# Introduction to other pets



## SiouxzieKinz (Oct 10, 2013)

I was curious, it seems as if a lot of hedgie parents on here have dogs and I thought that maybe hedgies and dogs didn't mix. Like, if a hedgehog smells a dog on you they would hiss, puff up and all that business. The hedgehogs in the last few pictures I've seen appear to have their quills laid down however.

I was inquiring because I have not yet introduced Dakarai to my dog Blossom. My first inclination was to make sure that Dakarai had a clean bill of health before allowing some communicable disease or parasite to be transmitted to my dog or vice versa to my new little prickly boy (Blossom recently had a vet visit too.)

I've had Dakarai about three weeks now (gosh it seems longer) and he has not yet met my dog. Should I introduce them? How is this accomplished without stressing the hedgehog out? My dog is an 8lb Pekingese and her personality is non-aggressive but rather quite timid. Blossom was a rescue and has only one eye so she still has trust issues with guys - thus the reason she is in my care - with no boys.

Would anyone be so kind as to offer suggestions for allowing my two fur-children to meet?


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## MochiAndMe (Jul 13, 2013)

Mochi has met both my dogs. She's a very relaxed and tame girl, so I wasn't worried about her getting stressed out. 

I introduced them by holding Mochi and lowering her so they could sniff. I would just make sure you know your dog well if you're going to introduce-- if you don't think the dog will be nice, I wouldn't try it. Also make sure you know your hedgie well. If you think Dakari is going to be nervous and be a huffy ball, I wouldn't try. 

Basically, if you think it's going to cause more stress than necessary I wouldn't do it. If you do, make sure you go slow and cautiously.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Agreed with Mochi - the biggest thing by far is knowing both of your animals very well. Have a good idea of how you think they'll react...and be prepared in case it doesn't go how you expect. Personally I'm pretty leery of cross-species introductions with very large size differences or between predator/prey because it can go wrong so quickly. But there are many people who do so with no incident...just be overcautious if you decide to do it. I always worry about someone who's planning to do it being our next emergency post on how their dog/cat/etc. reacted completely out of the ordinary & hurt hedgie.

I also hate the videos on youtube with a dog/cat/etc. checking out a hedgehog when the hedgehog is plainly freaked out - balled up, quilled up, hissing, etc. Sure, the other animal might not be hurting it...but I don't like putting a prey animal through that stress even if it's not in physical danger. They don't know that, and it doesn't seem very fair to subject them to it when they don't think they're safe.


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Agreed with the above. Even though Blossom may be very timid, you never know how she'll react. My parents' terrier goes insane when he sees a bird or squirrel, so I was prepared to restrain him quickly when I introduced Pig, especially since he's rodent-sized (i.e., terrier food). I did not expect Otis to react by running away in fear and hiding downstairs until I left the house. He still does that every time I bring Pig over. Silly pup.

Be prepared to restrain her, and if all goes well, be prepared to take pictures.


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

From my years of experience of introducing pets to others pets, i've come to notice that animals that a hedgie has never crosspaths in the wild is safe to be with them. Its a DNA survival trait i guess. In fact, hedgies are the danger to some pets. My now 5 foot monitor lizard grew up around hedgies and avoids direct contact with it due to his hatchling experience lol. My humongous hermit crabs and hedgies are good with each other.

Dogs in particular seem to never learn whats off-lmits unlike cats. Big, hyperactive dogs can be dangerous to hedgies.

The best thing to do to introduce them would be to show the hedgie in a cage to the dog and do this daily in the course of few weeks so they can get accustomed to the smells and sounds of each other. After a couple of months, cageless interaction can come into play


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## SiouxzieKinz (Oct 10, 2013)

Thank you all very much for your suggestions! I will certainly contemplate this over the next few days. If there seems an appropriate time I may ready the camera. For now, my dog remains on the floor snorting as she sleeps and Dakarai is in his cage crunching on a cricket exoskeleton.


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## PirateHedgie (Oct 28, 2012)

I tried to introduce my hedgehog to my guinea pig through the grids of the C&C cage my piggy lives in, they just didn't care about each other at all. i held up the hedgehog, they gave each other a few good sniffs and went the opposite way. it was about as uneventful as introducing them to a wall. haha 

the guinea pig gets along with the neighbors cats that stops by and is a total love bug, but the hedgehog just seems to be quite happy in his solitude and us taking him out daily for his cuddling and running around.


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## deftones (Jul 26, 2013)

I've introduced Macey to our cat Socks as well as a friends German Shepard and a few other pets and oddly enough she seems to totally not care or be phazed by them at all, she seems even more relaxed around other animals, she will go right up and touch noses with them. Heaven help you though if someone else tries to pick her up besides me or gets near her lol.


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