Keeping small animals and poodles - Page 2 - Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too!

vicky2200 · 12-04-2012, 07:53 PM

I have 3 birds and at first Weegee was at the cages barking constantly. Now he only does if the birds flap their wings and get his attention. It isn't a huge deal since he is 9lbs and I never let the birds out around him. I have an Alaskan husky with a ridiculous prey drive. She has learned to leave them alone but I still don't trust her with them out of the cage. However, I had the birds and introduced the dogs to them as puppies.

Cailin77 · 12-05-2012, 05:18 AM

Brody pretty much ignores the small animals in the house. I've never actually thought about if he notices the lovebird! I have had two very tiny kittens in the short time I've had Brody. Both are feral kittens we found when very young and had to bottle feed. Brody is not really interested in the kittens, but he does tolerate them pretty well. He will grumble and get up and move if they are too insistent on playing with him.

I have know standard and doodles that are not good with small animals. My aunt's female golden doodle constantly tries to kill my grandmother's chickens when she visits them. According to Brody's former owner he is good with chickens- I've never tested it though! I think the key is early socialization. I know Brody lived with cats, big dogs, small dogs, kids and chickens.

Oh, we also have the "no killing family members" rule. None of our current animals need reminding of it, but our rottweiler x border collie was the reason the rule was implemented!

katbrat · 12-05-2012, 08:22 PM

We had a guinea pig when we had our toy poodle. Patches the poodle was 5 3/4 pounds, Coco the guinea was three pounds. Coco's cage was in a part of the living room, Patches was never kept in a kennel and she never paid the guinea pig any attention.

KristaLynn · 12-06-2012, 05:22 AM

I think a petstore is too overwhelming to show your dog ALL those animals to see how it would handle two or three. Jewel goes INSANE in petstores, she's a big chaser and all those little animals making noise and running around just about kills her. She's whining, moaning, shaking, jumping and it never ends! I end up picking her up but she just tries to climb over me to get back at them.

silverpoodle88 · 12-07-2012, 09:38 AM

I have three mice, a canary, and four geckos. Midnight showed strong interest when she first saw the new animals. After a couple weeks she got used to the new sounds and lost interest. I hold the small animals often and she just ignores them. It helps to keep cages or tanks out of reach.

Skye · 12-07-2012, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BorderKelpie

I have a gerbil that everyone pretty much ignores, I also have parrots in the living room and with the exception of one Kelpie, everyone pretty much ignores them, too. Bug is the only one allowed unsupervised time with the (caged) animals but he's never shown any aggression or prey behavior with them. Maybe it helps that the parrots all call him by name ('Buggie, come're!') and throw food to him.

I learned alot about training the 'Here!' command from watching my birds interact with the dogs. LOL It's all about attitude, praise, treats and laughter!. Smart birds.

Aw, that is so cool! I love birds, too

Skye · 12-07-2012, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverpoodle88

I have three mice, a canary, and four geckos. Midnight showed strong interest when she first saw the new animals. After a couple weeks she got used to the new sounds and lost interest. I hold the small animals often and she just ignores them. It helps to keep cages or tanks out of reach.

Silverpoodle, could you share about your mice a bit? Are you able to handle them? Do they bite? I've heard different things. I have a friend that has a couple, and she really loves them. (They are both female.) She said she doesn't handle them much. She is not afraid of them, but she says they are so squirmy, she is afraid they will get loose in her house and she will loose them. This is a recent fascination of mine. My hubby says "no" for now, but I am sure if I really want them he will change his mind.

silverpoodle88 · 12-08-2012, 08:01 AM

One of the mice is very shy and has never let me touch her, but the other two are super friendly. I put my hand in the cage and they climb up and let me pet them. These mice are very active so I have to be careful when playing with them. My mice have never bitten me. Just like dogs, a mouse could bite if you scare it badly. My husband used to think poorly of mice until he saw how friendly they can be.

Michelle · 12-08-2012, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LEUllman

Michelle, Atticus' mom, has guinea pigs. But then, Atticus isn't much bigger then the piggies!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluffyspoos

But she also has a corgi, golden, and a mixed breed!

I do! Atticus loves all of our critters especially his guinea pig Karyn...I had 2 mice at one point too, and he loved them! He liked to lay on my bed and watch them run around their tank and when I'd take them out they would go nose to nose with him and he'd lick them. They were a lot of fun.