogs have learned is that when they need help they come to me, times like when they are choking, vomiting or need their rears cleaned off after "incomplete" toileting. Lily hasn't learned this lesson and it nearly cost her her life tonight.
I had cooked some stew meat and was in the process of giving each of the dogs, in pack order, some of the meat. All the dogs had had several pieces, sized for each dog. I tossed Rain a piece and just then Lily leaped off the couch onto the footstool and launched herself at Rain. Rain missed the catch as she moved to get out of Lily's way and Lily snatched up Rain's piece of meat gulping it greedily down. As the piece of meat was sized for Rain, Lily began to choke and move away from me. I called to her and she fell on her side and started thrashing around. I moved as quickly as I could to get to Lily to help her but she struggled to her feet before I could reach her and made it behind the wheelchair parked in the dining room. I went right over there and saw her on her side again thrashing around. I tried to move the wheelchair but was having difficulty as I had put all of Rain's stuff, her soft harness and collar and leash and winter coat as well as my keys and winter clothes on its seat. Lily stopped thrashing and I saw that she had managed to clear her own airway by finally swallowing the big piece of meat. As she still did not come when I called I went back to what I was doing and eventually she came out and went right into her crate. I hope she learned her lesson - don't steal food as it might be too big to swallow - unfortunately I am sure that that lesson escaped her. This is sad as her running away when she needed help could have killed her. Even little Whisp, although she has never choked on anything, comes when she needs me to clean her rear.
I am thankful that Lily didn't die as a result of her greed.
19 January 2007 A break thru!!
Lily, the elderly Chihuahua rescue has had a real break thru. Lily came to live with us on 17 September 2006. She came from a home with out a pack - her elderly chihuahua housemate had died 6 years earlier leaving her the sole pet, and no rules of any kind. It has been hard on all of us, including Lily. Lily at first "went" after me with her teeth when I had verbally reprimanded her and that got straightened out in a hurry. Lily snarked at all of the dogs at first but finally was only snarking at Rain in addition to leaping up and trying to bit Rain in the throat as she would pass in front of Rain on the way in or out of the doorway.
For the last couple of nights, when bringing out the dogs dinner, Lily has not snarked nor leapt up to try to bite Rain. Whew! and WOW!!
Today Lily began to follow me around, wagging her tail - a first!! She looked happy, for the first time, her body language was relaxed and there as been absolutely no snarking at all. Lily has come up on the couch to join in with the other dogs as I shared a treat and she quietly waited her turn and took her treat from me gently - another first!! She has figured out that there is a pack order and she will get her treat in that order she just has to wait her turn.
I didn't think that this day would ever come. Lily seems to have accepted this pack and me as the leader and wants to join into the activities of the pack. I hope she will begin to play with some of the stuffed toys, and then I hope she will begin to play with her other pack mates.
Rain, as Lily went by her, put her mouth over Lily's shoulders and there was absolutely no response from Lily - yet another first!! Through watching Rain's intereactions with the other dogs I think that Lily has seen that Rain is very gentle and really loves her dogs. Rain loves to groom SmokeyHaze, Cally and Whisp. Who knows, maybe Rain will one day groom Lily.
26 September 2007
The dynamics of my pack changed unexpectedly, Talon TallBird crossed the Rainbow Bridge very unexpectedly due to a freak accident. When I uncovered her acrylic house to begin the morning on Monday, 24Sept2007, I saw immediately that she was ill and not behaving as her normal self. I found an egg hidden under the paper toweling on the bottom of her house and thinking she was egg bound rushed her to her Avian vet.
Talon's vet took x-rays and there was a haziness in her lower abdomen and the barium swallow showed a slowing in her stomach. Talon's blood counts were awful too, white cell counts very high and red cell counts extremely low. Her vet felt that Talon might have egg paratinitis and that there must be internal bleeding going on. It was touch and go all night and I didn't sleep, expecting to get a call from the vet at any moment.
Tuesday I packed Talon's favorite dried fruits and nuts and went to visit. I stayed several hours and Talon ate and drank and she snuggled in my hands against my chest. That evening when the vet called she said that my visit had done Talon a lot of good as she had had more to eat after I had left and looked happier.
Wednesday morning the vet called to report that Talon was very depressed and that her red cell count had continued to fall. There still was no blood on her vent nor in her stools but the internal bleeding was continuing. I told the vet I would be there between 1030-11A to spend time with Talon. I selected more of Talon's favorite dried fruits and nuts, which I knew she would find tempting and yummy, almost hearing the lip...er...beak smacking sounds she made when she spied her favorite food items. At 930A I got a call from the vet clinic telling me to come right away, which I did of course. When I got there Talon was still able to sit on her incubator perch but now she was also resting on her keel (breast bone) with her wings out stretched down on the perch for balance. Talon was dying.
I held Talon for 4 hours, singing softly and talking to her comfortingly. She snuggled against my chest, eating very tiny pieces of her favorite dried fruits and nuts from the dish I held up close to her beak as she was unable to hold food in her foot. Her energy level was so low that she would fall asleep while eating. She tried to preen my neck which was within her beak reach and she even ground her beak which is something a parrot does when very content, a heart wrenching bittersweet sound to hear from my little twitter bird. The prognosis was dismal and I held Talon as she flew across the Rainbow Bridge.
Thursday Talon's Avian vet called with the results of the necropsy. Talon had apparently ingested a 1" or less piece of cotton thread, from one of her cotton ropes, that had a tiny knot in it. The thread didn't pass thru her digestive tract as it should have and got "hung up" allowing the knot to rub causing a bleeding ulcer with perforation that allowed food and blood to fall into her abdomen.
