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Don’t scrimp when choosing your bird’s home
By Pet Connection Staff
October 6, 2009
What’s the most important purchase any new parrot owner can make? A cage. From Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori in this week’s Pet Connection feature:
The cage is where your parrot will spend time when you’re not home, when the family is sleeping, or when you can’t pay attention to your pet.
The first rule of caging: Buy the biggest cage you can afford. Forget the generic categorizations you’ll find in pet stores. Those descriptions represent the minimum size to consider — a better bet is at least one size bigger. For a cockatiel, get a cage for a small parrot. The bigger, the better, always, as long as the bar spacing isn’t so big that your pet could escape.
Dimensions are important, too. Tall and narrow cages may look nice, but they force birds to fly more like a helicopter than in the style that comes naturally for them. Parrots like to fly horizontally as well as climb up and down in their cages, so a cage should be wide enough to accommodate both activities.
Metal is generally the best material for a cage. Wood is too hard to clean and usually won’t stand up to the abuse parrots can give out, and some manufacturers are experimenting with acrylics. But while these components can make attractive housing for your pet, they may not offer enough social interaction to keep a bird happy.
Do Dalmatians deserve their reputation as “hyper”? Gina says no, but that doesn’t mean they’re the right breed for everyone:
For an active family with time to train and exercise an active breed, a well-bred Dalmatian can be an excellent companion. If the breed’s a bad fit for your family — or if you get a dog from a source that doesn’t breed for good health and temperament — you’re in for trouble.
Remember that every breed is perfect for someone, and no breed is perfect for everyone. Even a well-bred Dalmatian is going to be too high-energy for many homes. These dogs were developed to run with carriages for hours, so it’s no surprise they’re going to be very unhappy without exercise. (On the plus side: They’re great companions for runners.) Unhappy high-energy dogs dig, bark, chew and generally drive their owners crazy.
Dalmatians also have a high potential for deafness and other health problems if the pup comes from a source looking to capitalize on the breed’s popularity, which rises every time the Dalmatian gets another burst of movie-related publicity. The Dalmatian is indeed a breed to investigate thoroughly before adopting — but honestly, aren’t they all?
For more information, visit the Web site of the Dalmatian Club of America.
Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week, or see it just how we send it to our client newspapers in this PDF file.
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Dalmatians have more endurance than virtually any other breed I know. The one I knew very well could wear out a field-line golden retriever when they played together, which is saying a lot!
The ones I’ve been around have been very hard to focus.
I know Dalmatian people get their dander up when I say these things, but let’s be honest, this dog is meant to go all day and look good while doing it.
Comment by retrieverman — October 7, 2009 @ 8:31 am
Speaking of Dalmatians . . .
http://apnews.excite.com/artic.....BD5G0.html
Comment by straybaby — October 7, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
The Dalmatian road dog trial calls for the dog to keep up with a rider on horseback for 12.5 miles in under 3 hours; for the road dog excellent title, it’s 25 miles in under 6 hours.
Comment by Kim Thornton — October 7, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
Kim,
One thing nice about a Dal is, if you walk out for a few miles at a good clip, you know they can make it back home :) I can do a rousing game of fetch with mine for 15-30 min’s (and other play) in the park and then set off on a well paced walk for a couple miles. Right now in the fall weather, that suits me just fine! My girl doesn’t like high humidity or extreme cold (zero wind chills), so we get on well in the NY winter and summers. I’ll be moving to the mountains within the next year and I want to learn how to ride properly. I can’t think of anything that sounds more enjoyable than cruising around the mountain with my Dal along side. But until we get there with the horses, it will be hiking, rivers and lakes for daily walks.
And if anyone is curious, yes, they can be apt dogs just like any other active dog. Ya just gotta get them outside. I have about a dozen Dals in my ‘hood and many other active breeds/mixed breeds. Just make sure you have a sense of humor if you want to be a Dal owner ;)
Comment by straybaby — October 7, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
The bigger, the better, always, as long as the bar spacing isn’t so big that your pet could escape.
I would be more comfortable if this also clarified that the bar spacing should be close enough to keep the bird from being able to force his head between them and potentially being garotted as a result.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 7, 2009 @ 8:15 pm