Wherein a Liar Nearly Has Us Sleeping In a Cardboard Box

[BlaqueKatt]

Parrots.

darnit, now I want a service/emotional support* crow


*other than the ones at work who know me as fewd bringer.

[jedimaster91]

I once had the honour of meeting a sulphur-crested cockatoo who was an absolute delight to be around. He had a huge vocabulary of phrases with which he would be part of the conversation of the humans he lived with, and anyone who visited them. He was delighted to be scritched by anyone his humans vouched for.

He was not a service animal, but knowing how dextrous a parrot can be with beak and claw, he could very easily perform tasks like flipping light switches, turning (modified) taps, holding vegetables still for a human to chop, (eating carrot tops), picking up light things from the floor....<snip>The training techniques are much the same as training an orphaned kitten or any dog.

Frankly I'm surprised there aren't more "service" parrots. With as intelligent as many of the larger birds are and their ability to somewhat understand human speech, I would think that would be invaluable to someone with a disability. Dogs are great and provide excellent care and service to their people. But a parrot could very easily be trained to not only go get a phone in the event of an emergency, but actually dial for help (a handset with large buttons would probably work better than a smartphone). They can be taught the owner's address and to say something along the lines of "fell down, need help."

The birds respond very well to clicker training, which is how most positive reinforcement trainers train dogs. So it's not too much of a leap from dog training to bird training. In fact, in order to obtain a CPDT license, the trainer has to train something other than a dog. Cats are a challenge. Parrots are easy.

The evil green thing that lives in my house would be a breed that's not good for this. He's wonderful and loving and kind towards exactly one person. Everybody else can go die in a fire, as far as he's concerned. He's a yellow-naped amazon, and is very much a one person bird. I'm currently nursing a pretty bad cut on my finger after he attacked me for the sin of giving him clean water.

My 'tiel is like that. He loves me. Everyone else he barely tolerates at best. Ideally, if one were to want to get a "service" bird, one would want a hand raised chick from a reputable breeder. Most birds do have their favorite hoomin (so do most dogs for that matter), but raised properly they can be friendly to other people as well.

darnit, now I want a service/emotional support* crow


*other than the ones at work who know me as fewd bringer.

That would be so awesome!

[KuariKaydrith]

My 'tiel is like that. He loves me. Everyone else he barely tolerates at best. Ideally, if one were to want to get a "service" bird, one would want a hand raised chick from a reputable breeder. Most birds do have their favorite hoomin (so do most dogs for that matter), but raised properly they can be friendly to other people as well.

I've got a parrotlet and he really doesn't like anybody but me. My son can't even go near his cage without the bird having a shit fit unless I'm in the room too. Napoleon is hand trained so he does spend a fair bit of time with his cage door open so he can come out - as long as I am in the vicinity, of course - but if he's even out perched on my head or one of the other cages (I have pet rats and a guinea pig) he will start squawking at my son and immediately head back into his own cage. I know that my son hasn't done anything to the bird - parrotlets are known to form tight bonds with their human and get all bitey with anybody else. The crazy bird sees me as his mate :/

[mathnerd]

The crazy bird sees me as his mate :/

This is exactly how Goofy sees my boyfriend, and he's very jealous if anybody else gives him attention. Heaven forbid I kiss bf in front of the bird. He goes nuts. Actually, I've been working pretty hard to get Goofy to at least tolerate me. We have good days and bad days. Some days I can give him scritches, but only if he's in his cage. I guess he feels safer behind bars. Sometimes I can get him to step up on a stick and take him out of his cage, but only if it's dinner time. Goofy likes to join the family for dinner, so if he's seen dinner go on the table (I have to pass the cage to get stuff from the kitchen to the dining room), he'll get on the stick for me, and sometimes he'll do so for my middle son. I'd just like to get to the point where he tolerates me enough that I can take over things like cleaning his cage out if bf is somehow unable to, or get him into his travel cage if there's an emergency and bf isn't around.

