Goodbye Crispin

I am so sorry for your loss. RIP little guy.

I am so sorry for your loss D: I'm glad that at least Kade got away without physical harm
R.I.P. Crispin

I'm sorry to hear you lost your piggy this way. I hope you are taking extra precautions to make sure your dog doesn't have access to Kade or any other small pets you might have or get in the future.

Thank you so much @guineapigsxo & @Lagertha [emoji180] and yes I am taking extra precautions now, as I said Zoey had never even attempted coming upstairs before so we always thought one baby gate would be enough to protect them. As a result of the situation with Crispin we added another baby gate at the top of the stairs as well @Paula

Can you close a door instead?
Baby gates aren't very strong for a determined dog, especially one with the size and strength of a Doberman, especially one who has demonstrated a willingness to attack and kill previously.

Sorry for your loss.

Our house is an old one with an open floor plan so doors aren't an option. Thus the reason for the baby gates. Zoey isn't a willing killer. She may be a Doberman but she isn't aggressive at all. From what we observed she didn't intentionally kill the guinea pig, it was more of a playful thing that she didn't realize how small they were. None of them were bloody at all, no bites. It was just one of those things @Paula

Thank you! [emoji171] @guineapiglover

@lmaraya I know how it feels to loose a piggy my heart goes out to you:sad:. Thank God the other one survived. I have owned Dobermans as well and they can be very playful animals I am sure she never meant to kill but to play. I see you are being extra vigilant now with the surviving piggy. Don't feel like you are a bad piggy parent as i feel you did your best to provide the proper protection for your babies.

lmaraya said:

Our house is an old one with an open floor plan so doors aren't an option. Thus the reason for the baby gates. Zoey isn't a willing killer. She may be a Doberman but she isn't aggressive at all. From what we observed she didn't intentionally kill the guinea pig, it was more of a playful thing that she didn't realize how small they were. None of them were bloody at all, no bites. It was just one of those things @Paula

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I understand. I have three BIG dogs, all of whom have demonstrated extreme trustworthiness with my small animals, none of which I'd ever, ever, ever in a million years leave unattended for any length of time with them. Dogs are dogs. They act on instincts, some of which are naturally predatory, and they should never be left unattended with small animals who can't defend themselves, even if they've never seemed interested previously, even if you think they're just playing.

Playing for an 80 or 90 lb dog has much more serious ramifications for a 2 or 3 lb animal than another dog. Also, dogs can't be expected to understand the body language of a small animal, and if left to "play" seems more likely than not to result in injury or worse.

My three can all be trusted to stick their heads in the cages with my pigs and do nothing other than eat pellets and poop, or in the case of one, lick profusely any pig who won't move. Still, it would be utterly irresponsible on my part to ever leave them in a situation where they had access to the pigs without my supervision. Too much possibility for disaster.

I also live in an old, oddly laid-out house, so I understand that too. Maybe you could also seriously reinforce the cage to better protect your pig in case Zoey gets curious again.

Whatever you choose to do is obviously your decision, and I'm not implying the dog is in any way at fault or to blame - far from it. I just hope she isn't again in a situation where something like this can happen and I definitely wouldn't rely on a second baby gate after she's gotten through/around the first one before.

Thank you @GiuneaPigLover! [emoji4] it means a lot, I try to be as vigilant as I can with my pets. And @Paula I don't leave her unattended, like I said it was just one of those things. I'm doing the absolute best I can with what I've got. I'm in no way a bad pet parent relying on the baby gates alone to protect my smaller animals. It's just something that unfortunately happened. I take extra steps now to make sure everyone is safe [emoji4]