Would a dog hurt a guinea pig? on the Peoria.com Forums

Seeing pics of Eg's new little bunny makes me long for a new little critter of my own. When I was growing up we had guinea pigs. I'd love to get another but I wonder if our dogs would hurt the little dude? It seems the only way you would find out for sure could possibly be a swift death for the pig. What do you think?

Won't Mary be jealous? LOL. I think it would be o.k. as long as when the Guinea Pig is out of its cage you make sure its constantly supervised.

We had a few cats when I was growing up. I got a hamster and when we went on vacation, the hamster mysteriously disappeared...probably the cats.

It would depend on the breed of dog... but caution is advised:

From Cavy(*) Safety

"Common sense must prevail in your choice of pets and environment. The average dog and cat is usually just fine with guinea pigs. They tend to be curious or playful with guinea pigs or sometimes even afraid of them. However, you can never assume that just because your dog or cat seems okay most of the time when it's around your cavies that it will be all the time. You must always be aware that dogs or cats are predators to guinea pigs. A dog or cat can unintentionally do serious harm to a guinea pig even if they think they are only playing. Some breeds of dogs are more prone to viewing the guinea pig as prey than others."

(*) The Cavy family (Caviidae) is a family of rodents native to South America including the domestic guinea pig, wild cavies, and the capybara, among other animals.

jnj, we had a hamster and a yorkie at the same time. i was quikly reminded that yorkies were bred for small game hunting at one point in their ancestry. he'd chase the hamster around but never really hurt him.

this same yorkie is currently living with my sister...and her rabbit. the rabbit ignores the yorkie and vice versa. but maybe that's cause the rabbit has a few pounds on him...

Thanks, Naughty. I used to have a female cocker Spaniel that had been used as a breeder at a puppy mill. She was a great Momma Dog. We had a rabbit at the same time, and our cocker thought the rabbit was her puppy. She would growl at anyone who came near it. It was cute but annoying at the same time.

I'm sure our girl dog would be fine. The boy dog would probably be OK too, but he is more unpredictable. Just like a dude . They are both Pekingese.

Poppy, my peke would curl up and sleep with it, Oscar my Pom and Rogy, my Yorki would eat it.. Sorry.. if your guys are frisky I think I'd go easy on the poor pig.. My other peke Cici, used to run into the ocean when we were fishing to help land the catch.. not too smart considering the type of fish we pulled out of there, my peke only weighed about 5 lbs.. not much bigger than my bait..lol You could get a ferret, they can handle almost any situation. Terra Bella, my ferret wasn't afraid of anything and she put a hurtin on any of my dad's cats that pissed her off. Plus, she was highly entertaining. Keep their cage lined with that stuff in a green bag and it neutralizes any odors too. If the cage is cleaned regular enough you won't have any problems. No matter what any animal takes work.

Good luck.

I had a rabbit for a few years which chased my dogs! He was about a quarter of the size of the smallest dog but they ran from him every time.

make sure the cage is secure  ive had rats and pigs and my cats never bothered them but my dogs on the hand wanted to eat em

We have a rabbit that lives in our yard... dumb rabbit he has a little bunny hole that Rogy (the yorkie) can run right into. I'm terrified he will find it because the bunny's far bigger than he is..lol. My Pom, Oscar can fit down the hole but has discovered it and is constantly trying to dig that poor bunny out. I crack up because I think the bunny has a back up exit because he's always sitting on the other side of the yard watching the silly dog trying to get in his house.