I'm not really sure where to post this but oh well...
I am getting two gliders next month, and I have three dogs. Their cage is already set up and in my room, but one of my dogs also sleeps in my room. I had a squirrel for a while, also in my room, and my dog never bothered him. They will never be unattended together, but basically I just want to know, those of you that have gliders and dogs, how did the dogs react when bringing in the gliders? How do the gliders react to the dogs scent, barking, etc?
Thanks

This all depends on your animals. Some dogs try to get at the gliders, others ignore them.

Some gliders are comfortable around dogs, others can get severely stressed.

Just please, do not ever allow them to interact together. That is an accident waiting to happen.

I have 2 german shepards and they could really care less. The only time they even look at them is when the gliders bark or during the day if one wiggles to much and the other one crabs, then it just they tilt there heads and look at the cage. I would say it just depends on your dogs bothering the gliders, I dont think the scent of your dogs would bother them.

They may get used the smell of the dogs over time, just as they get used to our scent. But the presence of the dog in the same room can scare the gliders and stress them out. Of course, all gliders are different, and each situation is unique, but it is possible.

My girls has been around dogs since they were OOP. The breeder I got mine from had dogs in the house and so do I. The girls don't mind it I can sit on my bed with them in the bonding pouch and the dog on my lap and they ignore each other. Don't worry my dog has never tried to hurt them, but I do keep a very close eye on him when he is close to my girls like that.

Oh and btw for the lonest time, the girls would pee in the corner of the bottom of the cage, well then Rebel would go pee on top of it and then the girls would pee on top of that and it was an on going battle of who got the last pee out. So we had to put the dog outside for a while but he is back in now and hasn't done it since.

I have two weims, mother and daughter. Mother totally ignores them, she is completely the mothering type and would try to cuddle or herd them if they were loose, I am sure (she does this with our chickens). Daughter stares at them with her "prey eyes" and leaves me without a doubt that if they were ever loose she would snap them in an instant.

I would bet that if your sleep-in dog ignored the squirrel, it will ignore the gliders.

We have two border collies ..

They are both used to being around chickens, one is submissive to them, the other attempted to play chase until a chicken gave him a good peck on the nose and he learned better of it!

However both are fascinated with the gliders, the crabbing noises puts our female on high alert - must go see and stare intently status .. she'll sniff and lay staring and for that reason she is not allowed in the glider room even though she's perfectly trained and I don't believe she'd ever hurt them, I'm not willing to take that chance so she watches through the mesh door with her sad "you're so mean" expression because I won't let her in to play.

Our male border collie, I would never let him in there, he's much more of a herding instinct dog .. and unlike the chickens who can give him a good "back off" peck, the gliders are just too delicate to allow him up there .. thankfully he has only a minor interest in them and is never up in my room near the glider room anyway.

Thanks everyone!

I had this same questions about a week or so back.. I have a husky and i was hoping he would leave them be after he got used to the cage and realized they weren't going anywhere.. He still rushes to the cage first thing and hangs out by it but he has left it throughout the day whereas before (about a week ago) he wouldn't leave it at all and i had to drag him away to go potty. But first movement in the cage and he is right there... Its very aggravating as I feel like constantly telling him to Go lay down or NO bc I don't want the Gliders to feel intimidated or unsafe. he gets roam of the house, they should get roam of their cage.. I do get one out every night for the last few nights and I put the dog away in the bathroom while we hang out in my bedroom and let One of the brothers check things out. I would NEVER trust my dog or cat around the glider..not even if my dog "seemed" uninterested..

And has it affected your bonding with the gliders at all? My main concern is they won't feel safe with me hearing the dogs or smelling them.

Nope. They may and may not mind them. How old are they going to be when you get them?

They'll be young, I don't know their exact age yet. I'm putting a deposit down today through sun coast, I've already spoken to them a few times but I forgot to ask about dogs.

