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The Parrot Who Thought She Was a Dog | 
 enlarge | Author: Nancy Ellis-bell
Publisher: Harmony
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
Buy New: $9.89
You Save: $13.11 (57%)
New (34) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $9.89
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 240754
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 030740594X
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.68650929
EAN: 9780307405944
ASIN: 030740594X
Publication Date: July 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Book is Brand New! MINT!!
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Product Description
The last thing Nancy Ellis-Bell expected to descend on her life was a neglected, too-tall, smart-mouthed, one-legged, blue-and-gold rescue macaw named Peg Leg. And yet, it made perfect sense. A lifelong animal lover, Nancy could never turn away a stray cat, dog, squirrel, or raccoon from her California farm. But the macaw, quickly rechristened Sarah, was a whole new challenge, as Nancy, her husband, Kerry, and their furry menagerie would find out.
Initially timid of her new surroundings, Sarah soon imposed her four-foot wingspan into the family homestead—first claiming the laundry basket, then conquering a prized dresser—and achieved complete household domination. Nancy couldn’t “bird-proof” the place fast enough, and it was not long before Sarah started stealing the dogs’ toys—using her enormous beak to disembowel Ben the mutt’s treasured stuffed bear—and bathing her richly hued feathers in their water bowl. She also peppered Nancy’s phone conversations with expletive-laden outbursts. There seemed no end to Sarah’s realm, nor her destruction, and it dawned on Nancy that the entire house had slowly transformed into a birdcage.
On the other side of the coin, Sarah started to abandon her own raptor instincts when she discovered that dog food was pretty tasty and that she had a knack for “barking” (and a few other sounds that alarmed the neighbors). As they all learned to live together, Nancy marveled that Sarah had truly found a place to call home, but she sensed that there was something she could give Sarah to make her feel more complete: a chance to fly again.
Touching, eye-opening, and laugh-out-loud funny, The Parrot Who Thought She Was a Dog is a tender tale of two worlds colliding, two lives enriched, and two souls restored. It is also a rewarding reminder that love can come from the most unexpected places.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Perfect Book for Any Animal Lover October 10, 2008
This book is touching and wonderfully written. It gave me a deep understanding of exotic birds and a new respect for them. Wonderful gift. Amazing true story.
 Awful on all levels September 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have to agree with the other one-star reviews. As I read more and more of this book I became more horrified and angry. Whatever books she claimed to read were evidently published in the 1930s to judge by her treatment of her birds -- there's no such "macaw wasting disease" caused by not flying, for heaven's sake. When I read that the bird had been allowed to die (murdered) I threw the book down and couldn't finish it for several days. The author evidently didn't educate herself on anything regarding the welfare of parrots -- she simply took the word of the rescue person that the macaw couldn't be touched. Of course the macaw could have been touched -- IF the author had educated herself and worked at it and been patient. The macaw was bonded to her and probably was begging to be touched. But she didn't seem to care if she ever touched the macaw or not. And after losing (killing) two parrots she ran out and got another macaw, barely before the bodies were cool -- this time, of course, she got the deck screened in. Too bad she couldn't have thought that far ahead the first time. And now that I think about it, I don't believe she ever said she was sorry or that she regretted what she'd done or even admitted that she handled things very badly. I certainly won't go back to the book to check that out though. The title is false advertising -- there is only one small instance of the macaw playing tug o' war with a dog and a short rope. The book should have been titled How I Killed Two Parrots and Made a Killing Writing a Book About It. Please don't encourage people to buy this book; the author doesn't deserve it.
 Devastating Tale of a Misguided Animal Owner and a Lovely Bird August 26, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I fell in love with the central character of Sarah in this book, and I've rarely been as angry as I was when she died in such a senseless, unnecessary way. I kept wanting to go and save Sarah from what the inevitable. I am giving the book 2 stars because Ellis-Bell does do a good job of describing the wonders of macaw personality and makes you fall in love with Sarah. I have a blue and gold, a rescue, unclipped, and I was so excited to find a book with a blue and gold as a central character. Unfortunately, the ending devastated me for weeks, and I still tear up at what happened with Sarah.
Guilt is a central theme in the book. Ellis-Bell feels guilty for Sarah's capture, for keeping her in a cage, for Sarah's screams (note to the uninitiated - screaming is NORMAL in a macaw and any parrot, it is loud, expect it and learn to live with some screaming), for Sarah not being able to be free, and for Sarah ruining the lives of her husband and other animals. Of course, Sarah doesn't ruin their lives on purpose, she's simply a macaw and one that's set free without guidelines or structure in her life.
Misinformation is rife in the book, and it is, if anything, a guide to how not to keep a macaw. Some of this misinformation is further perpetuated by the owner of the sanctuary - for one thing, meat is fine for macaws in small amounts. I'm not impressed by her either - letting Ellis-Bell adopt a sick, special needs bird knowing she believes the bird should be free and can never be handled. Most of this misinformation has already been mentioned, but the biggest one of all was letting the bird out without any training or attempt to see if Sarah could have been handled. The macaw I adopted was considered vicious when we got her, but we've worked through that. She was also my first bird, but unlike Ellis-Bell, I did a ton of research and found some good people to help me. I have lost her outside overnight (ironically, when she was clipped), we found her very early the next morning, and because she could be handled, she climbed right down and onto my arm after a little coaxing. I can't help but think Sarah would have had a better chance had she been touchable. Also, the author is married to a contractor - why not build an aviary for Sarah so she could go outside while Ellis-Bell gardened? Also, why not put food in the trees so that Sarah could have some chance of surviving?
