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General Thoughts on guinea pigs and dogs

Scooterpig

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Hi, this might be in the wrong place mods, feel free to move it if so!

I have 6 pigs, girls in one cage, boys in another. I am considering adopting a 2 year Great Pyrenees (male). He's not the biggest pyr I've ever seen (might be a 'pocket' pyr, but not certain) and at the moment is chronically underweight, which is being treated. Does anyone have any experience of how this breed acts around guinea pigs?

Our home is open plan on the main floor, and the pigs are in the smaller sitting room near the front door. They have lived in that room pretty much all their lives. The layout means adding doors to the room would be very difficult and maybe impossible? We have no other pets, nor kids. The cages are large and have lids. My question is really about how this breed of dog might act around the cages when the piggies are moving around and wheeking - I would NOT be letting the dog interact directly with the pigs! The dog would have his own room for when we were out.

I want to make an informed decision about whether or not to adopt this dog, and the welfare of my piggies is the biggest part of that. He seems to be a sweet boy from the interaction I've had with him so far, but any advice in relation to this breed and piggies would be very welcome.
 

ZiggyPig

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What I know of the Great Pyr is that they are fab protection dogs for farm animals "The Great Pyrenees dog breed‘s goal in life is to protect sheep, goats, livestock, people, children..." - i.e. those smaller animals that make strange noises or run around, like chickens too.

So, not knowing THIS Pyr, I would guess that one would do alright around piggies. Also, at least with my piggies (one of whom is very skittish), they seem unbothered by the dogs most of the time, including our puppy who occasionally likes to veer off and hop up, putting his front paws on the cage and usually right in front of a piggie face.

As long as they are off the ground with lids on, I think you should be fine. Can you bring him to your home to see how he does? Remember he will be wound up the first bit and some of that might show through behaviors towards he will eventually get comfortable with, like whining at your piggies.
 

onefutui2e

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If it's a shepherd animal, I don't think I'd worry about them being aggressive to the pigs. I'd be more worried about the dog not being aware of its strength being too rough. Which is why I wouldn't let my dog near mine since she's 60 pounds of excitable muscle and has a tail that leaves bruises on people.

Since you stated that you don't intend to have your dog interact directly with your pigs and you'll keep them separated when you're not home, I think you should be okay. If you plan to elevate their cage, I'd try and secure it to the table to prevent any accidents. This is my current plan with my dog.

One thing to consider is how you plan to interact with both the pigs and the dog. Are you going to give them lap time in its presence? Or will you pen your dog somewhere? If you go with the second option, will it get jealous and start barking? If the first option, what if the pigs distract him and he wants to get all up in it? These are things I'm still trying to figure out myself. Good luck!
 

ZiggyPig

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One thing to consider is how you plan to interact with both the pigs and the dog. Are you going to give them lap time in its presence? Or will you pen your dog somewhere? If you go with the second option, will it get jealous and start barking? If the first option, what if the pigs distract him and he wants to get all up in it? These are things I'm still trying to figure out myself. Good luck!

Excellent point. This is something we are STILL trying to figure out since moving the piggies down into the living room from my daughter's bedroom. They are SO much happier not to be so isolated, but it's really hard to give them floor time/lap time now because we can't shut out the dogs and cats easily.
The downstairs is all open so it requires shutting (herding!) the 3 cats in one bedroom and the two dogs in another. The puppy will cry, but the piggies don't care too much about that, they don't when the dogs get left down here if we go out. Still, way more difficult.
 
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