My dog killed my guinea pig

[pippin123]

I had a sweet, loving guinea pig for over three years.  Her name was Pippin. She would cuddle up on my lap almost every night and squeal happy squeals and stand up on her hind legs when I walked into the room. We had been taking care of our son's dog for three weeks. The dog was blind and had many maladies, but was so sweet, always wagging his tail.  When my son returned last Friday, the dog had developed a huge hematoma on his ear.  My son couldn't afford the vet bills so he was  going to put  the dog down the next day, last Saturday.   We said we would adopt the dog and take care of the vet bills so we cancelled the noon euthenasia appointment. About 4 hours later we left to run errands.  That was our mistake, that I am feeling so guilty for. Somehow, even though the dog was blind and had NEVER showed an interest in the guinea pig for all the weeks he was here,  he found his way over the guinea pig cage and killed her. Sense of smell I guess. I opened the front door after running the errands and found the dog with my sweet guinea pig in his mouth and she was dead. When I screamed, he just dropped her on the floor.  What is so ironic and horrible is that the dog got worse over the weekend and we took him in for surgery on Monday and the vet suggested we put him down, which we did.  So, I lost 2 animals in 48 hours last week. Not that I'm not sad about the dog, but I just can't forget the image of Pippin in his mouth.  I have had some people say, "It's just a guinea pig, get over it."  I trust that I will be understood in this forum.  My heart goes  out to all of you who have posted. Thank for sharing your stories and thank you for reading my story.

[kayc]

OMG, I can't believe people would say that to you!  How hurtful!  I am so sorry for your losses.  I know Pippin was close to you and it hurts so much to be missing your beloved pet.  The dog may not have intended to harm the guinea pig, animals respond differently than people and sometimes don't realize the possible consequences of what they do or look at things differently than we do.  I'm just so sorry, for both your losses.

Although I've never had a guinea pig, I understand how close we can get to our animals, people just may not realize that.  I've had people laugh and suggest if I get hungry I can kill my dog (he's large), I don't find that funny in the least!  I've had others sneer at me that they would never let a dog in the house!  Some people are just clueless when it comes to pets and therefore can't begin to understand what it's like to lose them.

People that come here do understand and I hope you feel free to come here any time and post your thoughts and feelings.  We're here to listen and we "get it".

[mittam99]

I'm so sorry about your little guinea pig, Pippin. That had to be so awful coming home to see what you did. 

Don't let those people who say "get over it", get to you. They are insensitive and clueless.

[MartyT]

My friend, I am so sorry to read of the tragic death of your precious Pippin. What a horrible, traumatic experience this must have been for you.

Your story reminds me of a man who wrote to me several years ago, completely distraught over the loss of his pet hamster named, appropriately enough, Hammy. He had adopted his precious little companion the same day he moved into his new home two years before. He had never slept a night in his house without him, both of them always together under the same roof.   When he came home from work one day and found Hammy’s motionless body at the bottom of his cage, he literally broke down, sobbing hysterically. As a grown man, he never thought he would ever react that way, he said, but after all, he had cleaned his cage every week, fed him every day, placed him in his ball to play every day, scratched his back, tickled his tummy – for two whole years!  Every single day! “How else am I supposed to react?” he cried. “Who will I feed tonight?  Who will I play with tonight?”

Because so-called “pocket pets” are so little, some folks do not consider them as “important” as the more traditional pets like dogs and cats, and our attachments to these precious little creatures can be discounted and minimized as insignificant or in some cases even silly. But what matters here is the relationship between you and your beloved Pippin, which is just as valid and just as strong as what you’d have with anyone else you’ve grown to love and cherish ~ and just as worthy of your grief.

Complicating your grief may be any guilt that you might feel over the circumstances of Pippin’s death, as well as your decision to have your son’s dog euthanized, all within a matter of days. I hope you’ll take whatever time you need to sort through all your feelings about all of this ~ and this is a safe place for you to do that. No judgments here. Clearly Pippin’s death was an accidental one, and we know you would do anything you could do to go back and change what happened. Please remember that feeling guilty about all of this just indicates that you are a good and decent person who feels awful about what happened. Feeling guilty does not mean that you are guilty as charged. It is a feeling, not a fact, and once expressed and worked through, it can be dealt with and released.

