introducing a dog to rabbit

[piperknitsRN]

Hi! I have always been a 'dog person'. My 13.5 year old Westie, Piper, passed away three years ago, and I was devastated; I had had him since he was a puppy; I was in my early twenties when I bought him (at a pet store, unfortunately; I didn't know any better then) and he was with me through college, graduate school, and the early days of my career. He was a wonderful, wonderful dog--calm, sweet, loved to travel in the car (which is good, because we did a lot of that!) and got along well with everybody. In fact, he even got along with a Holland Lop named Flip flop (she was kind of a cheeky monkey, and ended up bossing him around--it was very funny to watch).

I now have two bonded rabbits, Simon (a NZ mix, about four pounds) and Olive (a Holland Lop, about 3 lbs). They are very sweet but have never been around dogs.

I am thinking of adopting a dog or a puppy, though I am not certain I actually will at this point... just pondering. One possibility is a seven year old Bichon Frise/Mini Schnauzer mix, about fifteen pounds. The owner recently had a baby and doesn't have time for the dog any more. I contacted her to see if she thought he might be ok to be introduced to my rabbits.

The other possibility is another Westie puppy... but I'm not sure a puppy and rabbits is a good idea, necessarily.

Any way, I remember introducing Piper to Flip flop with him on a leash. Flip flop thumped a lot, and Piper was initially a little excited by the bunny, but he was a very mellow dog, and it was no time at all before I was able to let them hang out together.

Long story short: how have people introduced their rabbits to dogs? Any advice, tips and experiences would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

With dogs, it really depends on the individual, but breed does play a big part. I would avoid any breed that has been bred for hunting, especially hunting small animals. This usually means terriers and hounds and not really good choices. However, there can be some that would be ok around a rabbit. Avoiding dogs who are used for hunting or even events where the instincts are used (like lure coursing or where terriers go under ground to 'hunt' a rat and only the scent is used).

See if you can take the Bichon mix home for a few hours to see how he reacts to your rabbits. As he is an adult, you would know that his reaction is what he would be like. If it is not a good reaction, you can try to distract or correct him as some might react one way as it is new but respond well to a correction and learn not to go after the rabbit. If the dog is totally fixated on the rabbits and doesn't respond to anything else, then is it probably not a good idea to get him.

For a puppy, you do get to work with it to prevent problems. You can stop any behaviour before it becomes a problem. Getting a terrier does mean you are working against the instincts to hunt small animals, so you may never be able to totally trust the dog around the rabbits.

My rabbits don't really care about my dogs and my dogs don't care too much about the rabbits (except to eat poop and stay out of their way). I know my dogs well and know they would not hurt the rabbits. Both are Bichon Shih-Tzu crosses.

 

[qtipthebun]

Our Rotty was already like 11 when we got the bunny, and she'd had lots of pets of her own (kittens, birds, a bunny, a raccoon), so she was really gentle with animals already.
We let Q stay in her cage and let the dog smell her without getting too close to freak out the bunny the first few days, and then we put Q on the bed and sat next to her while we let the dog sniff her. The dog had no interest in the bunny...she was pretty much ancient already and was like "oof, another fluffy thing? Why???" so she just let the bunny (literally) walk all over her. They actually became quite good friends, and the dog was an excellent babysitter for the first few weeks when Q was still too little to hop off the bed.We'd just tell the dog to watch her, and she'd flip Q back onto the bed with her nose if she got too close to the edge.

But I know that's not normal, having a dog that's so sweet around bunnies...she was just a good dog overall.