Dog and fox urine

[glynsig]

Please excuse my ignorance but I have just seen an old thread saying that dog and fox urine is poisonous to guinea pigs! I am so glad I cam across this as we have just got our two piggies and we also have three dogs of our own and foxes that visit the garden. Luckily the weather has been horrible of late and we haven't put the piggies onto the lawn but they did go out for a little while a few days ago. I am worried now as with three dogs there has to be urine everywhere! And how do I fence off any part of the garden when the dogs have been using the whole garden for over a year now? The hutch is on a brick paved patio and we had put them in a run on the grass as we thought that was good for them. I am thinking I can't even get some fresh grass for them from the garden either. I am planning on putting the hutch in a shed soon. Will it matter if they don't go on grass again as long as they have a large area to run around in in the shed? I have read up on how to kit out the shed so that should be fine I hope. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[piggieminder]

If you can't fence off an area to keep the dogs and foxes off it's a shame but some piggies live in flats and never have access to an outside run. I am sure they will love running around in the shed, the larger area they have for some exercise the better as long as it has plenty of places to hide (they tend not to like wide open spaces). Guinea pigs love to eat grass and it's very good for them, if they can't have grass from your garden maybe you could grow some in seed trays to cut. Mine get grass to eat most days, I cut it when the weather is too bad for them to go outside. Our lawns are a bit exposed in the winter and don't grow well so I grow grass in trays in a more secluded part of the garden and in the greenhouse, maybe you can find somewhere the dogs couldn't get at it.

 

[glynsig]

If you can't fence off an area to keep the dogs and foxes off it's a shame but some piggies live in flats and never have access to an outside run. I am sure they will love running around in the shed, the larger area they have for some exercise the better as long as it has plenty of places to hide (they tend not to like wide open spaces). Guinea pigs love to eat grass and it's very good for them, if they can't have grass from your garden maybe you could grow some in seed trays to cut. Mine get grass to eat most days, I cut it when the weather is too bad for them to go outside. Our lawns are a bit exposed in the winter and don't grow well so I grow grass in trays in a more secluded part of the garden and in the greenhouse, maybe you can find somewhere the dogs couldn't get at it.

Thank you so much. A great idea to grow grass in trays.

 

[Lady Kelly]

It's near on impossible isn't it? I have a new puppy and getting him to wee in just one area was superseded by the need for him to just go outdoors. I'm keeping an eye on where he goes but it will be some time before my piggies can go out on the lawn

 

[glynsig]

It's near on impossible isn't it? I have a new puppy and getting him to wee in just one area was superseded by the need for him to just go outdoors. I'm keeping an eye on where he goes but it will be some time before my piggies can go out on the lawn

Yes it is difficult........as we have three dogs and they have been using the garden for a year and we have only just got the piggies. I googled about fox and dog and found a reply in this actual forum some years ago that said this whole fox/dog urine issue wasn’t true so now I am confused! I sort of know where the dogs wee so I may fence another area off when I get the lovely large run I have ordered.