Chins and dog?

[mrsoliver]

Hello im a new chinchilla owner and am a little worried about my chins. I have a dog and she wont leave them alone, one of the babies Rooney seems fine and just gets on with his own business (very active), the other one Peanut is slightly more shy and stays in his house quite alot. He still bombs around the cage but mainly in his house (even at night) Tia my dog is very friendly and loves new introductions as we have had another dog and 2 cats at 1 point. She even fed the cat! So im not sure if its because they are in a cage or what. Please help as i dont want to have to rehome the chins but obviously if they are scared then i will.Any help would be great thanks.:cry3:

 

[saphire]

have you tried putting the chins in a room where the dogs don't have access to see if that is simple his temperment? Actually,you may want to leave them in that room.

 

[tunes]

I agree. I would simply block the dog from getting near them. I would also make sure that the chins cage is high off the floor. The higher they are, the more secure they are going to feel. Down on ground level with a dog peering in would scare a lot of chins, but up higher they won't feel like the dog can get at them as much.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

i wouldnt personally take the risk, i wont lie....i brought home my first chinchilla and she had to babies with her...i bought a ferret prevue cage and somehow during the nite when i was sleeping my dog killed her through the cage.............
i dont know exactly what she did but kahluas feet were hanging through the bottom and she was in the middle of the cage and the pan was knocked off the bottom of it....so please dont take that risk.........alllllllllllllllllllllll of my bottom level cages are wrapped in chicken wire now because i still dont trust the dog...

 

[Dragonflye]

Best to keep the chins in a separate, secure room. I have a cat and there's no way I would trust him near my chins. My chin cages are in a spare bedroom and the door is always closed. Even if you wrap the cages, the chins will probably be stressed when the dog is near. I am very conservative and won't take any chances.

 

[mrsoliver]

Thankyou for the replies thats very helpful my chin cage is high up already but i will move them to another room hopefully they will settle.I think Tia (my dog) just want to play with them but obviously im not stupid so thats not happening she is very friendly and interested in them she hasnt growled or doesnt look threatening i just worry the chins will be upset so upstairs they go! Thanks for all the help:thumbsup:

 

[Sierra]

I just adopted a dog from an animal shelter 2 days ago and she is very interested in Phoenix and Sedona. I have the two girls in a FN at the foot of the bed where they can watch Dustin and I at night and when we watch TV before bed. Rosie (the dog) is very curious because Sedona is on the bottom so she is more active and she will sit and watch them for a while when we are getting ready for bed then as it grows dark she will go lay down.

Sedona does her normal thing but Phoenix as become more timid and she has always been that way since we got her so she loves her hidey house and stays in that during the day but comes out right after Hayley goes to bed. Phoenix is on top so she doesn't have to worry about Rosie but last night I noticed that Phoenix was starting to become more curious about Rosie and would watch her a lot from her cage but doesn't seem to be different than her normal shelf.

I was worried about them when we first got Rosie but they seem to be adjusting to her pretty well. I definitely don't trust her in there when we aren't home of course. I am always watching Rosie very carefully when she is in our bedroom.

 

[mk94]

Our dog loved our chinchillas. And I mean LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED our chinchillas. It was a serious obsession of hers. But the chinnies never seemed to mind her. They would come up to her and try to sniff her through the bars. Maybe they thought she was just an over-sized chinchilla.

 

[Tillygizmo]

I just went through this exact experience. We adopted a dog (a pitbull) and he goes over to investigate the chins. They all just do their own thing except for tilly who has always been the most territorial. The dog winds up sticking his nose too close her and she pees at him and then the dog walks away. At first tilly cried day and night and i tried to introduce her and the dog only small increments of time during the day and she realized after about a week that he wouldnt be able to get to her. Now she has stopped crying and just gives him a pee on the face when he gets too close

 

[chinchillalover0927]

yea, all my dog wanted to do was play with the chins to and you see the outcome that happened .on the other hand i have another dog that i trust completely with my chins ...its the dog in my avatar...she wouldnt hurt them if her life depended on it lol

 

[ppsamm]

Our dog loved our chinchillas. And I mean LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED our chinchillas. It was a serious obsession of hers. But the chinnies never seemed to mind her. They would come up to her and try to sniff her through the bars. Maybe they thought she was just an over-sized chinchilla.

my dog did tat too.....
he is friendly to all my chins!

 

[DramaMama]

I have two dogs. My mini pug actually likes to rip anything she can get ahold of to shreds, but somehow my one chin Edgar managed to tame her and they like to play together and touch noses when I take him home for weekends.
My other dog Jasper (he's a shiba, a small version of an akita) is genetically made to be a hunting dog, and he seemed wayyy to interested in Edgar when I first bought him home (I didn't even allow Jasper near the cage, because of a previous incident with one of my bunnies), so when I was living at home I always kept Edgar away from Jasper 100%. My bedroom (Edgar's home) door stayed closed at all times and when I brought Edgar downstairs for playtime (which usually occured in my room, but occasionally would happen in the Kitchen or living room) Jasper would (depending on the weather) stay outside or locked in the back room where his bed was or in my sister's room with her. I just wasn't willing to take a risk. Jasper had always been kept away from my rabbits (except for one accidental incident with one of my bigger male pet rabbits that lived in a pen outside, but Jasper ended up getting more harmed than the rabbit), hamsters and gerbils in the past, but whenever he saw a rabbit outside (they run rampant in my neighbourhood) he would go nuts at the window.

