Chin and German Shepherd

[Evelyn]

I have had my chin for almost 2 years. He is 2 years and 3 months old. I am now moving to the house and wanting to get a German Shepherd. The puppy will be home after he is 8 months old. Could they make a good friend? Well, not necessary good friend just not be eaten by the dog lol I have been wanting a watchdog for a while but so scared that something will happen with my boy. My husband wants a wolf and I put a big NO on that. We compromised down to German Shepherd which is great with children. But I don't know if that apply to the chin.

 

[starleomach]

I would not let the dog and chinchilla directly interact. It just isn't safe. But you can own both.

 

[SactoChinMom]

Dogs carry a bacteria that is bad for chins. I know someone's chin who was on antibiotics because he ran on the same carpet as the dog.

My 2 little dogs like to sit on the other side of the gate from the playroom and watch. That's as far as they get. My big dog isn't interested.

BTW, wolf crosses and huskys have a high chase instinct. A lot of the rescues won't even adopt them out to people with cats.

Best thing to do is teach your dog "leave it!" and give the chin his own play area. Good luck.

 

[Spoof]

Best thing to do is teach your dog "leave it!" and give the chin his own play area.

Full agreement here, this is a must for any pet sharing environment with a dog, small or large.

I know many people that have chins with a variety of pets in the house and no issues. On the other hand there are a few that have lost chins to those pets. It depends on the boundaries you set, the inherent prey drive of the pets and how you handle it.

Good luck. )

 

[WhiteTree]

Depends on the dog. I have three dogs in my house, two aren't even allowed in the room I keep the chins because I don't trust them even with the chins in their cages. One lets the chins run on her. She has no prey drive, doesn't know how to play with toys so she doesn't bother, she doesn't seem to know she's a dog, plus she lays flat on the ground when they're out and doesn't move so she's not a risk for stepping on them. She's a shepherd mix, 40lbs. She's never alone with them and I'm always right there, but she doesn't bite or paw at them, she doesn't chase anything. She's also very protective of them, if the others get in the room she guards the cages and will attack the other dogs if they come close. She has a close bond with my oldest chin and I trust her but she is NEVER alone with the chins. If you get a dog that doesn't chase anything, doesn't play with toys, doesn't nip or paw at stuff, and doesn't know they're a dog at all, then maybe you can try. To give you some perspective on my dog she runs with deer and they aren't afraid of her, she's in the middle of the pack running with them. She's just not a dog.

 

[Dewdrop]

I'd just keep them in separate areas. and I totally agree with 'leave it!'

FWIW we have a Pomeranian, and I don't even let him around the chins..

 

[LeoMonster]

FWIW we have a Pomeranian, and I don't even let him around the chins..

Poms have a reputation for having nasty personalities though. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, and your dog could full well not fit into this category, but mostly their personality is that they're a dog who only likes their owner and is nasty/moody to everyone else. Its a common factor in small dogs.

Personally I wouldn't let a dog near a chinchilla if its out of the cage. My dog has been in my room once or twice when Leo's been in his cage, but I've always had my hand on his collar and not let him any closer than a foot away.

 

[ChilliPepper]

First, I am confused. Why won't the puppy come home until it is 8 months old? Will it be fully trained before you get it?
Second, everything depends on individual animals and their temperaments. My GSD happens to share a room with my chinchillas. Chilli is a tease- the boys tag team her and nibble on her ears if they poke into the cage. She looks at them, she hollers at them, but my chins are used to a certain amount of activity around them. They always made a big deal when my older cat came in the room because they knew he was scared of them. They would alarm call, and when I went in, they would be sitting up at the front of their cage, just looking at me. Dickens would be somewhere in the room. My younger cat went through a phase where we would have to close the door at feeding time or she would jump into the cage before we could catch her. She just hung out, looking around.
So much just depends on the dog. I have never heard of the bacteria thing, but reality is, that we carry stuff in on our feet every day that could make any of our pets sick. I would not allow the dog free roam of where the chins are until you have done some on lead work and carefully supervised interaction. I don't see why having a chin prevents you from getting a dog. You just have to assume a higher level of caution about cage locking, etc. A ferret on the other hand is a different story.

