Fluff and Feathers

09/05/2025

08/29/2025

Alfie and I stopped by Harford House’s Back-to-School event the other day! We had a blast; thank you for letting us visit! 💙

08/16/2025

Today, a clients dog now has a bite history drawing blood. All because someone didn’t have their dog leashed.

When I talked to the guy who had their dog off leash, he said that his dog is friendly, so it didn’t need to be on a leash. He was relying on his e collar as a leash. Gee, that worked well… not once did he ever apologize. He didn’t have a leash on him at all.

My clients did everything right. We did everything right. We were in their yard, on private property. Our dog was leashed. The golden sprinted across the street into my clients property to come say hi. I ran to block the dog coming towards my client, and my clients dog redirected and bit the caretakers. The golden dodged my block and tried to circle around me to get to the dog. I had to block the dog again.

This dog had reactive behaviors but no bite history… until today. Someone’s negligence changed the life of my clients dog and the caretakers who were already struggling coming to terms that they have a reactive dog and all that comes with that.

We can take a few things away from this situation:

1) leash laws exist and need to be followed. An e-collar is not a leash. Clearly it failed as a tool to not only keep the dog at a heel but get it to disengage coming towards my clients and I. If the dog was under control on a leash, none of this would have happened.

2) just because your dog is friendly doesn’t mean others are. I blocked this guys dog from getting hurt, and sadly my clients got the brunt of it. What if my clients dog got that golden right at the right spot and killed it? We wouldn’t be at fault on our own property; it would be the negligent owner of the golden.

3) train your dog to not go up to everyone and everything. It’s an easy skill to teach to have your dog wait till you say it’s okay to go say hi. If the dog had training, it wouldn’t have sprinted across the street to say hi and caused the reaction.

4) you are liable as the negligent caretaker if your dog is off leash and charging people. You can get into a legal battle with others over it, especially if bodily harm is caused or destruction of property (as in your dog attacks another).

5) what if someone is extremely allergic to dogs and will go into anaphylactic shock if a dog touches them? That dog charged me 4 times while I was with my clients and scolding the man after. I could be a friend hanging with other friends outside, not around their dog, and your dog comes up to me and I go into a severe medical emergency that could be life threatening. You never know.

My clients and I were working on redirection attention when triggers are around and counterconditioning responded to triggers. We were then going inside to work on muzzle training because we know we will encounter idiots like this guy. My clients are worried even in their own yard now for their dogs safety… and now their own.

Reactive dogs and their caretakers deserve just as much respect as anyone else. People with allergies, fear of dogs, or simply don’t want a dog around them deserve respect. Put your dog on a leash please. They even make long lines if you wish to allow your dog more freedom. In public spaces, there are leash laws. If you want your dog off leash, you can rent backyards through various websites or find an area without local leash laws. A neighborhood is no place for an off leash, uncontrolled dog… friendly or not

08/10/2025

August 23rd | 11AM

07/18/2025

For those who know our story, I was driving with my dog almost 4 years ago close to my house on a road with a slower speed limit when I was hit. If it wasn’t for her harness and seatbelt, my dog would have died. I suffered life-altering injuries, and all 3 vehicles were totaled. All because someone was texting and driving while speeding.

Always be sure your animals are secure in carriers or seatbelt harnesses. It could save their life!

🚫 For safety’s sake—please don’t travel with a bird on your shoulder. 🚫

We were sent a “cute” video of a bird riding in a shoulder while driving, While it may look cute or fun, riding in a car with an unrestrained bird is extremely dangerous. A Helping Wing does not recommend or condone this practice.

⚠️ Here’s why it’s risky:

In a crash, your bird could be thrown or crushed, or killed by an airbag.
Sudden stops or movements can cause serious injury or panic.
A startled bird may fly out an open window or door.
Distracted driving puts everyone at risk.
🐦 The only safe way for a parrot to travel is in a secure, seat-belted carrier—never on your shoulder, dashboard, or loose in the car.

Please help us keep birds safe. 💚

07/07/2025

Who said that?

Fireworks aren’t going away. Your social media complaints also don’t do anything to resolve the issue. It doesn’t change legislation, it doesn’t stop them from being created, and those who love then and will continue to use them will likely bully you by calling you a cry baby.

My dog Ramona was deathly afraid of loud noises. Emphasis on the was. She needed medications to help chill her out that we would use before fireworks started. Living in farm land, we also get a lot of gun enthusiasts making it even more unpredictable. Instead of sharing my thoughts on how much I hate fireworks, because I truly do, I went to work with my animal.

We work on counterconditioning her responses to fireworks and loud noises. I worked with my vet to find other solutions to help her through those moments and training so it would be as gentle, successful, and fear free as possible.

