beardies interacting with other pets

[lizbeth5655]

When I acme home for the summer from college, my dog was overly obsessed with my beardie. She would prop her paws up on the table his tank was sitting on and just watch him, for hours on end. She would watch him instead of eating her lunch which seemed weird since she is a very high energy dog. Every time I would take my beardie out for snuggle time, my dog would go ballistics and get all excited. She is very tame so I let her sniff my beardie Dewey while I had a firm grip on him and my mom had a grip on the dog just in case. Dewey has never once puffed up or even black bearded around my dog. He almost seems to enjoy the attention. He is very tame and tolerant.
I was wondering if it is safe to have Dewey and my dog interact. I would never put Dewey in danger and I know that my dog would never try to hurt him, she just wants to love on him and give him kisses. I was wondering if Beardies could have issues with the dander dogs give off and if this could cause a problem in the future. I have seen plenty of pictures of people letting their beardies and dogs interact.
Any advice would be great!

AND AGAIN, I WOULD NEVER PUT DEWEY IN DANGER! I'M NOT GONNA ALLOW ANYTHING HAPPEN TO MY SNUGGLE BUDDY

 

[SpikesMom74]

our 2 male tabbies (cats) get along with spike very well.. Midnite my youngest tabby takes a bath with her.. not in the water but watches her on the tube ledge while spike is swimming.. he (mid) puts his paws in the water around her and spike just swims by.. they sniff each other, lay together..if my cats werent around small pets before (we had rats as pets) so we trust our cats.. i say got for it hun xx

 

[lizbeth5655]

I have never seen such a cute interaction as these two share! I would hate to make it stop!

 

[MommiesBoyX]

the only problem i see is bacteria in the dogs salivia (just like cats) but as long as you rinse him off after kisses, i dont see much harm in occasioanl kisses. adorable!


a bit off topic, i used to have a 4ft iguana who would snuggle with my cat. lol

 

[lizbeth5655]

yeah I always give him a quick bath and let him soak after

 

[valcash]

Your dog sounds too obsessed honestly and I do not think that behavior is healthy and I would not let them interact based on what you have said here. Even if you have a solid obedience training base.
I have dogs and they are laid back about the BD's and the BD's are laid back about them and it works.
I have a cat and the cat loves the BD's in a bad way and is not laid back (borders on obsessive) and the BD's do not like that cat AT ALL as evidenced by their behavior. They can definitely tell the different from the dogs and the cat from a ways away.

 

[lizbeth5655]

They are never allowed alone and my dog has never once tried to attack him or harm him in anyway. she is very playful and just likes have a new friend. my beardie in no way trys to from her or looks in anyway stressed. if the dog is sleeping on the couch, dewey will even crawl over and cuddle up with her. so he obviously isnt stressed by her and in some way must like her if he wants to cuddle with her. He turns a much brighter color when they interact and even looks 100% relaxed.

 

[Meginsanity]

Aww, your dog and beardie are so cute

Your post reminded me of this Youtube video. It's not my beardie and cat, but the cat in the video looks a lot like mine & it is such a cute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xl4L-6OF_A

My cat pretty much ignores my beardie except to give her the occasional sniff.


DITL 6: Buddies window-gazing by StarsApart, on Flickr

We also have a leopard tortoise, they get along well by totally ignoring each other. Except in the bath, when the tortoise climbs all over Loki


Genbu and Loki in the Bath by StarsApart, on Flickr

I think the main thing when 2 animals interact is always just to keep an eye on them and watch their behavior for warning signs.

 

[Mrkngpen]

I have two cats who grew up with Pheeny. I had her before I got the cats, so she was almost as big as the kittens when they came home! When they were young and really playful, sometimes they would give Pheeny a hard time...batting at her tail when she walked by. But now they leave her alone. She runs around the house with them.

 

[NFM07]

A good way to calm your dog down so it no longer is obsessed is to take it on a long walk before you allow it to be near the beardie. I know you say nothing has happened now but I know how dogs are and can turn quickly on a "prey" animal which a beardie is. Even the sweetest dog can bite and I doubt you want that bite landing on your beardie so either way for roughly 30 mins(small breed) or hour plus (large breeds) or keep them away from each other. No matter how fast you think you are, your dog is faster. Promise.

 

[emilykay405]

One of our dogs is a little obsessed with our beardies (and leopard geckos).

Both our leopard gecko and beardie setups are just at eye level for him and he will put his head on their shelves and stare at them. Sometimes it healthy staring as in, "Whatcha up to Ethel? Don't miss that cricket!" and then other times (mostly now with the leopard geckos simply because they aren't out as much as the beardies) his ears perk up and he gets into the same stance he does with squirrels outside. So then I know it's time to re-direct his attention with something else. Even before his interest in the reptiles started we would close off the side of the house that all the reptiles are housed in because it's simply not safe to let the dogs have unsupervised access to their cages or any of the equipment/supplies for them.

On the flip side we have another that absolutely adores snoozing in my lap with the beardies. He's never acted like they are prey items. I wouldn't leave him alone with any of them and I only keep the cuddle sessions to about 15 min though...because he is a hound and they are sometimes overcome with the need to smell and chase.

Since I've already written a novel...

One of our crested geckos has started interacting with our dogs...he will smoosh against the side of his cage and watch our two boys wrestle on the bed. Sometimes it's like he's trying to get in on the action with them and it's super cute.