I've been very fortunate with how my dogs behave around my gliders. I allow them out at the same time under close supervision. My older toy poodle completely ignores them. She will get up and leave if they hop on her. On the other hand my doberman puppy loves them. He uses his nose all the time and is always trying to nose them lol. They sometimes hop on him and now he will just stand still-before he used to run. He doesnt understand that they don't play the same so I have to watch his excitement level, but luckily he has never tried to hurt them. I always figured a good indicator of how dogs respond to gliders is how they react to squirels. But either way, it all depends on the animals. My gliders are not bothered by the dogs at all and only crab when they get shoved hard with the nose:-)

Please keep in mind that all it takes is a quick swipe of a paw to be fatal to a glider. It can happen in an instant, even if being supervised, you can never be too careful.

I don't have gliders yet but my golden retreiver got a hold of a litter of baby squirels, I only managed to save one, she thought they were tasty. I raised by hand for two weeks before my brother visited and it got sick and died within 24hrs, not his fault, could have been anything really. Anyway, my golden had previously looked at these animals as food, a snack to be consumed but when she saw me taking care of one she realized it was under people protection and I could even set the baby squirel down on her side while she lay on the floor and it would start making a nest in her fluffy fur. She would nose it and snif gently then look at me 'really? I have to suffer this humiliation? aww fiiiine'. Even my siberian husky viewed my pet rabbit as a child as 'ok, normally I would eat you but the people like you so I can't' and she gave it a tongue bath(freaked my mom out though lol). I think it completely depends on the dog and gliders and whether the dog can ignore its prey instincts and defer to the human protectors in the house. BTW, my husky was a huge hunter like you wouldn't beleive!

Only one of my dogs has a really high prey drive, which was shocking to me be cause she's the oldest, and is also overweight! The two I'm most concerned about are my two cavalier king Charles spaniels, although they are toy dogs and bred to be companion animals they still retain some spaniel instinct to chase and hunt like any gun dog would. These two were the most troublesome with my squirrel, and they were never allowed in the room when he was out.
My largest dog is a shar pei pit bull mix. He was the one who'd found the squirrel I helped, and alerted me to it by barking NON STOP, but not once did he make a grab at it. After a while he was allowed in my room when the squirrel was out but ONLY when the the squirrel was asleep. I'm not concerned so much about introducing them, as I don't expect them to ever have face to face contact, but mainly just the presence of the dogs in the room with the gliders in the cage.
Either way, thanks everyone for your views!

Regardless of how they behave, a split second can mean the life of your glider (or serious injury). Accidents happen, and it doesn't necessarily mean that the dog was being aggressive.

I have very well trained dogs, and the most trained one (was shown in agility, conformation, rally, and is Canine Good Citizen) caused a pretty bad injury to a bird. I took full responsibility for the accident when it occurred, the dog got startled and the bird paid the price.

PLEASE reconsider allowing them to interact.

This is Conan with a broken leg (in 3 places) ~ the vet was creative and gave him a matching cast.

Shelly, I'm so sorry to hear about Conan's leg. I'm glad your little cutie survived his injury. Right now our group interactions work for us. It allows my gliders more freedom and time out of their cage. But I do realive that accidents can happen in an instant and there is always a risk. I appreciate your concern and words of advice and will keep what you said in mind.

I'm so sorry to hear about your accident, but that is precisely why I will allow no interaction.
Off topic, but that's a beautiful bird! Is it a parrotlet?

Allowing your dogs out with your gliders isn't a good idea AT ALL. It doesn't become a question of if, it's a question of WHEN something bad will happen.

Dogs are predatory animals, gliders are prey. No amount of training will completely override their instincts.

I respect your opinion and realize that everyone just wants what's best for my gliders, however; you cannot guarantee there WILL be an accident any more than I can guarantee there WILL NOT be one. If I went with an all or nothing attitude, I would never have allowed my ferret and dog to interact for fear the dog would hurt the ferret. They ended up being best friends. Sugar gliders are different creatures, but it's the same concept. You can not make a blanket judgement over the interaction of all animals within a species. They are individuals just like us. It is certainly unfortunate to hear about accidents of this type, but there are many instances where the animals get along fine and nothing ever happens. I certainly understand the concern but as I stated before our situation works for us. You may not agree with my decision but the risk is mine to take.

