Skye

Hi there, I am thinking about getting two pet mice. Does anyone have mice, hamsters or birds as pets along with poodles? It will drive them insane, won't it? Will they "get used" to seeing them in the cage? I would never leave them alone or in a place where they can get them. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks!

LEUllman

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

Fluffyspoos

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

__________________

spindledreams

Jazz went for the house rabbit one time. That very loud NO! from me stopped her in her tracks and now she is very careful around Puff when she is lose. I have also turned loose the Lionhead and Polish in front of her since then and she ignores them also after a quick sniff to ensure they are indeed rabbits. Grin you may think rabbits are bigger then she is talking about but Shylow our smallest Polish is only 1 1/2 pounds on a good day.

mom24doggies

I have birds, and have had bunnies in the past. I also have three cats. Trevvor wants/wanted to play with the kitties and bunnies, (i did have to teach him that though, he started out wanting to chase them) but he will go after the birds if they get out. He ignores them in their cage however. I consider him to have a medium prey drive....he will chase wild things with gusto, but isn't so "drivey" as to be unable to learn that the small animals in the house are our pets and should be left alone or played with very gently,in the case of the cats. I certainly wouldn't leave him alone with them though. Especially with the cats, more for his own safety then theirs lol!

Raven just wants to play with everything. He has almost no prey drive, unless the "prey" is a ball or toy lol!

I think the key to different species coexisting is careful supervision and good sturdy cages put up high, out of reach and on something that can't be knocked over, for the small animals. Or, of you discover that small animals do indeed drive your poodle crazy, careful separation. One of my non poodle dogs is a potential cat killer....she hasn't killed one yet (we are as careful as possible) and the few times she has gotten ahold of one of our cats I was right there to pull her off thank goodness, because she did not care that the cat was scratching and biting, she was going to hang on and finish what she started. In her case, separation is essential. The only time she can be in the presence of a cat (briefly, like if we are moving her from the outside to her crate) is if I am there...anyone else and she goes straight for a kill. Even with me there, things are tense! But she knows that if she actually did kill one of them, her own personal h*ll would come to get her. I've made that quite clear to her a couple times. But again, she gets very few or no chances to enact upon her wild desires.

__________________

"Love is the emotion that a woman feels always for a poodle dog and sometimes for a man." ~George Jean Nathan

Anntig

About half our dogs I would describe as having a HIGH prey drive and mum keeps chickens (not a good combination) we also have hatching chicks in the house in spring, which is not easy but can be managed. Once the dogs know they can't get to the chooks they're usually happy to ignore them but they will test the gate every time they go out and check the incubator when they come in.
So it can be done even with difficult dogs but it does take effort and vigilance.

__________________

poo lover

We have two ferrets that are free range kids and kruz loves them and is very gentle when he plays with them . So mic are in a cage no lose

RunChanter

We have a hamster. He ignores PB when he's in his cage but when he's running in his excercise ball then the dog wants to bat the ball around. I usually let PB in his hamster ball when the dog is out for a walk. I would bet that your dog would not be too interested in the mice when they're in their cage. Good luck, pocket pets are so fun!

schnauzerpoodle

I don't know about poodles but my old schnauzer was okay with my pet mice and cockatoo. Have you tried taking your poodles to a local pet store to check those small animals out?

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.