She is alone for right now because she is being trained as an emotional support and a service animal but as soon as I'm finished with the bonding and training I will be buying her a friend as well.
Being with another piggy wouldn't hinder that training at all, you'll probably find she'll become much more outgoing
Guineas actually make really good service animals for certain conditions I have an auto immune disorder and if trained properly to react in a certain way can warn me if something is wrong enough for me to need medical attention. I'll look into getting another guinea sooner potentially but I really do need to make sure she is properly bonded first maybe I can just cage them seperately until then but still allow them time together in the meantime.
Guinea pigs either need to be bonded or not together, you can't cage them separately and then have "play dates" or times when they're together. Should you get another piggy, which you should put as a highest priority, you cannot put together and split at different times, when bonded they need to stay together in terms of living. Obviously you can take out peanut for training, and the second pig for handling etc, but once bonded their living environment should be together otherwise you'll be having a constant heirachy battle of them sorting out the social order
I agree. And it is true, once together, they need to stay together. Even at the vets they should go together. Any decent vet will advise this aswell
. Isn't a dog better as a therapy pet?
Not for what I need it for unfortunately animals that are classified as rodents are recommended for my specific condition as a service animal the therapy animal certification ismt necessary but I got that first and am replacing it with the official service training which is just a lengthier processI agree. And it is true, once together, they need to stay together. Even at the vets they should go together. Any decent vet will advise this aswell
I would get a companion and carry on with the training that you are doing, personally I don't agree with prey animals as therapy pets, but that's not my business.
Yea I think it's good if the guine apig can help you, that's brilliant, I just don't agree with therapy guinea pigs where people take them round different places. But that does not mean I dislike people for doing it, I just wouldn't
Perfect maybe I'll try that cause $3 a pound is crazy
Currently I am in fact US based however my home is in Ireland and unfortunately there seems to be a general stereotype that her being my service pet means she will be handled by other people? As a officially registered service pet noone outside of myself is allowed to handle her or pet her so that should eliminate a lot of her stress and the training she is undergoing is just to signal me when I am getting too sick to be at the point I need to be in a hospital. So she will not be overly burdened by her training as most animals that are in the rodent family naturally sense illness all she would be doing for me is telling me when I need to take care of myself. I do fully plan on getting her a companion that was never a question it was only a matter of when I would be able to do so the bigger issue even than her training is I would need to build a far larger cage cause the cage she had now is too small for even just her. I promise though as soon as the storage bins and chloroplast sheets I've ordered to build a proper c&c cage arrives I will start looking for another guinea as a friend for her.
A therapy animal helps with issues of mental health. A service animal provides a service like a walk dog would so in my case peanut notifies me when I need to go to the hospital. I suffer from an auto immune disorder so unfortunately if I get even a little sick my body will start to attack healthy cells as well as the unhealthy cells. Sometimes I dont notice how bad my illness is getting until its too late and I end up in the hospital for days so peanut is providing me the service of notifying me when I'm disorder is taking control.
So peanut stays home as a normal pet would, only your guinea pig can help you. He doesn't go out being petted by loads of people?
No absolutely not real service animals are not allowed to be pet by others it is against their training peanut is trained only to be at home with me and to help make sure I stay healthy and safe while i ensure she us the same while occassionally she will have to go with me in public she is absolutely not going to have other people petting and playing with her it would be too much stress in her and also a distraction to her training.
That's cool, it's nowhere near what I thought it was. The problem your pig(s) might have if you get another one ( which is important) is that If you have to split them when the service one comes out with you to help you, then it well cause stress to both pigs. Can you train two to be service pets?
I could train them both potentially but it costs hundreds of dollars to train one I can always bring both with me though even if only one is trained
Yea that's that sorted then. Personally I wouldn't want to be taking them outside with me, but I cannot tell anyone what to do, I've just seen how pigs get with this, because I rescued school guinea pigs that had to be carted back and forth to a school in all weather before I finally managed to permanently rescue them.
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Dogs are a lot harder to train for my specific condition the dont have the same sensitivity to detect my condition that a rodent would it was actually doctor reccomended to get a rodent for this reason
Ok fair enough