Even with the dogs, Ellis-Bell interprets their actions on a human basis. She goes overboard with Sarah, thinking that what Sarah wants is freedom without any kind of structure, when what Sarah probably wanted (based on my own macaw) was to be with her human flock and be secure in that flock.
The ending is just horrific, compounded by the idiotic loss of Zoey, and worst of all, before Sarah is even gone, she adopts another macaw, and then proceeds to compare him favorably to Sarah. You wonder then if Sarah's death affected her as much as it does her readers. It scares me that she has another macaw, in this case one that is known for behavioral issues and said to be perhaps the smartest of the macaws. I hope things go well for her new bird, but I have my doubts.
Sarah was a wonderful bird; the author clearly has issues and problems, and it's horrible that her problems led to Sarah's death. If you want to read the book, I'd stop at page 189. The rest tells of Sarah's death in excruciating detail, and it's horrific.
Animals are endangered when their human caretakers anthropomorphosize. August 25, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
The image that comes to my mind when I think about the woman who wrote this book is a manic woman living in a run-down trailer on a garbage strewn lot surrounded by more animals than she can care for. And certainly more animals than she can care for properly. Perhaps she is an animal hoarder, that is someone who believes that it is her mission to save or rescue animals and who believes that whatever treatment she provides is better than anything that anyone else could do.
But she did a terrible job taking care of this bird and let it try to fend for itself in the chilly forests of Northern California. (SPOILER: the bird starved to death or died from exposure.) This macaw and the conure and something like 39 cats lost their lives as a result of her irresponsibility. She fed the birds inappropriate foods and gave the bird gin-and-tonics! She let the birds torment the dogs, she accumulated stray cats and then wrote off their lives. One wonders what sort of veterinary care any of these animals received. She repeatedly disregarded the advice of bona-fide bird rescuers. She gave the bird gin-and-tonics! (I had to repeat that. I just cannot believe that someone would do this.) All the while the phone is ringing, the birds are squawking, the dogs are cowering, the cats are being eaten by mountain lions, food and poop cover the floor of the trailer, old machinery rusts in the "garden", her husband has moved into his office....
She imagined what these animals think, in fact the very title of the book demonstrates her tendency to anthropomorphosize. It's unlikely that the parrot thought she was a dog. It's unlikely that any of these animals had the thoughts (I'm a dog, I'm bad, I'm good, I'm clever) she claimed for them or felt the human emotions (jealously, longing, shame, sorrow due to injustice, remorse) she attributed to them. These are the classic characteristics of an animal hoarder: that she has some sort of special, perhaps innate, ability to understand what animals think and that animals possess some sort of special ability to always do what's best, to predict the future, to understand any situation, to understand the things she says to them.
This woman is irresponsible at best, negligent probably, and perhaps mentally ill and, so, not fit to take care of this many animals, or any animals. The book is not well-written and it appears, from the comments of other reviewers, that some of the more technical facts are incorrect. The discussion of her sex life is gratuitous.
Dr. Doolittle she is not. Someone should call animal control.
Vicarious Icarus August 25, 2008
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
A bit of lucky serendipity brought me to "The Parrot Who Thought She Was a Dog." Ironically, I was looking for a book to help me train my moronic dog to hunt birds, but I found the ultimate bird book instead.
The author has created something unique and wonderful here: a contemporary tale of interspecies civilization. Apparently, the Biblical imperative for people to rule the earth does not fully apply at Nancy Ellis-Bell's hill top retreat: dogs, cats, fish, wildlife -- even contractor husbands -- sort it out and learn to live and love together in close proximity. I would imagine that animal trainer purists might find it objectionable that the fine and regal macaw, Sarah, is allowed full and destructive reign over the household; I'm sure that is not tolerated in well appointed apartments and homes where macaws are something of a curious accessory. But I have no patience for that view. As a matter of fact, I own a ranch in Montana where a neighbor raises beautiful horses that are sold primarily for "lawn furniture" to wealthy folks in Jackson Hole. Nancy's bird Sarah is definitely no accessory or piece of moving animate furniture: she's alive, complicated, emotional, and fully engaged with Nancy on nearly every level. Not since reading the works of my former teacher Jane Goodall, who developed an epic relationship with the great apes in Africa and was thus able to look outside the scientific paradign and see the apes as fellow creatures, have I read anything quite so compelling as Nancy's book.
The story builds to an Icarus conclusion that is sad, powerful, deeply human. Would the bird still be alive if she had kept it indoors? Perhaps. Then again, it would have lived for a long while with its wings taped to cardboard, as the poachers do who ship them out of the Amazon. But that's no life for a bird! Nancy tells a tale of living with a macaw as an equal. That is the great challenge for a world in a time of growing environmental crisis. Can we live with salmon, buffalo, migrating birds, bears -- macaws? Nancy has shown us the path with her one true bird and we should all learn from it. I loved this book.
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