 

[Evelyn]

First, I am confused. Why won't the puppy come home until it is 8 months old? Will it be fully trained before you get it?
Second, everything depends on individual animals and their temperaments. My GSD happens to share a room with my chinchillas. Chilli is a tease- the boys tag team her and nibble on her ears if they poke into the cage. She looks at them, she hollers at them, but my chins are used to a certain amount of activity around them. They always made a big deal when my older cat came in the room because they knew he was scared of them. They would alarm call, and when I went in, they would be sitting up at the front of their cage, just looking at me. Dickens would be somewhere in the room. My younger cat went through a phase where we would have to close the door at feeding time or she would jump into the cage before we could catch her. She just hung out, looking around.
So much just depends on the dog. I have never heard of the bacteria thing, but reality is, that we carry stuff in on our feet every day that could make any of our pets sick. I would not allow the dog free roam of where the chins are until you have done some on lead work and carefully supervised interaction. I don't see why having a chin prevents you from getting a dog. You just have to assume a higher level of caution about cage locking, etc. A ferret on the other hand is a different story.

I meant 8 weeks not 8 months

 

[Rush]

First, I am confused. Why won't the puppy come home until it is 8 months old? Will it be fully trained before you get it?
Second, everything depends on individual animals and their temperaments. My GSD happens to share a room with my chinchillas. Chilli is a tease- the boys tag team her and nibble on her ears if they poke into the cage. She looks at them, she hollers at them, but my chins are used to a certain amount of activity around them. They always made a big deal when my older cat came in the room because they knew he was scared of them. They would alarm call, and when I went in, they would be sitting up at the front of their cage, just looking at me. Dickens would be somewhere in the room. My younger cat went through a phase where we would have to close the door at feeding time or she would jump into the cage before we could catch her. She just hung out, looking around.
So much just depends on the dog. I have never heard of the bacteria thing, but reality is, that we carry stuff in on our feet every day that could make any of our pets sick. I would not allow the dog free roam of where the chins are until you have done some on lead work and carefully supervised interaction. I don't see why having a chin prevents you from getting a dog. You just have to assume a higher level of caution about cage locking, etc. A ferret on the other hand is a different story.

Why do you say ferrets are a different story?

 

[SactoChinMom]

Ferrets are carnivorous. I know of at least one tragic incident where the ferret reached under a closed door and fatally attacked a chinchilla that was out.

 

[ChilliPepper]

They are also clever, sneaky houdinis. They are quite dexterous with breaking out of and into cages. While my shepherd could harm the chins if she were able to knock their cage off of a table or something, the cage prevents her from actually accessing them unless we did something like hubby did the other night and leave the door open. He heard lots of banging around in there and went to see what was going on. Turned out Pepper was under the cage where she could see him and whine and fuss and try to stick her nose, but she couldn't get to him and so he was safe. A ferret would have been able to get under there and kill him.
There is no reason if you are getting a puppy that you cannot train the puppy from day one that those fuzzy things are NOT squeaky toys for his personal enjoyment. While you still must use due caution and respect the personality of both your chin and your dog, it isn't a sentence of no other pets.

 

[Rush]

I was just curious, I've heard many stories about ferrets attacking and or killing many animals. I have two ferrets, and they are never in contact with my chin, but my ferrets prey drive is about zero. I can't even get them switched over to meat from kibble, they've been around my cats (when they were kittens) and they wrestled and played together but neither party was ever harmed. I can believe that ferrets that are actually used, trained, or bred for actual ferreting would kill a chinchilla, but I really couldn't imagine either of my boys attacking my chin. But I would never risk testing that theory.

 

[lolanu]

My malamute shares a room with the chins, and has been so sweet on the few occasions of chin escapades. It truly does depend on the dog, if you get him used to the chins at a young age he should be fine, but I'd be pretty leery of letting dogs directly play with chins. Knnick knows "still" and other commands to help for jailbreaks.

 

[Dewdrop]

Poms have a reputation for having nasty personalities though. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, and your dog could full well not fit into this category, but mostly their personality is that they're a dog who only likes their owner and is nasty/moody to everyone else. Its a common factor in small dogs.

None taken.

Aside from being a yappy little ****, he's one of the best dogs I've known though