Question for piggie + dog parents

[JaseChase]

My partner and I are considering moving in together at the moment and I am of course factoring the piggies into the plan haha

I've got two boys in a 5x2 C&C cage on a stand raised from the ground (they're about a year and a half old). Partner has a sweet little doggo, he's a poodle/terrier cross and under 5kg so quite small. He's been around the piggies several times (the piggies always in a lidded cage) and we've not had problems - he gets curious and likes to go and say hello, but we have a 'no paws on the cage' rule and the piggies will quite happily sit and munch in front of him while he's looking

However, moving in together poses some extra challenges so I want to make sure I'm prepared and the piggies will be absolutely safe. My current thinking is:

- Get a permanent lid on the cage (C&C grids and zip ties probably? Suggestions on this would be welcome)
- Keep the piggies in a room where the door can be closed for floor/lap time and cage cleaning
- Doggo is always supervised when clearing out the hay every day
- Keep a closed door between doggo and piggies at night

If there are any people on this forum who have dogs and piggies, I would love advice! I'm personally not comfortable with ever having the piggies out of the cage while doggo is in the room, he's gentle as anything but it would take two seconds for something to go horribly wrong and the piggies would come off worse, so it's a big no for me. My partner agrees with me on that

I know that moving is going to cause the piggies to re-establish their hierarchy so I will be expecting dominance displays. I would like to take the opportunity to extend them to a 6x2 C&C if the new place has enough space, would that make any dominance issues worse or is this a good time to do that?

I'm also a bit torn on which room the piggies would go in - they're currently in the living/kitchen area of my flat so they're right in the middle of everything. I've thought about putting them in a bedroom in the new place because that will have a door that is easy to close to keep the dog away when needed, but I worry they'd be out of the way and less involved with daily life (though I'd of course go and spend time with them as much as possible). But would keeping them in the kitchen/living space be less practical with doggo around? What have other people done in this situation, if any of you have done this before?

Thank you for any advice! Here is piggie tax

 

[Julie M]

I have a Jack Russell, 2x piggies and 2x dwarf hamsters they have their own room. The piggies are in a c&c on top of a folding craft table (they don't have a lid) my mother in law made curtains on old fashioned net curtain wire to hook on the cage so i use the underneath of the cage as storage. I shut the room door at night or if we are out.

 

[Julie M]

Here are some old pictures of my set ups ive had.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

As daily life will be more busy with two permanent people and a doggy I think the piggies would be better off in their own room where there are less potential stresses.
It may be worth seeking advice from a dog behaviour point of view too.

 

[poggle]

Piggie picture tax accepted

With the caveat that we have a very different breed of dog (terriers were bred as ratters, I think?), our pigs live in our living room and seem to do very well. With training, our golden retriever mostly ignores them unless they're doing something particularly acrobatic/noisy. She's not a barker but she does play in the same room.

The piggy cage is fully enclosed on a low-ish table. Because part of the cage is at dog eye height, at first we had a strip of material round the sides to prevent interaction/stress. I think this helped them get used to her smell, sounds and presence and identify them as not a threat before actually seeing this huge blonde predator. She's never left unsupervised with them and she sleeps upstairs with us overnight, but a closed door to prevent unsupervised interaction sounds sensible.

I think your set up will probably depend on the temperament of your dog and how happy your guinea pigs are co-existing. We tested our current set up and it worked, but we did make sure we had a Plan B in case one or both sides didn't enjoy sharing space.

 

[Engel]

I have 2 dogs, 8 pigs and a dwarf hamster. Hamster and pigs are in one room and the dogs aren't ever allowed in that room.

In your situation this is what I'd do:
Ideally have pigs in their own room and keep this as a dog free zone, however this isn't always possible. So I'd have the pigs up on a surface so that the dog can't reach it. Nothing to jump on to get to or in the cage. I'd add a lid for extra security. When you aren't in the room, make sure that the door closes properly and keep the dog out.

Note that regardless of the dogs actual personality, they're still a predator. Terriers are bred for hunting and going down rabbit burrows to flush them out. Poodles are retrieving dogs and very smart. They were originally used to fetch shot birds and other animals from water.

I had a terrier and he'd always been a pet, never been hunting in his life, yet had the typical hunting instincts for his breed. One of my current dogs is a toy poodle mix. The retrieving instinct is strong and she's very agile, intelligent and obsessive. I've spoken to many owners of both breeds and they too have said the same about their terrier (x) and poodle (x).

(My poodle x can jump 3-4ft from a standing position even at almost 8 years old. So when people say their small dog can't reach the cage/shelf because it's too small to jump that high, I panic internally because I know that if their pooch wanted to, they could.)

 

[flowerfairy]

I have 2 guinea pigs and a hamster living in what used to be the dining room. The dogs are only allowed in there when I am around.

The guinea pigs are in a c and c set up on ikea tables. The labrador completely ignores them and the poodle loves to bark at them. The guinea pigs are oblivious to the dogs and just snooze and eat as per.

I would go for the separate room if you have the space. More relaxing.

 

[JaseChase]

Thanks so much everyone! This is really helpful

Definitely sounds like keeping the piggies in their own room (a bedroom) is the better idea. They're up on a stand so raised from doggo eyesight but he can jump higher than even he realises so there'll be a permanent lid. I like the idea of keeping the piggie room dog-free (at least as much as possible), either way I'll make sure the door is 100% securable so he can't get in when we aren't around

Hadn't considered the piggie stress when there's more movement in the house, good point. Having their own quiet space sounds better for them all round. We're planning to put a desk in the spare bedroom so I might make it my work place so I can chill with them while doggo has fun with my partner haha

I'd never risk the dog in there unsupervised, something could go wrong so quickly (and partner agrees with me on that). So will only be getting piggies out of the cage when we're both home and I can close the door and leave partner with the doggo

Glad to hear there are others who make it work with both pets though, I admit I was a bit concerned at first just because of dog instincts. But with all the precautions and piggies' safety and comfort as the priority I think we can make it work, and we've never had an issue so far when doggo has been around my boys - both piggies will happily munch on hay and veggies while the dog is in the room, and he loses interest pretty quickly and goes about his business without paying them much attention

 

[JaseChase]

Just a quick update to say the move has happened! Boys are all set up in their own room and I'm definitely glad we gave them their own space - with moving there have been workmen in and out and lots of unpacking sounds, so they're much better off tucked out of the way.

It's only been two weeks, so I've been leaving them alone apart from feeding/cleaning times. They have been handfeeding for the past week, and I got a couple of wheeks yesterday and today, which was great! Today was the first weigh/health check day and so I got them both out for the first time and they settled pretty well, though I didn't have them out for longer than necessary just to be safe.

Dog has been in the room a few times (always supervised) and he does get a bit whiny, so I'm shutting him out when it's piggie time and that's a system that's been working well. The lid is working great and the cage is raised so there's very little risk of him getting in there, but I still don't let him in the piggie room unsupervised and we keep the door shut at night or if we're out. It's shut most of the time right now to be honest, just to give the piggies more time to adjust to their new surroundings.

This is the current setup (I'm hoping to remove the blanket gradually over the coming weeks):



And here are the boys!

 

[Swissgreys]

Thanks for the update.
It sounds like you have a great system in place, and I am glad it's working out.
Gorgeous piggies too.