{"id":3826,"date":"2012-11-15T00:28:51","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T00:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=3826"},"modified":"2025-07-29T20:30:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T01:30:12","slug":"a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/","title":{"rendered":"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Goose
Photo by Chris Davis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.<\/p>\n

Recently, I had the good fortune to visit the beautiful Bavarian city of Munich. My husband was in a business meeting where I was not needed, allowing me to walk the old town area that surrounds the Marienplatz, the city\u2019s famous central gathering place.\u00a0It\u00a0is dominated by the large Glockenspiel where, several times a day, a number of life-sized figures spring to lifelike animation and put on a show for the hundreds of spectators gathered below.<\/p>\n

Less than a block away, sits St. Peter\u2019s Church, a beautiful and very peaceful oasis in an otherwise extremely crowded and bustling area. As a lover of churches and cathedrals, I took longer than I initially planned, taking photographs and then sitting awhile in a state of peaceful contemplation.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, I felt that I needed to leave \u2026 now<\/em>! For whatever reason, I exited a different door from where I entered, which deposited me onto one of the busy streets that flow into Marienplatz. Opening the door I heard the distinctive honking of a goose<\/em> and peals of delighted laughter from the crowds outside.\u00a0 At that moment, from my heightened vantage point at the top of the stairs exiting the church, I saw a bicyclist wearing a traditional Bavarian hat pedaling swiftly around the corner.<\/p>\n

A large open wooden box with a little bed inside was secured on the back of his bicycle. Perched on the bed was a huge goose, happily honking at all the charmed and delighted spectators. Unfettered, the goose rode along behind her \u201cdad,\u201d secure in the knowledge that she was obviously a beloved and very important being in his life.<\/p>\n

For myself, and I am reasonably sure for many others, that moment was one that will live in our memories forever. So that\u2019s it, my moment of magic; too surprising and ephemeral to even catch on camera even though I tried to follow them and track them down. I have only my memory to remind me of the experience.<\/p>\n

But Wait \u2026<\/h2>\n

After I wrote the foregoing, I was saddened that I was not able to get a photo of the goose. Then I thought back on how serendipitous that moment had been. I realized that the goose only honked twice and stopped the moment I saw it. I remembered that I had intended to exit another door, to continue my trek through areas of Old Town Munich that I had not yet seen, but I was literally compelled <\/em>to exit that particular door just in time for a four or five-second glimpse of the goose before she was out of sight. After thinking about the entire episode, I realized just how lucky I had been and decided to be happy and grateful for the experience I had.<\/p>\n

On the last day of my visit, two days after my goose experience, I was thirsty and decided to visit the large open market plaza behind Saint Peter\u2019s. Walking outside, toward the back of the church, preparing to cross the narrow street to the market, I was alarmed by the deep guttural screaming of a child having a full-blown tantrum.\u00a0 I saw a man, his wife and three young children. The middle child, who appeared to be in his \u201cterrible twos,\u201d was the source of the screaming. He was irritated about something and was on a real roll. He didn\u2019t even slow down for air, but just kept howling. His parents, looking embarrassed and weary, decided to wait out the episode and stood by the church\u2019s rear outside wall, away from the major crowds. Reassured that the child appeared to be physically fine, I moved on to the market. I purchased a bottle of water and took a sip. Then, for some reason, I did not know where I wanted to go. I stood in the same spot, along the main road behind the church, annoyed that I did not seem to be able to make a decision.<\/p>\n

As I stood next to the narrow market street, mentally berating myself for not being able to simply decide which direction I wanted to walk, I again heard the familiar honking and nearly dropped my water bottle in my haste to grab the camera that I had slung around my neck. The goose only honked twice \u2014 just enough to draw my attention \u2014 and I squeezed off a few shots as they sped by. Like some crazed paparazzo on the heels of Angelina Jolie, I raised my camera above the crowd, shooting at whatever it happened to capture. The crowd was dense and the moment brief \u2014 only a few second \u2014 and I soon lost sight of the man and goose. Amazingly, another series of events had placed me in the same location as the man and his goose, allowing me to catch some much-desired photos of the duo.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not stupid.\u00a0 I know a magical moment, a true gift, when I see it.<\/p>\n

I also know that the thing that made the experience so memorable was the presence of the goose. A guy dressed Bavarian style peddling along with a dog riding behind him, although charming and cute, would not be magical. <\/em>It takes a bird to create that, even one as \u201ccommon\u201d as a goose. The particular species simply does not matter because the magic is still there.\u00a0 All birds have the capacity to bring magic to every occasion. All we need to do is to pay attention and take a moment to recognize it.<\/p>\n

Birds surprise us, enchant us and, if we are very, very lucky, they can, and will, steal our hearts away forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday","bird-type-non-parrot"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Magical Goose Chase In Munich – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-15T00:28:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T01:30:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/goose-sm.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Davis\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d8dc79df7a25e4fc9cae5d4ac01b3f6\"},\"headline\":\"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-15T00:28:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-30T01:30:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1008,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/goose-sm.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Everyday\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/goose-sm.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-15T00:28:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-30T01:30:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d8dc79df7a25e4fc9cae5d4ac01b3f6\"},\"description\":\"Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/goose-sm.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/goose-sm.jpg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Photo by Chris Davis\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\",\"description\":\"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d8dc79df7a25e4fc9cae5d4ac01b3f6\",\"name\":\"Chris Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Chris-Davis-Portrait-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Chris-Davis-Portrait-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Chris-Davis-Portrait-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Chris Davis\"},\"description\":\"Chris Davis grew up in the rural foothills of southern California where, until she was 5, her only playmates were animals. Ever since that young age, Chris has dedicated her life to the well-being and care of animals; and, now, long into her adulthood, she still considers them to be her primary social group. Her professional career in animal-behavior consulting and modification started when, at 12 years of age, she trained her first dog, a large adult boxer with behavior problems that had been given to her family. In spite of the difficulties she had in training him, within a couple of months, she took the boxer through obedience trials and won first prize; the only child in a field of adult trainers. Although Chris lived in rural ranch land, her animal friends were numerous and varied, and she often went for walks on dusty country roads accompanied by a pet turkey, sheep, collie and monkey.\u00a0 She also had rats and guinea pigs and chickens as her most trusted and beloved friends and family. Many years later, after life took her in many directions, including working in offices, Chris realized that she would never be happy if she wasn\u2019t working with animals. In the mid 1970s, she began working in Irvine, Calif., at Lion Country Safari, where she performed in the bird show owned by Ray Berwick, who also owned the trained Animal Actors Studio at Universal Studios.\u00a0 He was also one of the top movie animal trainers of the time. In the late 1970s, bird importation and ownership began to skyrocket because of one of Ray\u2019s most popular actors, Fred, the cockatoo on the popular \u201cBaretta\u201d television show. For a few years, Chris worked at both Universal Studios and Lion Country.\u00a0 During that time, people asked her questions about problem behaviors their birds were exhibiting. Until then, few people in the United States had pet birds and knew little about them. In general, it was believed that birds could be trained, but were not intelligent enough to respond to behavior modification. Because of this, many pet birds that exhibited negative behaviors were badly treated or simply discarded. Chris became the first person in the country to visit clients\u2019 homes to assess their interactions with their avian companions and to devise methods for modifying their environments and behaviors so people could have better relationships with them.\u00a0 Initially, she also focused on educating the veterinary community so they could benefit from what she was learning about companion bird behavior modification. In time, she eventually visited more than 2,500 homes before finally accepting mostly telephone consultations. Because of her early work with companion avian behavior, Dr. Irene Pepperberg,\u00a0and Chris have become close and lifelong friends. Chris has spoken nationally and internationally at veterinary conferences, pet shows and bird clubs. She has contributed numerous articles, papers and chapters for numerous veterinary text books and, for more than 30 years, she has written columns for several magazines continuously, including the \\\"Heart to Heart\\\"column, a regular monthly contribution to Bird Talk magazine. Chris loves all animals, from the majestic whales of Alaska to the wondrous birds that bring joy into so many homes. She enjoys helping animals and igniting the hearts and spirits of both long-term and neophyte animal lovers through sharing information and experiences that validate the profound importance of animals sharing their lives with humans.\u00a0 She believes that animals are a blessing that enriches the human soul.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/about-chris-davis\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/author\\\/chris\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","description":"Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","og_description":"Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.","og_url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/","og_site_name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","article_published_time":"2012-11-15T00:28:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-30T01:30:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/goose-sm.