Saturday, August 24, 2019

How Will My Dogs Do With the Chinchillas? -- part 1

That question, up there, is sort of a loaded question.  Do you know why?  Because it has LESS to do with the chinchillas themselves, and MORE to do with the dogs. 

I was asked this today, and my answer basically was that it depends on the dogs.  Dogs with high prey drives, or hunting drives, may think the chinchilla is something to hunt.  However, even those dogs, if raised correctly, can be taught that that chinchilla, is different, and is not to be hunted / is not prey.  Is that your dog?  I don't know.

Dogs that like running after squirrels may think a chinchilla looks like an extra-poofy squirrel.  Will they think it's the same thing, and want to chase it?  Or will they think it's different, because it's in a cage, doesn't "run away," and so on?  I don't know.

Dogs that like squeaky toys... will they think the chin is a squeaky toy when it makes noises?  Maybe?  Maybe not?

Dogs that are perfectly calm, old-fart dogs that do nothing but lay around.  Will they see a chinchilla and, for the first time in their life, want to get up and chase it / play with it / eat it?  I really don't know.

The thing is, none of this is stuff that I can guess from someone telling me that they have a dog, and asking, how will that dog do with a chinchilla.  The best person to answer that question is the dog owner -- they know what the dog is like, and can (hopefully) predict how the dog will act when a chinchilla is introduced into the house.  Hopefully, they will act appropriately, depending on how the dog acts.  But I cannot predict that.

What I can tell you is that most chinchillas are not intimidated by dogs.  Sure, there's the occasional one that doesn't like them (or people, or cats, or anything), but in general, chins know they are safe in their cage, and what's "out there" will not hurt them.  The chin likely won't be the problem... though the dog's reaction to the chin may be.

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