When I first brought my gliders home, my dogs were so focused on them that it scared me. They would stare at the cage for hours on end, and I went back to crating them at night after play time. One night I didn't get them crated before my gliders woke up, my gliders saw my dogs and instead of backing down and running to hide in their pouch they poofed up and crabbed at them feinting at the cage bars. My dogs haven't looked twice at a cage of gliders since unless it is in fear, lol. Remember that every situation is different and that even though this worked for my dogs and gliders it may be different and stir a hunting instinct with yours so it is still best to be cautious. I keep the bottom half of my cages covered with fleece, just to be on the safe side (I have small breed dogs as well as a cat).

Allowing your dog and sugar glider together is just irresponsible. It's an unnecessary risk that could easily mean the death of your glider.

It is our responsibility as pet owners to make sure our animals are happy, healthy, and most of all, SAFE.

I am certainly not an irresponsible pet owner! My gliders are happy, healthy, and SAFE. You have an opinion on the matter and it is just that an OPINION no matter how strong it may be. The fact is that my dog has never hurt my glider-FACT. I have been very accepting of others views, however, I will not be bullied into accepting your way or anyone else's way of thinking on the topic. From my understanding this forum is to support and educate, not judge and chastise. So please continue to put out good information, but save the judgement for Him.

I don't believe that post was meant to be at all hateful. It is just so many times we have seen posts where someone has lost their glider to interaction with other "safe" pets. It is heart breaking for us because we TRY to educate and point out the extreme risks.

Even if that "safe" dog or cat or other animal doesn't mean to harm the glider, it can and often happens and happens VERY quickly.

Even my smallest dog has enough weight in her paw if she decided to pin down one of my gliders, it could cause serious injury or death. Most of us just feel it isn't worth the risk.

My big dogs...(American bulldogs)...well, it would be like letting an elephant play with a human baby. The elephant might be trying to be gentle but the shear size differences alone poses a risk.

Thanks Dancing. As I said before I understand where everyone is coming from and appreciate the concern for my gliders. The elephant and infant is a good analogy. The risk has been clearly explained to me, and at this point it is one that I'm willing to take. My decision is informed and is what I think is best for my pets and me (despite what others may feel). I'm also not advising anyone else to take the same chance. Each person should do what's best for them. You (collectively) can only give advice, you can't force people to take it or condemn those who don't agree. I'd like for everyone to remember no matter how strong it may be-an opinion is just that-an opinion.

No, it wasn't meant to be hateful. Just because your dogs haven't hurt your glider, doesn't meant they wont. They WILL. They have instincts you can't prevent.

You're taking an unnecessary and stupid risk with your animals.

Whether or not you agree, what you're doing is STUPID, and a risk on your glider's LIFE. I would hope your glider's life matters more to you than allowing stupid risks to be taken with it.

There is absolutely no reason to allow a glider to interact with an animal that can/will kill it, no matter what your situation is.

As a dog trainer, I would like to point out "predatory drift" - this occurs when two animals of drastically different sizes(can even be 2 different sized dogs) have gotten along in the past but then a switch is flipped. Something triggers the predatory behavior sequence to turn on...owners can not predict it and it doesn't happen to all dogs, but people have had their loving, wonderful dog kill another dog or cat that they have lived with for their lifetime in a day to day interaction. And then it can either happen again or never happen again. I am on lists where it has happened to people and it is devastating and for animals as different as gliders and dogs...I do not see it being worth that risk...

I have lost a sugar glider to a dog - it was absolutely devastating and he was only trying to play with it...I never have a glider out around my dogs unless they are in my bra asleep or in a pouch that I am actively holding and on my way out of the house...when we play, they're in a very secure room and the dogs are not present.

Also, there is a vast difference between a ferret and a sugar glider. Scent wise, ferrets are predators...sugar gliders are prey. From the suggies perspective, they are prey, dogs are predators! Ferrets weigh 2-3 lbs at least - suggies mere ounces. The way ferrets interact and actively solicit play with dogs is vastly different as well in general. Even with that, it also really depends on the dogs. My two smaller dogs I will allow to play with the ferrets - they are small enough that the ferrets can play with and even if they get pounced on, they would not be hurt. My other dog wants to play but is just too big so he is only around them on leash - not worth the risk.

Before this goes in a direction we don't like, let me remind everyone of Rule #4: