Many kids find their cat or dog waiting for them at the front door when they come home from school, but junior Riley Johnson arrives home to see her pet pigeon flying through her house. Johnson owns a pigeon named Yoshi, along with her husky, Storm, and though it may seem like an interesting dynamic, her family makes it work.
To have two pets that aren’t the same species can be challenging, especially when one is a flying animal, and the other isn’t. Many struggle to come up with a solution to handle caring for conflicting animals, yet Riley and her mother, Tommi Johnson, can maintain a healthy relationship between Storm and Yoshi.
“We got the bird before the dog, but when we got the dog, we were just very careful to keep them in separate rooms and just slowly integrate them both. Even now, when we’re out of the house, we keep them in separate rooms, just to be safe,” Tommi Johnson said.
Obviously, there are struggles with raising a pigeon. They can be hard to tame, especially in the early stages of having one. After doing some research, Riley got Yoshi already domesticated from a farm, but being in a new environment was difficult for her at first.
“In the beginning, it was a lot harder because she was scared and didn’t know where she was and all,” Riley Johnson said. “She would fly all around my room, and we couldn’t get her down at all. But eventually, after a few months, she warmed up to us.”
Once Yoshi got past the beginning phase, where she was confused and lost, it was much easier to take care of her. Yoshi is a part of Johnson’s everyday life, but Riley doesn’t have to do as much as people would expect for a bird owner.
“We feed her once in the morning, whenever she’s hungry. Then we usually let her out in the mornings, and we have pants for her so she doesn’t poop all over the house. I go to school, and then when I come back, we hang out with her,” Riley Johnson said.
Many parents would think their kid is joking when they say they want to have a pigeon as a pet, but Riley Johnson was not kidding. She couldn’t have any animals with fur, seeing as her dad was allergic, so she decided she wanted a pigeon. Her mom would’ve never thought that they would actually end up with one, but Riley was able to convince her parents to get her Yoshi.
“I was hesitant at first. The idea was funny to me, and I didn’t think she was serious. But Riley talked about it for a while, and she actually created a PowerPoint presentation of the benefits or the bonuses of having a pigeon for a pet,” Tommi Johnson said. “So I warmed up to the idea because she was so excited about it, and the more I looked into it, the better I felt about it.”
Taking care of a pigeon is not a common thing to do, but Riley and her mom wouldn’t have it any other way. When choosing a pet, a pigeon was not Riley’s first choice, but overall, she is glad that she ended up getting Yoshi. Ever since Riley’s dad passed away, Yoshi has been a form of emotional support for her, and Riley and her family could not imagine life without her.
“I would 100% do it again because she’s such a great part of the family. Having a pigeon and a husky in the same household is a strange little combination, but I couldn’t picture life without them,” Tommi Johnson said.