He was hatched and raised by a reputable breeder. Bf's BIL bought him as a chick, but when he hit adolescence, his temperament changed and he started attacking the BIL. BF took him and they bonded (BF is really good with birds). Apparently, this type of personality change is not abnormal in parrots. They are definitely interesting creatures.

[katzklaw]

... with an exception for (oddly enough) miniature horses.

there's a whole group of people dedicated to training miniature horses to be seeing eye guides. apparently they're just as good as dogs at the task, and live much longer (20-40 years instead of 12-15).

[Estil]

Our kitty and (and our dearly departed kitty before him *sniff*) is one of those emotional support animals too. Our first kitty Tweetie we got back in 2010, originally for my wife but of course she turned into a little daddy's girl. Sadly she passed away in 2012 and we soon afterwards got our current cat, Jamiee who is the most beautiful golden blonde color ever. And yes he too loves (or rather, is obsessed) with me and not wife (though any time a female visitor comes over he is very much a ladies' man hee hee); hee hee

But yes I know exactly how the OP feels (I hope the OP has kitties too! )...I'd just as soon live in a Dumpster (or one of those cheap imitation brands that Otto from the Simpsons had to sleep in) than give up my bestest friend in the whole world.

[WishfulSpirit]

We DO have cats. The dog we can talk our way by with, but kitties are harder to convince people about. Even if you have the paperwork from a psychologist in hand. Grumble. No way either species of fur babies is going away from us. They are in their forever home and will be with us until they cross the rainbow bridge.

[Estil]

I know your fur babies (mine is not a baby though (I do love to hold/carry him like one; hee hee), he's 28 in cat years, he's a man ) are your bestest buddies, best pals in the whole world right? I think most pet owners feel that way.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I know your fur babies (mine is not a baby though (I do love to hold/carry him like one; hee hee), he's 28 in cat years, he's a man ) are your bestest buddies, best pals in the whole world right? I think most pet owners feel that way.

I know I and my family do when it comes to our babies . . . both doggies and the kitties, so it would be all but impossible for us to have to give them up for any reason.

We're anxious for an update on this, so feel free to share more when you're ready.

[XCashier]

I once met a cat that was a service animal. Handsome and friendly red tabby owned by a diabetic man, the cat would alert the man if his blood sugar was changing in a bad way. (I guess it changes the person's scent?) I've even heard of snakes as service animals, same reason.

And hey, with free breakfast and no commute, that could even out the extra $5 you have to spend.

Oh, certainly. Think of the wear and tear you're not putting on your vehicle and the food you're not having to buy. You might even be coming out ahead.

I too hope things work out well for you.

[Estil]

Mind if I dispel a popular cat myth? See cats are allegedly independent creatures right? Then how come mine when I go to the local grocery store (about 10-15 min walk either way; we don't drive) kitty will wait right at the door in his loaf of bread position the whole time, and especially when he was younger would cry out for me? He even cries out for me when I just go into our basement!

[Lovecats]

We had a gentleman that would shop at the store where I worked with a (I think it was called) an African grey parrot on his shoulder. It was an emotional support bird. His picture made it on People of Walmart & I was going to comment on it in support but his daughter bear me to it. The last time I saw him in the store he didn't have his parrot. He told me she had died and he felt like he had lost his best friend. Made me cry. She was so sweet! She used to try to mimic the sound of the registers when they scanned.

[jedimaster91]

Greys are wicked smart. They're the kind of bird that if you don't give them something to do, they will become neurotic and destructive. So being a support companion for someone is a perfect job for them. I'd love to have one myself, but I know I don't have the time or inclination to really care for one.

[Estil]

Those birds might be smart but this bird has completely lost it's mind:

https://youtu.be/sumn6flhNtg

No really, is this bird frickin' NUTS!?!?!?

[WishfulSpirit]

UPDATE:

So we're bouncing around from hotel to hotel right now. It's annoying and hard on Hubby, but at least we have shelter. They'll only do employee rate for a week at a time, so every weekend we get to pack up and hit the road again. We've also been apartment hunting. It's really hard to find something we can afford, but I am trying to stay positive. Prayers and good thoughts (also suggestions if anybody knows anything in the eastern Denver Metro area) would be welcome.