Just can not believe this!

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

I am a member of a chinchilla fan site on FaceBook and recently got asked by another member if it was okay to let her chin and her dog play together. :wacko:

I told her that in my opinion, it was not a great idea since chins are prey animals and dogs, cats etc are prey driven animals and that neither really loses that preying instinct and that it could possibly end up in tragedy.

I am curious to see what others think about this topic....

 

[Parkerspetchins]

It's not a good idea for multiple reasons, the dog could be the gentlest thing on earth and accidentally step on the chinnie since it's nearly impossible to teach a dog the "chinnie shuffle"...it's just not safe.

 

[starleomach]

not safe.

 

[Sandi]

I agree its not safe but I've seen youtube videos of dogs and chins playing together. I just cringed watching it.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

That was my thinking too..she is arguing the fact now, based on that her dog is a little dog that would not hurt a fly...Some people!

I remember my mom and dad saying the same thing about their dog, a daschund, and having to take my toddler to the ER with a punctured nostril and cheek..i can only imagine what it would do to a chin..

 

[Brittney]

A guy I'm kinda seeing has a rat that his dog plays with. I cringe when the dog gets a little rough. She just licks it and that's it, but hey, it's his rat, not mine. The dog came over to play with my dog a couple of days ago and wanted my chinchillas so bad she about toppled over a cage. As stated above, it doesn't matter if the dog would never harm a fly, they can't control their excitement and don't know the meaning of "gentle." Something bad could definitely happen.

 

[Jenn]

I used to have a mini schnauzer who I could have sworn would never hurt a fly. The sweetest dog, very loving. One day she brought me back a baby bunny...baby survived but it was an eyeopener that any animal can purposely or accidently hurt another.

I now have a dobie, who is very big and very energetic. He is less trustworthy around smaller animals, but I think it would be his energy that could hurt another. I think if I let my chin run around, he'd accidently step on her.

Even other chins will attack chins. You really can't totally trust any animal. And if this person really loves her chin, she will think about the safety of her chin first and not look for an accident to happen.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

That is exactly what I told her too! And then gave her this website and told her to ask everyone on here, if she didn't believe me! Even other people have told her this and she still refuses to listen. Unfortunately, the only way these people will learn is when they show up at the E-Vets and are having to put them to sleep because their so called "gentle" dog/cat did what came natural and mauled the chin to death.

 

[AZChins]

There's like one dog of any of my customers that I would ever trust to be around chinchillas...that's out of hundreds of customers. It's a bad idea to let dogs and chins play, something horrible can happen. And, it has happened, many times...I had a customer let her dog play with her chins and one ended up dead in a few minutes. I had another customer let the dog play with the new chins and ended up bruising up the side of the chinchilla - she did this despite being told to NOT let the chins out the first week and she was so upset that she gave up the chins the next day. People over the age of 18 are supposed to think more like adults than children and supposedly I can trust them to make good decisions. It's awful that any of that ever happened because the owners SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER.

My dogs are terrified of the chins, but then again, they aren't much larger than the chinchillas and the chins could cause more damage to them. It's not a good idea to let them play with the chins because they will end up being traumatized and bitten up. LOL I'd still never let them around the chins...something bad could happen to the chins...the dogs can take a bite to the nose, but the chinnies can't.

 

[Marie5656]

I agree, definatly not safe. Which group do you belong to? I belong to one at FB as well.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

I agree, definatly not safe. Which group do you belong to? I belong to one at FB as well.

The FB forum I belong to is called Chinchillas!

 

[shubbles]

That person has to use some common sense. 1 pound thing<50 pound thing.

 

[newf]

I agree with not letting dogs and chins play together either. I have three dogs, and even though I trust two of them around, the third one I would definitely not trust around them at all. She was a found pup, and has a high prey drive. Some people just take too many risks with their animals.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

I have 3 dogs myself, one of which is used to having to find her own food or starve and the other two are trained to root out badgers and other small animals, but all of whom I would trust around a newborn baby. But I still do not trust them around my chin and always make sure they are not in the room when it is Herby's time to play.

It is just not fair to the chin to have to try and fend off an animal 50 times bigger than it!

 

[3CsMommy]

You said the group is "Chinchillas"? Maybe I should stop by to reinforce your statements. Another experienced voice of reason... That said, I'm in a different chinchilla group there. Want to swap user names by PM?

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

yep! chinchillas! ( gotta include the ! ) lol! PM sent with my user name..

 

[Luci]

i just read the thread and more than one thing upset me about the advice given there.

the thread was started by a "breeder" who was open to giving advice. one person mentioned her chin wasnt eating. the vet put the chin on all the right meds and the proper food. the owner just asked what she could do to improve appetite. the "breeder" suggested feeding fresh fruits and veggies and giving yogurt, applesauce, and a teaspoon of peanut butter.

i put in my 2cents so hopefully the people will take that advice to heart. i tried posting CnH's link to the group's wall. but it keeps getting deleted. im assuming the creator doesnt want outside links?

 

[Chibigirl]

Oh wow I just read that discussion topic. Peanut butter, really? Even though I'm relatively new to chins that's just the worst advice I've ever heard. It disturbs me that she was volunteering these answers while saying she's a breeder.

 

[3CsMommy]

Technically any idiot that can tell a male chin from a female (or, heck, can't tell the difference!) could call themselves a "breeder". Now, an ethical breeder is an entirely different thing.

 

[Euphoric]

I just adopted a sphynx cat who was raised by a rabbit breeder. Of course she gets a long great with the rabbits (I can have both the cat and my rabbits out at the same time) but I would NEVER let the cat out with the chinchillas.
Thankfully my cat also IGNORES my chins..plus I am pretty sure if she ever got the nerve to lay around the cage they would bite her, lol.