I hope you’ll do a bit of reading while you’re here. We have lots to say in our forums about the guilt that accompanies grief. You might begin with this: Pet Loss: Guilt In the Wake of A Kitten’s Accidental Death ~ and be sure to see the Related Articles and Resources you'll find listed at the base, too.

[Nikki D]

I am so sorry...  It must be devastating for you to go through this. I would be feeling exactly the same as you, if I were in the situation. I would be imagining how horrible it was for Pippin… and be blaming myself for leaving them without supervision, not caging the dog, or even angry at myself for leaving the house that day, thinking if it was another day, it might not have happened, etc, etc… and the image would surely be stuck in my head...just like the image of the time we were served with a form "consent to euthanasia" on my big boy's last day.

I believe every living thing has a soul, even a tiny bug or a flower, and every life matters – big or small. You and your guinea pig had a deep connection. It is totally natural to feel how you feel. It is just some people don’t see it that way, unfortunately. I know how it hurts when people brush you off saying, “It’s just a guinea pig or a dog… Get over it.” Luckily I don’t have many of these people around me but I tell myself that these people are not as sensitive as we are and therefore, it really means nothing to them (they are not trying to be mean or anything, they just simply don’t understand our feelings) and try to ignore their words.

It just happened that my Greyhound just killed a groundhog in our yard a few days ago while I was away for literally 5 minutes. She didn’t show much of prey drive and didn’t seem much interested in critters when another male Greyhound was alive (He passed this February). I would’ve never thought she would do that and I was shocked when I saw her with the already dead ground hog.  It’s their (dogs’) natural instinct to hunt and kill… we can’t blame for what they were born to do. When I saw the groundhog, I felt so bad. But I didn’t see it bleeding or anything, I saw a wet spot around its neck area where I believe my dog attacked, it looked like it was just sleeping.  As I mentioned earlier, I was only gone for like 5 minutes. I think dogs know exactly where to attack to kill preys instantly, and for the groundhog, it probably knew it was time to go… their natural instincts... and the circle of life,. So I am hoping that was the case with your beloved Pippin and she didn’t suffer long.  

 

[TerriYakki]

Our new rescue dog that we've had for 3 months killed are two guinea pigs. I'm sick over this my daughter left them in their daypen which does not have a top to it and is on the ground in living room. She was cleaning their cage out instead of putting them back when done she left them in there day pen and left to go eat and didn't tell anybody and our dog killed both of them. I'm horrified I literally wanted to shoot the dog it took everything in me not to do it. I'm heartbroken because I just read that you really can't blame the dog it's just their natural instinct I've had Pendleton 3 years and we just got him a girlfriend Deirdre about a month-and-a-half ago. I'm so full of guilt I'm just sick I know we're not supposed to blame the dog but I don't know if I can love him anymore

[kayc]

If you cannot love the dogs anymore, then it's best to rehome them, but not while you're upset, give yourself time, say a months, before deciding anything.

I am so sorry this happened.  And unless you saw evidence on the dog/s it is hard to know which one or if both, killed them.  Please do not shoot them, they have their lives ahead of them, and two wrongs don't make a right.  I'm confused you say you've had one of the dogs for three months but elsewhere say 3 years and another 1 1/2 months.

Your daughter must be feeling horrible.  I hope she knows this was an accident, I hope she didn't witness the images, it can be hard to get that out of your mind.  Give yourself time with the dogs.  Perhaps it's best not to have guinea pigs and dogs together in the home in the future?  

My heart goes out to you in your loss, I lost my dog 1 1/2 weeks ago and it is the hardest thing in the world to try to get through.  The pain is unbelievable. 

Wishing for you some peace and consolation...