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Dog Killed The Guinea Pigs - Opinions, Advice, And Friendly Ears Neede


dastardlyboo
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One of my past dogs (and one current) was fantastic with everything in our house except birds and neonatal kittens. We dont have 'pocket pets' anymore but given her responses I would imagine she would have been the same with these.

She wasnt trying to kill as such (at least I dont think so) although the end result was the same the one time someone got careless with one of the pet birds. Her behaviour was to my eyes exactly the same as when she got hold of one of the younger kids soft squeaky toys or a balloon, she would toss it around and generally play enthusiastically having a fine old time.

My first dog was good with all prey type animals but under supervision only. He did manage to frighten a guinea pig to death (piggie was in its hutch) just staring at it one day, those little guys drop dead very easily!

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Sorry to hear that.

We have had the same incident happen here when my boy was younger, he managed to get at my rabbit :rofl:

I couldn't punish him, because like others have said it is natural prey unfortunately.

I currently have an inside guinea pig who lives in a fort knox mansion where Maverick has no way of accessing him.

Edited by MavericksMission
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The OP asked for "Friendly Ears". I don't think we've supplied that very well - at least I don't think I have. But I would well presume the OP understands more about dogs from even just this one event and all our posts in response.

I'm really sorry this has happened and it would be a very sad day for the ones to whom the GP's were pets. Even in that, there is a life's lesson that kids need to learn as they grow. It's hard to take their upset, but IMO it stands them in good stead to understand about nature and death later on.

Edited by Erny
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Just wanted to make the point that an intact dead animal is no guarantee that the dog was only "playing".

Might not even have been the dog - may have been the cats. He's a terrier and my terriers certainly wouldnt have left the little gwinnees intact - they'd be all over the yard in little pieces.

If it was the dog - certainly wasnt his fault

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I never had GPs when i was younger for the pure fact i liked to have dogs over GPs :rofl: and mum didnt think it was a good idea having a dog, cats and GPs. Its very sad what has happened and i feel sorry for your step daughter. Either a new better hutch or no more GPs like others have suggested.

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I'm sorry this has happened. :rofl: But as others have said, dogs will be dogs. I've had my Shih Tzu kill three of our chickens in less than two minutes because my OH didn't shut the gate to the chook pen all the way. It was horrible to watch but I was so angry at my OH, not Daisy.

We now have a very secure pen and she has worked out there is no way on earth she can get in and she now leaves them alone. You can make it work if you choose to get your step daughter more GP's.

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I feel sorry for the dog getting smacked for an instinctive and normal dog behaviour :rofl: He doesn't see what he did as wrong. My dogs have killed small animals like possums, rats etc and I'm sure they would kill a GP if they had a chance. I don't get mad at them for doing so - it's their prey drive and nothing more.

TBH I also wonder like other posters have suggested if you know he actually shook the guinea pigs or frightened them? I imagine it wouldn't take much for GPs to die from a heart attack from fright etc if the dog bailed them up. It's poor management IMO and nothing more. He is definitely not a bad dog, not even remotely.

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Sadly DOL is not the place for friendly ears.

Well I for one am not about to sugarcoat the fact I am quite horrified a dog was hit and left outside for doing something completely normal and instinctual...

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Laying them out side by side sounds like cat behaviour to me. Our neighbours often complain that cats go into her yard and injure/kill her guinea pigs.

What on earth were the gp's doing running around loose where there is a dog and 4 cats around?? No matter which animal killed them, it was your fault, it was an accident waiting to happen. The gp's should have their own safe area to stay when they aren't supervised, and the dog should be separate from the cats when you're not around.

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The OP asked for "Friendly Ears". I don't think we've supplied that very well - at least I don't think I have. But I would well presume the OP understands more about dogs from even just this one event and all our posts in response.

I'm really sorry this has happened and it would be a very sad day for the ones to whom the GP's were pets. Even in that, there is a life's lesson that kids need to learn as they grow. It's hard to take their upset, but IMO it stands them in good stead to understand about nature and death later on.

Thank you Erny.

