Other Turtle Discussion :: dogs and turtles

[myrtle1123]

I have seen some pictures here of people with there turtles and dogs. So Myrtle and Dusty had their first encounter today under my supervision. I have heard that turtle calm dogs. Has anybody heard of that before?

Anyways heres a pic of Myrtle and Dusty. Dusty was very goos she didnt even really react to Myrtle didnt bark or try to bite. She just lay there and watched Myrtle crawl around. Anyways heres a pic. Let me know if anyones heard of that theory and if its true or not?!

[DavidY]

That's a cute picture!

FWIW, most dogs try to eat turtles or at least crack their shells open.

[turboturtle8]

Very cute picture

[Safdar]

aww that so cute

[sillyleisl]

Most dogs have some kind of hunting instinct so I'm not sure I'd trust the "calming" effect theory. That being said, I know one of my dogs would not hurt the turtle at all and the other one would at least sniff and bark at it if I let him, but otherwise leave her alone.

[Andrew7769]

my dog ran away from george lol

[Tenodera]

LOL Serra chased my dog! Mimi would sniff at Serra when she's in her feeding container. But Serra doesn't share....lol

Try not to be biased, not all dogs are killer animals and try to eat turtles.

[marisa]

Very cute, but in the end, instinct rules.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Yes, instinct is far stronger, nature made dogs as carnivores and seeing a turtle run around can trigger their kill instinct.

I realy dont know why people go off and let their turtles run around with their dogs and cats (am I the only one who was disgusted by that Tortoise VS cat youtube video? In my eyes that was pretty cruel, that poor tortoise could have been hurt flying around like that. What if the cat would have gotten pissed off and decided to bite it?) supervised or not, something can happen in a split second.

Let's say your dog moves at lightning speed and gets a good bite grip on your turtle. Then what? Wrestle with the dog to give you the turtle back?

[adam85491]

Yeah I can see how it would be a poor idea to do such things but you frequently see these pictures and having no experience with this I don't comment negatively about them..

[untsmurf]

Even if your dog doesn't have a 'killer instinct' what if it thinks you got it a new now and grabs the turtle trying to make it squeak. Your turtle could still get hurt even though the dog was just trying to play. Or the dog could lay on it and smother it. Or the dog could lick it and get salmonella or something off the turtle. Too many uncontrollable factors for my taste.