Guess what… it worked!! This is now the second year she had zero responses to fireworks. This was her first year with zero response while being outside and while all the windows were open. My neighbors were lighting them off, as well as both towns I’m sandwiched between.

Not every animal will be able to completely overcome this. But, they also shouldn’t be inconsolable, stressed, and confused, which then stresses you out. That’s where management of the behavior comes in. Management fills the gaps until the training can catch up.

Want to be ready for the next loud event? I would love to work with you! I work internationally with all species of animals. I have a plethora of certifications and degrees that ensures you are working with a qualified trainer. I consult with your vet/vet behavioralist so your animal gets a well-rounded approach, allowing all us professionals to shine where we specialize.

www.FluffNFeathers.com

06/09/2025

05/23/2025

We have posted two of our favorite online classes going for another round! These were a HUGE hit the first time we launched them; we had to take them down because we got so many participants. I promise they would be back very soon, so two months later, they’re back up!

Training your bird to step up 4 week class: https://www.fluffnfeathers.com/classes/p/troubleshooting-the-step-up-behavior

Training your bird who refuses to forage to forage 1 hour class: https://www.fluffnfeathers.com/classes/p/foraging-for-the-non-forager-online-class

View our website for more information!

I have two conures, Maui and Rosie. I have had them their entire lives, though Rosie I got when she was young on a rescue call. I got Maui 21 years ago, and Rosie 11, and back then, I knew very little about foraging or at all with Maui. When I did get into foraging, Maui and Rosie were paired, and t

05/23/2025

Look at our animals, Tootsie and Ramona (bassets) and Alfie (moluccan cockatoo), in a commercial! We were asked to help out my providing animals to do trained tasks during the filming to make this adorable commercial. We were excited for the opportunity, and everyone did amazing!

And to think my moluccan cockatoo Alfie was going to be behaviorally euthanized for aggression, and here he is in a commercial! It shows the power of training and how it can save lives! 💙

05/13/2025

Tugboat got a new harbor to swim in! He really had it in for the little yellow boat today… it was probably speeding.

Tugboat’s pool (originally the dogs pool) sprung a leak! It wasn’t a big hole, as throughout the day the pool lost only an inch of water, but still undesirable to deal with. He needed an outdoor pool for the aviary, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to get a new one! I saw at Walmart they had this giant dark blue pool, so I wanted to get that for his indoor pool and use the smaller one for his outdoor pool. I’m sure I will swap them out and around depending on where we are spending our days more.

Tugboat has never been in a body of water this big… ever. With his disabilities, my life guarding duties has never been more intense! I was kind of afraid to get such a deep pool because he doesn’t always swim great; but after he had duck zoomies of literally flying underwater last week… I thought he was ready.

It’s hard as a caretaker of animals to let them go. Let them go figure it out, let go of hovering, let them go be the animal they are. Safety is an incredibly important thing. Everything we do with our animals is a calculated risk. Having my male cockatoo on my arm is a calculated risk, letting my dogs loose in my backyard with me is a calculated risk, and even putting an all natural parrot enrichment toy in a birds cage is a calculated risk. We have to look at all aspects of what we are doing, and we have to determine if this risk is worth taking. My cockatoo on my arm is definitely a risk worth taking; I don’t even second guess it. The likelihood of him harming me or himself is super low.

I am excited for tugboat to get more comfortable with the new pool and act even more crazy. Worse case, I don’t have to fill the pool up as deep 💙

04/14/2025

Did you want to see my trimmed beak?

Most birds never need a beak trim in their lives! I get a lot of questions from clients about the length of their birds beaks, how sharp they are, and when they need to be trimmed.

Sharp beaks do not mean they need to be filed! Parrots beaks are supposed to be sharp! That means they are doing a good job filing them down on their own with their enrichment.

Upper mandibles curl on hookbills. Most parrot species we keep in our care are known as hookbill parrots because of the shape of their beak. They are supposed to come and curl down. Some species more than others, like the hyacinth macaw.

Lower mandibles need to be trimmed as needed. Some species have unique shapes and adaptations to help them! Most cockatoo species have a slight V shape for their lower mandible, like Moluccans and umbrellas! The palm cockatoo’s beak shape is meant to never shut fully like other species. Most species should be able to close their beak naturally.

So, why am I trimming beaks? Munchkin has both upper and lower mandible deformities. His upper doesn’t grow but his lower does. I keep it at a specific length in order to help him eat and climb easier! I used to trim Rukkas’s beak when she was with me because she has scissor beak (where the upper mandible goes one way and the lower goes another). I had a moluccan named Candy who has an underbite, and she got both upper and lower mandible trims. JoJo sometimes gets trimmed because his beak can bet a bit long. He doesn’t like hard woods 😅

Your bird should be able to maintain it themselves with the proper resources. I rarely ever trims nails or beaks for Ringo and Noel because they maintain their perfectly!