Dogs and guinea pigs

Guinea pigs are prey animals, and even a dog that has always been calm and seemingly uninterested in your piggies can still be dangerous. Even the sweetest, most mild-mannered dog can react on instinct or accidentally play too rough. It only takes a few seconds for a piggy to get badly hurt. Over the past year, we’ve had two owners lose a guinea pig because of a dog attack. 

If you have dogs and guinea pigs, please keep a few things in mind:

• Keep them physically separated with secure barriers. A secure cage and a closed door are much safer than simply relying on the dog to ignore them.

• Never leave them together unsupervised, even if your dog has always been good around the piggies.
• If you're introducing them, take it slow. Let your dog get used to their smell first before getting closer. You can let the dog smell something from the piggies cage first, notice how they react.
• Watch your dog's body language. Fixating on the piggy, getting excited, trying to get at the cage, or constantly watching them are things to take seriously.
• Make sure your dog is calm when they're around the guinea pigs. We don't want the piggy getting scared or stressed either.
• Don't assume that because your dog has been fine around them for years that nothing can happen. Things can change in an instant

We don't mean to scare anyone! We just want to share this because we've unfortunately seen it happen. Even the nicest dog can be dangerous to a guinea pig, and it's always better to be extra careful than for an accident to happen. We love this article that provides more info.

(Photo credit to Warren Photographic)