Dogs and Guinea Pigs

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sccobyandfudgesmum

thinking of getting a dog- can you have dogs and guinea pigs living together in the same house?

My guinea pigs live in a cage similar to the nero 4 so would be quite secure.

your comments and advice is greatly welcomed.

thanks

karen
 
It depends on what sort of dog you get and if you are having it from a puppy. Obviously the hunt, chase and kill breeds, such as terriers, might never be able to be fully trusted and will be much more interested in small furry creatures than some other breeds!
 
We have a Cavalier King Charles female who loves our piggies to bits but they totally ignore her,she was brought up from a pup alongside my old piggy and followed him everywhere,never once has she tried to bite any or done anything else for that matter.

al.
 
we have 3 dogs and the oldest 1 used to love our rabbits(we used to have) and was good as gold and she has continued to be really great with the guineas even though when we got her we were told she didnt get on with any small animals.We have a disabled king charles spaniel who ignores and avoids the piggies and a puppy cavalier king charles who wants to play with them so we have to be a little careful but there is no nastiness but i agree 100% it depends on the dog as we have had a jack russel visit who really wanted to eat/hurt them.So you just have to carefully consider the dog:<>
 
thanks folks the dog would be a west highland terrier and they are only a week old at the moment so it would be a puppy when we get it. the mam and dad are a lovely nature.

i would put the dog in the kitchen or a dog cage when at work only work a couple of hours a day at a school at the lunchtime
 
I have a mad, guinea-loving cocker spaniel. x) Susie is 6.5 yrs & well, nuts! (A bit like me & as it happens, the guinea pigs but that's another story!) I currently have 5 guinea pigs & have had others whom she has known, who have gone over the rainbow bridge. My guineas are indoor pigs & when I am not working (I'm a childminder) & at home, they have free reign of the downstairs hall & lounge (they don't go anywehre else!)

Susie actually used to be a friend's dog & she would come & stay with me for the odd weekend when they went away. Because she chased the guinea pigs I would lock them away in the day & let them out at night. Then, when my friend decided to move house I was looking after her for 3 months. At that point I decided that as this was the guineas house & not hers, I should make her behave & work around them & their routine, rather than the other way round. So, the guineas were let out. :))

Susie did chase them at first, but a smack on the nose & stern 'no' & she soon learnt that it was their house & not here's & that they came first! mallethead Susie learnt very quickly to leave them alone! When I have got new pigs she sniffs them & gets excited, but then settles down again into ignoring them - mostly! She will go & sniff them sometimes & especially if I am holding them, but that's it. We did have an incident where one of my piggies had a bald patch & I couldn't work out why. Then I realised that he had been standing too near her food bowl (watching & waiting for her to leave a biscuit or 2 for him, as it was dried food!). Susie doesn't do sharing of her food & snapped at him pulling out some fur - amazingly he didn't have any skin damage at all! :(|)

When I lose a pig, Susie is always allowed to say her goodbyes, as well as the remaining boys. She will sniff them & say whatever she needs to to them! Plus, she always knows when I am very upset - often when a pig is sick or dies - & Susie will come & give me a hug & look after me. She knows what I need & when! Plus, when I went away last Easter, she stayed with a friend. When she came home she ignored me :x & went to check on the boys first! She had to make sure they were all there & in good working order! I am expecting the same this year!!

The thing is you have to let your dog know that you are the boss & what you will & won't tolerate. They do learn quickly & will follow boundaries - as long as you set & keep to them.

That said, it also depends upon the breed. I looked after a friend's dog once - a greyhound. Unfortunately one of my pigs escaped from the cage & it caught him. Sadly my pig died & I was devastated. I couldn't however, blame the dog. It was doing what was natural to him. Think carefully about the breed & temperament of the dog before you take him home.

But to answer your question - YES! Dogs & guineas can live together! Thank goodness, otherwise my life would be very empty!
 
I have 1 year old Labrador and 4 guinea pigs. I would never leave him alone with them but they live upstairs and he lives downstairs and he comes upstairs as long as I am there. He wants to play with them which just scares them so they hide in their pigloos until he calms down but then they just ignore him.
I would never go out and leave them together and I don't think you should fully trust a dog ever as it is in their nature to chase small furry animals but if you are there and they know whose boss it should be fine :-)
 
My dogs love the guinea pigs and they are all terriers :)
They have bought up with them from when they were puppies. They all come out with me to feed them every morning so they can have a bit of carrot and clear up any lose poos.
 
Oh yeah Jetson the lab also has to have a bit of carrot when they do and does clear up the poos on the lawn
 
thanks for the advice folks puppies are only a week old this week so have two weeks to decide as they are getting advertised then and you can pick the one you want
 
we have three english bull terriers in the house, but we have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. We will only allowed two of the dogs upstairs, but have put a lock on the bedroom which their runs are in, I wouldnt trust our Chico, cos we know she would kill them, so she doesn't even go upstairs.
 
I have 5 dogs, (all rescues) they are 3 terrier crosses, 1 Lab x Whippet and 1 Dobermann. None of them were puppies when I got my guineas but they will all lie out in the sun on the grass with the guineas running round them and not take any notice of them at all. They do hoover up the poo!. Micky, the Dobe was nearly 4 years old when I had him and I suppose it took about 12 months to get him used to them and 'leave' when told. All the dogs now regard the guineas as part of 'the pack'. So yes, guineas and dogs do get on together, it is just a matter of putting in the training. Reward the good behaviour and ignore the bad. Good luck.:)p:)p
 
Past behaviour is no guarantee of future behaviour. Is it ever worth the risk where a life could be at stake?
How many young children have been killed by a family pet dog, who had always been friendly towards them?
 
dog will only be a puppy so has got time and chance to learn

thanks guys
 
I have two big softy 2 English Springer Spaniels and they are not allowed in the playroom where the guinea pigs are housed - I have a child safety gate on the entrance - the dogs never attempt to come in even if the gate is open when I am in there as they know who is Pack Leader (ME) and know not to cross the line, but nonetheless they are absolutely not allowed near the piggies.