I DO appreciate all of the comments, and I have a thick skin, so while I may not agree with everything that everyone has said, I am not offended or hurt. Well, not beyond the sadness about my puppy (he's 5, but being my baby, I call him my puppy) and my guinea pigs.

I agree that WE (not just my partner - BOTH of us) failed the guinea pigs in not having a secure enough hutch. We are sure that it was Joss, because the yard is sealed and he chewed a hole through the chicken wire of the hutch to get them out. I KNOW he's not a vicious dog. He's a very clever dog. Almost too clever. Unsupervised in the backyard with an exciting puzzle to solve, he couldn't resist the temptation.

I know he's still the same dog. Part of my distress is that my partner is having trouble seeing him as the same dog. To be fair, he's more of a guinea pig person than me. I am the dog person. Losing the guinea pigs was more upsetting for him than it was for me. I think it's perfectly natural for my partner to not want to LOOK at the dog that killed his pets. I don't have a problem with the dog getting a smack, because although he may not understand WHY getting the guinea pigs was wrong, I think he did understand THAT getting the guinea pigs was wrong. Like I said, he is a clever dog.

Thank you also for your concern for my step-daughter. She is fine. They were her guinea pigs, but as is the case with a lot of children, I was the one who fed them and cleaned their hutch and cuddled them. So I don't actually think she was overly attached to them. I am THANKFUL, that Joss didn't chew on them though - because that would have been awful for her to see.

As it is, my partner has relented because it's important to me.

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I don't have a problem with the dog getting a smack, because although he may not understand WHY getting the guinea pigs was wrong, I think he did understand THAT getting the guinea pigs was wrong. Like I said, he is a clever dog.

Let me assure you, he is a dog that has no moral compass and therefore no concept that what he did was wrong. Otherwise why would he have done it? He could probably tell afterwards that you were upset with him, but he wouldn't have understood why.

Edited by huski
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Sadly DOL is not the place for friendly ears.

Well I for one am not about to sugarcoat the fact I am quite horrified a dog was hit and left outside for doing something completely normal and instinctual...

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Not one of us is perfect, we have made mistakes in various areas of our lives, including with our dogs. While we may know more than others at this point in time and it is easy to say 'I am horrified' or 'it is completely your fault', how would we respond to such remarks? I for one would be far less inclined to attend to information presented in such a way than, for example, "I am really sorry for you loss, however have you considered...."

I agree that the message is important but the delivery is not going to do anything to help.

... and no I am not talking about you specificially.. but the whole DOL demeanour.

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I think he did understand THAT getting the guinea pigs was wrong.

I'm totally confident you're wrong. Apparently this means I'm "unfriendly".

Your dog will know he's in trouble. He won't know why. He'll be reading your body language and be somewhat confused by it now.

I hope the shock passes soon and you can view this as the tragic accident it is.

Edited by poodlefan
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Really sorry to hear about the piggies but as others have said not the dog's fault and pointless to be correcting him and putting him outside after the event he won't have a clue why. Many people have dogs and other pets the best rule to remember is never let the dogs have unsupervised access to other animals - after all they are dogs. wWe wouldn't ever leave them unsupervised with children either.

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Sadly DOL is not the place for friendly ears.

Well I for one am not about to sugarcoat the fact I am quite horrified a dog was hit and left outside for doing something completely normal and instinctual...

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Not one of us is perfect, we have made mistakes in various areas of our lives, including with our dogs. While we may know more than others at this point in time and it is easy to say 'I am horrified' or 'it is completely your fault', how would we respond to such remarks? I for one would be far less inclined to attend to information presented in such a way than, for example, "I am really sorry for you loss, however have you considered...."

I agree that the message is important but the delivery is not going to do anything to help.

... and no I am not talking about you specificially.. but the whole DOL demeanour.

I don't see anyone flaming the OP here, just being frank and honest whilst still being well mannered. The OP sees no problem in hitting the dog after it's killed something, and that DOES horrify me. TBH considering the subject matter I think everyone has been more than reserved.

Besides which, I fail to see what is achieved by adding in a little high and mighty moral lecture in the middle of a thread.

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