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The doghouse

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Original poster

Can whippet puppies live ok with guinea pigs

7 replies

Mumsaysno · 05/02/2012 15:07

We are thinking of getting a whippet puppy soon but have two pet guinea pigs that live in the house. Can whippets live ok in a house with guinea pigs or will they want to chase them and kill them?

OP posts:

Snowbeetle · 05/02/2012 15:48

All the whippets I have ever known (3) would chase and kill. Always possible you can train from young I suppose but its a gamble. One big fright might kill the gp and oppo to train gone anyway. BUT I'm not a whippet expert, only known them as friends not an owner. :)

PiggyMad · 05/02/2012 17:53

I have indoor pigs and a dog (a shih tzu, admittedly, so not the same thing!)
The dog would go for the pigs if allowed - but I have them in a room that the dog is not allowed in and let the pigs out to run around when the dog is not there and I'm in with them and the door is shut.
My pigs are very tame and aren't at all scared of the dog - I had them first and when dog was a pup they used to sleep together and snuggle up with him, but now he is older he would chase them and try to play with them so even if the dog was used to them I don't know how effective any training to override instinct would be.

Avantia · 05/02/2012 20:13

I have to guinea pigs who are currently in an open pen in the conservatory for the winter my 18 month lab hardly takes any notice of them and has never made any attempt to jump into the pen . However would never trust her if they were lose running around .

Sorry have no idea how a whippet would be .

Snowbeetle · 05/02/2012 20:27

Hmmm. My lab was like that, the rabbit and guinea pigs could walk all over her - literally. Whippets tho

higherhill · 05/02/2012 20:34

We had whippets when i was growing up and in my experiance they do have an instinct for chasing anything . The only exception to this is one of our whippets was a pedigree and she was a bit stupid and not really up for running after anything.

D0oinMeCleanin · 05/02/2012 20:39

Mine would be horrified if she was forced to live with guinea pigs, but my whippy is a bit a lot of a whimp and scared of pretty much everything. She also appears to believe she is more feline than canine.

Try a rescue and ask for a small furry friendly whippet rather than risk taking a puppy only to find it's instict to chase is too strong.

BehindLockNumberNine · 05/02/2012 20:39

It depends...

We have a whippety lurcher (tbh he is more whippet than anything else) and he completely ignores our hamster when she is running around the sofa. He also ignores my friend's rabbits...

However, we met a lovely lady with a lovely whippet a while back whilst out on a walk and she was very upset as her young whippet had just chased, caught and killed a wild rabbit...

You may be better off rehoming a whippet from a rescue centre as the centre (provided they are a good one) will have extensively tested the dogs with small furries and will be able to find you one that will leave the piggies alone

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