Personally I wouldn't trust any dog near any small furry - but just my opinion.:)):))
 
As long as they accept the pigs as part of their 'pack' - some do, some don't. My labrador knows the piggies are pretty much above him in the pecking order! He wouldn't harm them - of course I'd never risk it, but he has just sat there while one ran past (an escapee) and just looked at me as if to say 'he's not where he should be!'.

My terrier on the other hand - can't be trusted. He has learnt that it upsets me when he hassles them, but if I'm not in the immediate vicinity he watches them like TV, and if they run he chases (they're in secure runs), so he's simply not allowed unsupervised with them even if they're in secure runs. His instincts take over, red mist... he can't help it.

I had a westie as a child, with lots of guineas and small animals, and she never looked at them as prey - but they were there before her!

Sophie

x
 
i have a border collie and his only young had him from a pup. his great with the piggies, his more fasinated by them. I always supervise when his near them and would never have them together. they can talk through the cage if I'm there though. he has arguments with lincoln as i normally push a carrot through the bars of lincolns cage and while lincolns eating it tucker comes and pulls it out and eats it, lincoln shouts his mouth off lol bless him. As long as your careful and weary it shouldnt be a problem. x good luck x
 
Surely, even with training you can never remove a dog's basic hunting instinct?
I find it ironic that LM says "Good luck". Should luck come into the equation?
 
I have 2 lurchers (a whippet X beddlington terrier and a greyhound X bearded collie). Both on occasion have caught small critters when out on walks.

Despite this obvious natural hunting instint both the dogs love the piggies and respect my authority as I have taught them that the pigs are mine and are not to be touched or even pestered in any way.

The pigs are in the living room where we spend most our time and the dogs have access to this room.

The dogs both say "hello" to the pigs, sniffing noses through the bars with them. Both dogs even safely sit next to me on the sofa whilst I have a piggie on my lap. This is not "hunter" behavior at all and this did surprise me intitially as both dogs have quite a high prey drive.

The living room where the piggies live has a lock on the door and the room is kept locked whever we are out or whenever we are not in the living room ourselves.

Dogs are dogs at the end of the day and it would never be the dogs fault if anything was to happen. It would be mine for not taking the necessary precautions. In my opinion, no matter how seemingly well a dog appears to get on with small animals, they should never be left alone unsupervised.
 
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I have a collie x Springer and she would love to get at the piggies and probably eat/kill them. She is not supposed to go in the room where they are kept but she will do anything to get in and once in she will just stare at the cage and start dribbling, once when they were in the run outside she tried chewing the wood to get to them. She is definatly not trusted around them at all and never left alone when the piggies are around even if they are in a cage.

It realy does depend on the dog and also having pigs around when the dogs a pup helps
 
thank you all for your comments all your suggestions and ideas will be noted. My idea was that the dog would be left in the kitchen when i am not home and i was thinking about getting a crate for it too.
as some of you have said it would learn that the pigs are mine and not to be touched and it would never be left unsupervised with them. I would get the puppy as soon as i could i think it would be 8 weeks which would be the week before half term.
 
I love dogs, everyone knows that but I don't have one because of the little guys! I must admit when pics are taking with pigs and dogs or cats I feel uncomfortable as it only takes one nip and that is it. I wouldn't chance it. The same applies to babies sat with dogs!

If your pigs are in a proper cage and the door is shut when you are not home (maybe locked too) then I can't see it being a problem. I love terriers and I have more experience with these dogs, I love a challenge haha but wouldn't have one with the pigs around. :)
 
i have a longhaired dachshund i have had from a puppy and he is fine
with the piggies likes to lick them if he gets the chance or has a sniff
at them through the cage but i have another longhaired dachshund
who i adopted at 7 months old and very sadly he killed one of my
piggies last summer as she accidently got out of the run because the
rabbit dug a hole the other side very upsetting at the time now we have
fenced part of the garden off so the guinea pigs can go out in there runs
and for the rabbit to run around without the dogs getting near them and
i also stand out there when the dogs are out as i still worry as it was a
horrible experience
 
Our doberman Ellie is fantastic with the guinea pigs and they are completely relaxed around her, we had our 2 older boys first so she grew up with them around. I know it sounds silly but at feeding times we'd feed them first then her, its got to the point now where she hears them wheek for food and gets excited as she knows her foods on its way too. Now I completely trust her with them which is wonderful to be able to do but I think its hard to tell before you have the dog whether or not they'll all get on. As someone else mentioned terriers have very high prey drives which can be hard to tame with small animals around, I think as long as you're sensible and make sure the pigs are in a secure safe space you'll be fine!
 
sccobyandfudgesmum said:
thinking of getting a dog- can you have dogs and guinea pigs living together in the same house?

My guinea pigs live in a cage similar to the nero 4 so would be quite secure.

your comments and advice is greatly welcomed.

thanks

karen
Click to expand...

Most definitely but you may want to trial out who may get on with your pigs. They were there first and should get a say in the adoption process...
My last girly pig thought she and the dog were the same type of animal. She used to follow the dog everywhere. She also tried to runaway twice and was found in the bushes by the dog... She was a cheeky little sausage...
 
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