Dog Meets Hamster

Question
I have a very friendly 2years 7month old border terrier and recently we took in a friends hamster as she could no longer keep it. My dog is so fascinated by the hamster that he begs, moans and squeaks with excitement and frustration to see the hamster. My dog can learn quickly when teaching him things but he frustration seem to understand what the hamster is, we've never had another pet at the same time as my dog so he has been rather spoilt could he be jealous? Id really like to keep the hamster but obviously my dog needs to get over this fascination with it or we will have to get rid of the hamster. My dog will literally moan for hours to get in the room where the hamster is, we've even held the hamster and tried to show him what it is kind of thing but he still whines and moans to look at the hamsters cage when we go in there and for hours afterwards, Please Help ASAP!! Thank you very much.

Answer
Hello Rhiannon, I wish I had an easy answer for you, this fascination may never completely end.  If you keep the hamster out of sight, in a room the dog never goes into, eventually it might lead to "out of sight, out of mind"  Some dogs react the same way to birds in cages.  My poodle reacts similar to my birds, however as long as she cannot get directly to them, she loses interest after awhile.  Although when I am feeding them or cleaning their cage she reacts once again, but will also settle down shortly there after.  Give it a little time, if time does not work then you may have to find the hamster another home,  Hamster usually live for 3 to 4 years...how old is this one?  Thanks for asking, Cindy Lou :)