Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi!

For the first time in 10 years, I may have the opportunity to have a dog again. If I choose to do this, I can have any breed of dog I want – and so the most important thing to me is that I find a dog which will not be likely to bother my sweet beardie – Mr. Rupert.

I assume that breeds which have been bred for rat hunting (terriers etc) would be a bad choice. I have a friend with a Papillon who just sniffs Rupert hello and goes about his business.

Rupert doesn’t have the run of our house exactly, but we like for him to be able to spend time looking out of windows and so forth when we are home to watch him and cannot take him outside for various reasons.

Do any of you have a successful dog/beardie relationship in your home, and if so, what breed of dog do you have?

Thank you,
Sarah and Mr. Rupert Campagna

When we let our adult breeders roam, we have no issue's with our family dog (schnauzers) and my g/f's cat (calico). Just your typical "what are you?" sniff, and they go on there way.

Raul

my dogs (beagle and a mutt) both just kind of sniff tokey and then go about their business, Tokey doesnt really seem to mind them and at one point i put tokey on the mutts back and she just rode around for a while. then again, my dogs live with my parents, so they dont really interact too much.

I don't think it's so much a matter of a particular breed. I've got two german shepards and they act the same as the other two posters dogs. A little sniff and they go about their own business. If the lizard bolted across the room for whatever reason it might cause a predator/prey reaction in a dog, but I think even that's iffy. If you get a pup to start with it'll grow up in the presence of your reptiles and just accept them as boarders like himself. Good luck and don't worry so much.

Quig

There are no breeds of dogs who are guaranteed not to be a danger to your bearded dragon. Bigger dogs of course have the more risk simply because if they do decide to bite, they are more likely to instantly kill with a bite, even a playful one.

A slow introduction and never leaving your bearded dragon and dog or cat alone with your bearded dragon is the only way to be sure no 'accidents' can happen. The dog may not even intend to cause harm but just wanting to play and bearded dragons are not play toys for dogs and can be severely hurt and killed.

Puppies I would keep away from bearded dragons and other reptiles simply because puppies are more playful, daring and chew on anything and have a higher risk of causing harm to a bearded dragon.

I know many people never had problems with furry pets getting along with their scalely pets but there are just as many who post about the cat which broke through the screen of their lizard cage (either just lying ontop or trying to get at the lizard), dogs who have bit lizards or knocked over heat lamps etc. so I definitely recommend caution. Never leave the dog along with a reptile, especially if its out of its cage (a 5' iguana may not be threatened by a rat sized dog, but a dog the same size, definitely. A bearded dragon, on the other hand, is much smaller and more inclined to freeze than run).

With larger dogs, I definitely recommend not leaving them alone in the same room as your cages, keep him in a crate or another room when you are away for the day. When you are in the same room with the dog, then you can take out your bearded dragon, maybe have a spouse or other house mate handy to control the dog should it act aggressively towards the bearded dragon.

In the long run, it will depend on the individual personality of the dog and bearded dragon on whether both get along fine.
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PHLdyPayne