On Dec 3, 10:48 am, Michel Oosterbeek <n...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > You're making some pretty broad assumptions. We love our dog like a
> > member of the family.
>
> OK, I stand corrected. But did you ever stop and wonder WHY the pig was
> a biter? In all my years I have only been bitten once, and that was when
> I tried to break up two fighting pigs. So I wasn't even the target, it
> was accidental. What I'm trying to say is that guinea pigs don't bite
> unless there's something seriously wrong. It could be that it was in
> pain, and picking it up might cause more pain. It could also be that
> your ten year old kid simply needed some instruction on how to correctly
> handle the pig.
> Do you see what I'm getting at? People are always quick in blaming the
> animal when biting is involved, but often further analysing the
> situation shows there was more going on then what appeared at first.
>
> When I grew up, there was a man living a few doors away from me, and his
> dog was known to be very mean and dangerous. So all us kids talked about
> it, saying the animal was bad. One day it died, and we were all "happy"
> about it. But then the man got another dog. Within the first year, that
> dog too was turned into a mean animal. It turns out, the sick bastard
> simply got a kick out of beating the poor animal senseless every day.
> The animal protection agency had to step in before it ended.
>
> During that same time, the girl living next to us had a guinea pig, a
> gift from her parents. It is a miracle that poor animal never became a
> biter, because it had hell to go through. That girl was simply too young
> to be left alone with such a vulnarable animal. She even trew it in the
> air (but never caught it). Her parents were never aware, or simply
> didn't care. That's why I think a child should never be with an animal
> without parental supervision. For it's own safety, and for the safety of
> the animal.
>
> Of course I am NOT claiming your guinea pig was being abused. It's just
> that it can really get to me when I hear another story of an "evil"
> biting animal that the world can be happy about to be rid of, while nine
> times out of ten it is the human that simply doesn't understand the
> animals behaviour. It is most likely the poor thing had a reason for
> being like that.
>
> ... just my 2 cts...
I agree with you that most animal behavior problems are human-
induced. I don't think that was the issue with us though. From the
moment we brought Johnny home as an 8 week old, he bit. Not just a
nibble, but hard bites. Despite our efforts to handle him when he was
young, he continued to bite. I don't think he was evil, just
curious. I don't blame my son for souring on him. We made Johnny as
comfortable as possible during his life, but he never became the
cuddly pet we hoped.
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