I have had time to reflect on what place Talon had in my pack/her flock. When Talon joined our family back in 2000, DuskyHaze was my "watch dog" who would alert when someone came up the sidewalk to the house or just before they rang the bell. DuskyHaze would lie for hours on end watching out the window, glass storm door or the peep hole just waiting for someone to come up my walk. It didn't take long for Talon to take over that job, as a sental bird that Conures are....Talon was a natural! She also had an excellent vantage point from the front window in her acrylic house. Unlike her real Conure relatives, Talon didn't scream out a warning when someone approached the front door or crossed the yard. Talon had figured out that the front door went Beep Beep Beep when I opened it and that was all she needed to say to let me know someone was out there. DuskyHaze soon learned that when Talon said, "Beep Beep Beep," that that was the time that she, DuskyHaze, was now supposed to do her alert bark and so DuskyHaze left the actual watching up to Talon.
Sometimes when the house was quiet and nothing was going on Talon would like to liven it up by saying, "Beep Beep Beep," and getting all the dogs barking as they didn't expect that Talon was lying....silly dogs! They fell for it every time. And every time they fell for it Talon would laugh at them.
When Talon was young she spent lots of time watching her dog pack and seemed to like SmokeyHaze the best. SmokeyHaze had discovered that he wasn't smart enough to use his feet to hold food items so he would place his dog bones or chewies on the foot stool and he would let the foot stool hold them for him as he chewed. One day Talon decided to find a flat surface in her house and she set her walnut on it and tried to eat it without using her foot. Of course the walnut immediately fell to the bottom of her house. Talon walked on down her perches to retrieve the fallen walnut and climbed back up to set it on the flat surface again and again try to eat it without using her foot. She spent hours every day for many days trying to eat this way. All that walking was very good exercise, a fine way to work up a good appetite too! Talon was a very silly bird.
Unlike the reputation of Conures being boisterous or screamers, Talon was a very quiet girl. She was not a screamer which I greatly appreciated...the barking Pionus, iila, is more than enough for me as far as "unnecessary" noise volume.
Talon had a couple of songs, "her songs" that I sang and she "danced" to them by being a one sided metronome or bobbing her head in time with the beat. Talon would laugh in specific spots in the songs, as well as at the end, each and every time.
Bath time was a wonderful time that Talon really enjoyed. I sang her "rub a dub dub" song as I got everything ready and when I would go to her house to step her up, Talon was all fluffy and would almost leap onto my extended finger. When my health wouldn't allow me to give her a bath in the sink or a fine spray down in her play tree, I would put a dish of clean water in her house and just sing the song. Talon would happily perch on the lip of the dish and bathe herself.
Talon loved her time out on her manzanita play tree with its cotton rope perches, toys hung by leather thongs and plastic large link chains. One day Talon untied one of her toys and spent time just playing with the remaining thong that was securely still attached to the play tree. The following day Talon figured out that she could swing on that leather thong and even swing upside down. Then she figured out how to hang upside down at the top of the leather thong and release her foot hold, grabbing the leather thong right at the very end. I was shocked when I saw her doing this and scolded her by telling her that she was being foolish and might just fall on the floor. Of course Talon continued to do this little trick until she missed grabbing the end of the leather thong and did fall on the floor. She stood there indignantly looking up at the play tree until I reached my hand down and asked her to "beak up". I never saw Talon do that trick again...though she may have spared me by doing it when I was out of the room.
Some days Talon would sit for hours in her play tree, which is close to the front living room window, watching the wild birds (sparrows and cardinals) flitting about in the over grown Japanese Yew just inches from her face. She also loved to watch the rain drops, water drops from the sprinkler or the big fluffy white flakes of snow in the Yew. Sometimes Talon would laugh with glee, her face all aglow, eyes twinkling just watching things outside her window.
What I miss most now are the spontaneous kisses she gave. My little twitter bird. I miss her so much.
Talon's house has been covered since Monday night and my household has not been the same. The dogs all seem out of sorts not only during the day but also during the night. This pack has changed and we are all trying to get used to life without Talon TallBird.
Introducing Whispy's new little brother - Twig!
"Twig" is going to be Whispy's new little brother. Twig's mother, Brandy, is Whispy's grandmother. This photo was taken 3Nov200
Photo taken 3Nov2007
Photo taken 27Oct2007
Photo taken 27Oct2007 (delta, bravo and alpha [Twig])
Brandy with her new puppies, born 6Sept2007
Twig will be coming home to live with us on 10Dec2007 and we are very excited!
10 December 2007Twig IS HOME!!
11 December 2007 Twig checking things out in his new home.
Twig walking along Rain's side, beside Whispy and SmokeyHaze.
Twig getting to know Rain as Whispy watches.
16 July 2008
Introducing Twig's Sister - Pinch of StarDust "Pin"
Pinch of StarDust "Pin", Twig's littermate
Pin running!Twig's litter mate/sister has joined the family. In the photos of Twig as a baby, the puppy labeled "delta" is this sister.
When Twig's litter was born I picked "delta" as I have a thing for female smooth coat Chihuahuas. As the puppies grew I began to have second thoughts and in talking with their breeder I changed my mind and took Twig instead. He is doing very well in all of his formal training and he loves agility.
Recently I became aware that "delta", now known by two other names, had again become available. Her breeder said she would be thrilled if Francine, as she was being called, could come to live with me. So on 16July2008, Whispy, Twig and I made the trip to get Pin. I am so happy that I did. Pin is a wonderful little girl, very much a sweetie like Whispy.
Though Pin hasn't been here long, she has accompanied Whispy and then Twig to their Agility classes. She also got to meet Lily...who passed away today 24July2008. I hope to get into formal classes with Pin soon.
