(Maybe this story belongs in the Puppy Chronicles, but it doesn't have a very happy ending.) My greyhound Seabiscuit (aka 'Biscuit) used to go to a dog-sitter with three dogs of her own and a ten-year-old parrot that could bark like a dog and whistle "Bridge on the River Kwai." . The sitter and her kids just thought Biscuit was the greatest because she'd let them hide her in a pile of toys (and greyhounds are extraordinarily well behaved). Although the parrot had a cage, it mostly flew or walked around loose and the sitter's family often spotted the parrot on the floor with Biscuit licking her feathers.
One day, though, they walked in on Biscuit and the parrot, who had been left alone, to find blood everywhere and the parrot in Biscuit's mouth screeching at the top of his lungs. When the dog sitter screamed, Biscuit opened her mouth and the parrot flew out. He flew around the room for about ten minutes, whereupon he dropped dead. Parrots, it seems, are prone to heart attacks.The blood was from a nasty cut inflicted by the parrot in Biscuit's leg. Parrots have spoon-shaped beaks so their bites can be deep. Greyhounds have what's called the "soft mouth" so they can pick up game without damaging it, but it doesn't prevent psychological damage from being picked up live and carried around screetching.