Bird falls in love with dog
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00:00 had spent his life being used as a breeding machine.
00:03 I'm Ashore, and this is Aku's story for GeoBeasts.
00:06 Would you like scratches?
00:08 Aw.
00:09 A family that had purchased a house and moved in
00:12 realized that there was an aviary full of birds
00:15 on the property still.
00:16 You're such a sweet boy.
00:18 Hi, baby.
00:20 There was a lot of breeding boxes,
00:21 and we do believe that he was used
00:23 as a breeding machine for quite a while.
00:29 (bird squawking)
00:32 We realized that he got very excited
00:35 when any of the dogs would come around.
00:37 Then he started talking, like he would say,
00:39 hey, baby, baby, hey, baby.
00:41 It was absolutely incredible.
00:43 His vocabulary started just really developing,
00:48 and that was a very closely monitored relationship.
00:51 We noticed that that was especially going on
00:57 with one of our rescued dogs, Bear.
00:59 It was really allowing Aku to feel a little more safe.
01:02 About six months into Aku being with us,
01:05 he was still having a lot of challenges
01:06 with feeling comfortable around people.
01:08 We then decided that Aku was gonna be
01:14 a permanent sanctuary resident.
01:16 And I joke with our co-founder that the moment
01:20 that we decided that Aku would be here permanently,
01:23 he completely transformed emotionally.
01:26 (bird squawking)
01:29 You're so precious.
01:32 Oh, you're so precious.
01:35 He started really allowing people to interact more with him.
01:38 Another day, another bird on my head.
01:41 Up since then, he is by far one of the most sociable friends
01:44 we have here on the property.
01:46 (bird squawking)
01:49 (gentle music)
01:51 I really think that Aku thinks that Ria is a dog,
02:01 especially because he's been around since she was a baby.
02:04 He's very protective over Ria, the goat,
02:11 and he's very protective over Bear.
02:13 Can I pet him?
02:13 Can I pet him?
02:16 Aw.
02:17 Ow!
02:18 He's very protective when it comes to other birds.
02:19 He's really not into other birds.
02:21 It's very important that he still gets fresh air
02:23 and sunshine, so he does go out into his outdoor aviary,
02:26 but he really does prefer to be in the main room
02:30 where there's a lot of people and where he can see
02:32 the dogs walking back and forth
02:34 and just really being in the thick of it.
02:35 If you walk over to the seating area and sit down,
02:38 he will often fly and come over to you
02:41 and sit down next to you and sing his songs,
02:43 demanding scratches and pets.
02:45 That's his favorite thing.
02:46 He just really wants all the attention on him.
02:49 We've had Aku here at the sanctuary for three years now.
02:56 He definitely proves that little birds
02:59 have just as much soul as the bigger birds.
03:02 I'm honored to be able to provide guardianship for him.
03:12 He's an older gentleman.
03:14 He just wants to spend his retirement
03:15 sitting on the couch with his dog.
03:17 (Aku whistling)
03:20 (Aku squeaking)
03:23 (upbeat music)
03:25 (upbeat music)
03:28 (upbeat music)