 

[RedEarth]

This has really hit home to me. I have and raise australian shepherd dogs. I have a husky mix. I am very cautious with my dogs and the small pets in the household. The husky is hard wired to hunt rodents. It doesn't matter the size or if it's a pet. She is not allowed in the room where our chinchilla was. In fact, no other animal was. We did allow the husky to observe that we had the chinchilla in the beginning. I wanted to assess how obsessive she was going to be about getting into the room to determine what level of containment I needed for her. She never, and I mean never, exhibited any signs of fixation or aggression to the chinchilla, but knowing her nature, we did not allow that to fool us. We were able to assess that she wasn't going to sit at the door to get into the room, but Just because she seemed unconcerned did not mean she was not dangerous to the chinchilla. On Sunday, the dog managed to slip into the room while we were moving furniture. She's old, and went under the bed to sleep. I don't believe she went in the room because of the chinchilla. She went in the room because we were in there. We didn't realize she was in the room. My daughter, per her routine, shut her bedroom door when leaving. Unfortunately shutting the dog in the room with the chinchilla. My dog, who showed no aggression or interest in the chin, killed her on Sunday. I'm telling you this because even though we knew better and know the temperament of our dogs well, the accident still happened. Please, please please don't ever under estimate the prey drive of your dog. Even if they seem un-interested or just curious. They are curious for a reason.
I would not wish that Sunday on anyone. My daughter was completely distraught. We are all heart broken. We loved Cleo.

 

[Laurie]

RedEarth, thank you for your post. While many members have dogs and chins and allow their dogs to be around their chins, this goes to show that no matter how careful you are something tragic can happen.

 

[Sierra]

Thank you for your post Red Earth. I know it was probably hard for you to relive that moment. I completely understand. I don't let Rosie even in the room when I do playtimes because I don't even want to chance it.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

i know the first night we brought our family of chinchilla home , the first chins we ever had purchased, well we were playing with them in my boyfriends bed room and we had bought one of those super pet xl cages..so it was sitting on the ground..well we had the cage door open and the bedroom door shut..well my boyfriends house has 2 weenie dogs, one which is really timid and submissive..her name is princess.well thats my boyfriends baby without a doubt..well she was sniffing by the cage and brandon kept saying nooo princess noooo, because when he said that she would crouch down and stop..well suddenlty she lunged into the cage , HER ENTIRE BODY WAS INSIDE THE CAGE WITH THE CHINCHILLAS...mom,dad,and 2 babies!!! brandon ripped her out so fast, and instantly she was never really allowed around them again because of that....it could have ended so much worst than her just jumping in the cage.

 

[RedEarth]

Thank you for the kindness. We are still living the nightmare. My daughter will not sleep in her room. I am constantly reminded of the sweet baby that was taken from us too soon. We thought we had enough precautions in place. We didn't under estimate the potential threat from this dog, and yet we had this happen. This is a quiet dog, that had shown no interest in Cleo. But because she is an avid hunter of mice, I knew she was a danger.
I sincerely hope that her loss and our story will help prevent someone else from going through this. It has been horrible. If nothing else, please check your safety routine for your babies and don't get complacent.

 

[kimbt622]

I have a shetland sheepdog. He is the biggest baby in the world, afraid of everything. My four chins are in my bedroom with my boyfriend and I. My Sheltie likes to follow me pretty much wherever I go and he is literally petrified of the chins. If he's in my room (when i'm beside him) with the chins in their cages, he runs if he sees one of them move. It's slightly funny. There have been rare occasions where I will let Liv investigate my dog, Liv is so interested... he probably thinks Huey's a big chin! and Huey (dog) will actually sit on my lap shaking because he's so scared of this little puffball, mind you he does not exactly fit on my lap! haha. BUT regardless of the fact that he is so scared of them, I would never let him in my room without my supervision. I don't know what he could potentially do, even though it's not in his nature... you just never know. I wouldn't risk anything, keep the chinnies in a room where they can feel secure and where the dog cannot get to them without your supervision.

 

[RDZCRanch]

i know the first night we brought our family of chinchilla home , the first chins we ever had purchased, well we were playing with them in my boyfriends bed room and we had bought one of those super pet xl cages..so it was sitting on the ground..well we had the cage door open and the bedroom door shut..well my boyfriends house has 2 weenie dogs, one which is really timid and submissive..her name is princess.well thats my boyfriends baby without a doubt..well she was sniffing by the cage and brandon kept saying nooo princess noooo, because when he said that she would crouch down and stop..well suddenlty she lunged into the cage , HER ENTIRE BODY WAS INSIDE THE CAGE WITH THE CHINCHILLAS...mom,dad,and 2 babies!!! brandon ripped her out so fast, and instantly she was never really allowed around them again because of that....it could have ended so much worst than her just jumping in the cage.

Dachshunds are bred for ratting. Their long, thin bodies enable them to slip into rat, ferret, etc. burrows to get the prey for hunters. This is exactly why my Doxie mix is not allowed in the chinchilla room at all. From the day I've gotten her she has shown an immense fascination with the chinchillas. She doesn't wine or try to get into the room because she knows boundaries and she knows that room is not for her.

Keep your chinchillas where your dog can't get to them or bother them. It will give your chinchilla(s) a longer, healthier, happier life.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

Dachshunds are bred for ratting. Their long, thin bodies enable them to slip into rat, ferret, etc. burrows to get the prey for hunters. This is exactly why my Doxie mix is not allowed in the chinchilla room at all. From the day I've gotten her she has shown an immense fascination with the chinchillas. She doesn't wine or try to get into the room because she knows boundaries and she knows that room is not for her.

Keep your chinchillas where your dog can't get to them or bother them. It will give your chinchilla(s) a longer, healthier, happier life.

yea, i didnt know that until i came home and told my mom what happened. then she told me thats what they are bred for , that they used them to catch rabbits and such because they could get into the burrows and holes easily...lesson well learned that day...

all my chins are in ferret nations except one...the bottom level of my ferret nations are wrapped in chicken wire so that my dogs cant grab a tail or something else sticking out..they dont bother the top level of animals