JoJo the Parakeet and Jasper the Dog – Budgie Buddies

My friend Jay shared these photos of his parakeet JoJo and his dog Jasper on my Facebook Page, and also gave my community some advice on how to maintain a healthy friendship between your budgie and a canine buddy.

“I’d like to say I have some kind of special formula for bird/dog relationships. [But] I think it depends on each individual animal. I will say that my budgie JoJo is the ‘alpha’ in the relationship. He has no fear, he approaches Jasper which translates as dive bombing him. Jasper is not aggressive towards the bird but he does try to jump at him when he flies past. My advice is to supervise and if the dog does show aggressiveness, even in a playful way, I would advise to keep them apart. A large to medium size dog could cause a budgie serious harm even if he is being playful. Observe their behavior and be ready to intervene. You can usually tell fairly quickly if they’re going to get along.”

Thanks Jay! I definitely second the recommendation to supervise any pet pairings carefully. I’ve had friends experience personal tragedy when a dog’s prey drive kicked in. Parakeets and dogs can be friends, but it’s always best to introduce them while the budgie is caged and always always keep an eye on them.