My daughter Christy & her family were going on a planned vacation June 17 thru 21, but they had recently adopted a 10 week old puppy, Aleia. She is an adorable puppy & just too young to leave in at a dog kennel during their trip.
So my husband & I volunteered to take care of her, in addition to the family’s 2 cockatiels, Romeo & Bella. The puppy is “her baby” & Christy really struggled leaving her in a dog shelter for that long.
The first few days went very well. Aleia is so cute, she stole my heart & the birds were a joy to have around. I already have 2 birds of my own, so we had quite a zoo in our family room with 2 large bird cages & the dog playpen too.
On Friday night, a sequence of events put me in a panic. The birds were out of their cages - 2 of them on my shoulders. Aleia was out of her play yard while Bob & I had been tossing a ball to her.
Suddenly the birds were startled & flew down to the floor. Within seconds, the dog’s jaws were wrapped around Romeo. “NO!,” I screamed, “NOT ON MY WATCH!” I fell to my knees & pried open the mouth of razor sharp teeth to save the bird. I carefully checked him out & lifted him to safe haven in his cage.
As I turned to put the dog away, I found Bella had be snatched by the same quick jaws. “NO! NO!” I screamed, “LET GO!” I barely got to Bella in time. Both were saved from the jaws of death!
There was no way I could tell my daughter & her family that Aleia killed their birds, Not on my watch! All turned out well. What a relief!
