| Re: Dog problem
Definitely try to safely introduce them. I've found that my two dogs were curious about them until they found out what they actually were, and then they pretty much lost interest, although my beagle mix still gets a yearning to look at them once in a while. My lab saw what they were and is now constantly terrified when ever I bring them out. She apparently thinks that they're freaky little critters.
If they don't lose interest once they know what they are, I'd definitely use training as a solution. I've often found that retriever type dogs, who are very family oriented and only want to please, work better with positive training, so, while training the dog what's not acceptable and correcting her with a water bottle/dominance may help, training the dog what is acceptable would probably show the most progress, i.e. giving her loads of praise and food rewards whenever she lays quietly by the cage. Whenever she stops barking at the piggers or something, immediately award her so that she gets the idea that if she doesn't scare/bark at the pigs she gets praise.
However, keeping the dogs away from the cage when you can't supervise them should probably be a rule no matter what, because every dog has it's unpredictable day. You never know when it's prey drive will kick in.  |