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View Full Version : Things I've said to my bird (that I never expected to have to say)



froggij
09-30-2014, 06:37 PM
We've all had our birds do silly things, and some of us have aired out our birds' dirty laundry on the other threads, but what do we do when these things happen?

I don't know about you guys, but my birds are my children, so I've ended up saying more to them than I ever expected during these crazy situations.

Most of the time, I tell them how much I love them, and I ask them to stop doing things, but there are some things we only expect to tell other humans that end up sounding really weird when taken out of context and realize we're saying to birds.

For example: I just had to tell Orsino to move his big fat butt (it's not big, or fat, it's really cute! but it was in my way). And "don't put that in my ear please" is a common one - usually referring to crest feathers. There's also been the (very empty) threat of taking them to the pet store and leaving them on occasion, but they see right through that and don't take it personally, some days they seem to feel the same way about me. I've called them cannibals for eating chicken off of my plate, little scavengers. You can often hear me saying "hey, that's not yours, put it down" or "did I say that was yours? I don't remember saying that belonged to you, so why don't you drop it?" or "stop touching that, it's not yours." And my favorite: "if you don't stop that I'm going to fry you up for dinner. I'm sure you'll taste just like chicken." Orsino openly smiles at me for saying that one, he knows better. He seems to think "chicken, yum! When are we having chicken? I want to steal some off your plate..." My little characters cause me so much joy, but they can be handfuls at times.

Lady
10-01-2014, 02:59 AM
Well Jen, at least most of us have learned not to say things we would be embarrassed about them repeating. I often tell Lady to calm down when she is too loud because I wouldn't want her to tell me to be quiet.

PlaxMacaws
10-01-2014, 03:13 PM
Hey Jen... I can relate to much of what you've described. I'm often telling Maynard to move his butt, since he persists to be in the way when I'm dealing with his food and water bowls and their contents. In contrast with your "big fat butt" remarks to Orsino, I've been known to tell Maynard to move his "little tapered green butt" instead ;). It's funny, my guys never seem to pick up the things I don't want them to repeat. I'm not sure why. Maybe I've simply been lucky so far :)

froggij
10-01-2014, 07:14 PM
Yes, I think Rose told Dori to "hush it" the other day so we're trying not to say those things and hoping she forgets them. Lucky you if they never pick those things up! Especially with the more vocal parrots you have.

On a side note, I got Rose from a teenager who obviously talked on the phone a lot, because every time Rose hears a phone ring, whether it's in the apartment or not, she starts talking like she's on the phone. "Hello? yes? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. No. Yes. No. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I dunno. What the heck? Uh-huh. Hello? Hello? Okay, bye." She was just doing that and I told her she was going to run the cell phone bill up if she talked on it all day ;)

Robyn
10-02-2014, 12:21 AM
I talk to my dog a lot worse than the bird. Even though my dog is INCREDIBLY smart his nickname is caption stupid. Some of examples of his intellegence include him figuring out how to get out of 2 different style crates (which is why both his crate and Rileys cage have pad locks on everydoor), At 3 months old which is when I got him he knew sit, down, stay, speak, kisses, heel, high five, shake and touch. I only taught him heel (unlike most puppies he didn't pull on the leash I had to drop treats along our pathway so he would actually walk otherwise I'd almost have to drag him to get him to walk), high five and touch (I hold my hand out flat and he has to touch it upside down). One week after I got him is the first time he got out of the crate but I just figured that I hadn't closed it properly due to bleeding everywhere (it's when I cut my finger on a can of dog food and had to get five stitches. The worse I say to Riley is stop being a pain in the butt (feel free to substitute a different word), or You can't have those yet there not ready (refering to sprouts when I'm doing dishes she sees them and wants to eat them right away), or If you don't stop biting your going to be caged for all eternity. The only place she bites is my lips which I am slowly breaking her of.

Mare
10-02-2014, 07:31 PM
"I love you, with ALL my heart". That was a shocker for me, how quickly they could burrow into my heart and take hold.

froggij
10-03-2014, 01:14 AM
And here's tonight's little gem: "Will you please quit barking? You're NOT a dog!"