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chris Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Davis","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/"},"author":{"name":"Chris Davis","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/9d8dc79df7a25e4fc9cae5d4ac01b3f6"},"headline":"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich","datePublished":"2012-11-15T00:28:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-30T01:30:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/"},"wordCount":1008,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/goose-sm.jpg","articleSection":["Everyday"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/","name":"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/goose-sm.jpg","datePublished":"2012-11-15T00:28:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-30T01:30:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/9d8dc79df7a25e4fc9cae5d4ac01b3f6"},"description":"Nothing charms us as much as birds. They possess the power to profoundly alter our lives and, if we set our egos aside and see and honor them for who they are, they can forever change the very essence of who we are and of how we perceive other species around us.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/goose-sm.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/goose-sm.jpg","width":450,"height":300,"caption":"Photo by Chris Davis"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/a-magical-goose-chase-in-munich\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Magical Goose Chase In Munich"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/","name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","description":"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/9d8dc79df7a25e4fc9cae5d4ac01b3f6","name":"Chris Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chris-Davis-Portrait-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chris-Davis-Portrait-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chris-Davis-Portrait-96x96.jpg","caption":"Chris Davis"},"description":"Chris Davis grew up in the rural foothills of southern California where, until she was 5, her only playmates were animals. Ever since that young age, Chris has dedicated her life to the well-being and care of animals; and, now, long into her adulthood, she still considers them to be her primary social group. Her professional career in animal-behavior consulting and modification started when, at 12 years of age, she trained her first dog, a large adult boxer with behavior problems that had been given to her family. In spite of the difficulties she had in training him, within a couple of months, she took the boxer through obedience trials and won first prize; the only child in a field of adult trainers. Although Chris lived in rural ranch land, her animal friends were numerous and varied, and she often went for walks on dusty country roads accompanied by a pet turkey, sheep, collie and monkey.\u00a0 She also had rats and guinea pigs and chickens as her most trusted and beloved friends and family. Many years later, after life took her in many directions, including working in offices, Chris realized that she would never be happy if she wasn\u2019t working with animals. In the mid 1970s, she began working in Irvine, Calif., at Lion Country Safari, where she performed in the bird show owned by Ray Berwick, who also owned the trained Animal Actors Studio at Universal Studios.\u00a0 He was also one of the top movie animal trainers of the time. In the late 1970s, bird importation and ownership began to skyrocket because of one of Ray\u2019s most popular actors, Fred, the cockatoo on the popular \u201cBaretta\u201d television show. For a few years, Chris worked at both Universal Studios and Lion Country.\u00a0 During that time, people asked her questions about problem behaviors their birds were exhibiting. Until then, few people in the United States had pet birds and knew little about them. In general, it was believed that birds could be trained, but were not intelligent enough to respond to behavior modification. Because of this, many pet birds that exhibited negative behaviors were badly treated or simply discarded. Chris became the first person in the country to visit clients\u2019 homes to assess their interactions with their avian companions and to devise methods for modifying their environments and behaviors so people could have better relationships with them.\u00a0 Initially, she also focused on educating the veterinary community so they could benefit from what she was learning about companion bird behavior modification. In time, she eventually visited more than 2,500 homes before finally accepting mostly telephone consultations. Because of her early work with companion avian behavior, Dr. Irene Pepperberg,\u00a0and Chris have become close and lifelong friends. Chris has spoken nationally and internationally at veterinary conferences, pet shows and bird clubs. She has contributed numerous articles, papers and chapters for numerous veterinary text books and, for more than 30 years, she has written columns for several magazines continuously, including the \"Heart to Heart\"column, a regular monthly contribution to Bird Talk magazine. Chris loves all animals, from the majestic whales of Alaska to the wondrous birds that bring joy into so many homes. She enjoys helping animals and igniting the hearts and spirits of both long-term and neophyte animal lovers through sharing information and experiences that validate the profound importance of animals sharing their lives with humans.\u00a0 She believes that animals are a blessing that enriches the human soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/about-chris-davis\/"],"url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/author\/chris\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3826"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43803,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3826\/revisions\/43803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}