need advice/opinions...

[ditty816]

Hi everyone! I'm new here.. I have 3house rabbits (Rexie, Sherbie, & Snuggles) 1 rex, 1 mini-rex,and one mix..

My question is this: I'm thinking about getting a puppy(American Eskimo).. Can you guys give me some advice on if I should geta puppy at all?? I don't want to add a whole lot of stress to mybunnies lives but I'd like to have a pet that lives a little longerthan a rabbit.. plus my bunnies don't like to cuddle or get petted thatmuch.. so i miss that aspect of a pet dog..

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

Mandy

 

[ayglnu13]

Do the bunnies have their own room? Or are they in a well populated area? Will the dog have access to them constantly?

(just a couple questions before I can answer correctly )

~Amy

 

[erin]

Hi.... I have one bun and know of a few folkswho have got a dog that was living in the house with the other bun andit didn't go that well.
buns are very sweet and let you pet them when they feel like it HEHEbut i can understand what you mean you want to cuddle and greetingright?? well i would do some more research on it. i also know of somedogs that do very well with buns and love them you never know...i guessalso it might have to do with the breed you get. what kind were youthinking of getting and its great that you are thinking of your buns.

 

[ayglnu13]

erin wrote:

what kind were you thinking of getting and its great that you are thinking of your buns.

American Eskimo *read above*

~Amy

 

[ditty816]

well I'm thinking about gettingan American Eskimo kind of dog.. I've done my homework and it says thatthis breed is happy, outgoing, loyal to it's family, and is great withkids and other pets.. now I don't know if they mean rabbits as otherpets.. *lol*

my bunnies have their own room.. actually it's a sparebedroom that's upstairs and it's divided up into 3 different pens.. Ihave all neutered males but they don't get along that well.. so each ofthem are out 1 at a time..

 

[ayglnu13]

Here are some websites about dogs and rabbits becoming friends

http://www.tampabayhrs.org/success_stories_dogs_and_rabbits.htm

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/1/dogs.html

But then there are posts where the dog doesnt do so well with the rabbits....

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=6648&forum_id=1

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=2808&forum_id=1

I personally dont own any dogs, but my neighbor does, and her dogkilled one of our other neighbor's rabbits (HUGE fights for like amonth!). If you DO get a dog then I would suggest a young puppy so youcan teach the dog that rabbits arent play toys

~Amy

 

[ayglnu13]

ditty816 wrote:

well I'm thinking about getting an AmericanEskimo kind of dog.. I've done my homework and it says that this breedis happy, outgoing, loyal to it's family, and is great with kids andother pets.. now I don't know if they mean rabbits as other pets..*lol*

my bunnies have their own room.. actually it's a sparebedroom that's upstairs and it's divided up into 3 different pens.. Ihave all neutered males but they don't get along that well.. so each ofthem are out 1 at a time..

I wouldnt be as worried about getting a dog if they bunnies have theirown room, as long as the dog has NO way of getting into the room then Ithink that getting a dog would be ok!

We cant have dogs because my mom is allergic, but I do have a rabbit who is almost exactly like a dog

He does tricks like a dog too

~Amy

 

[erin]

ditty816 wrote:

well I'm thinking about getting an AmericanEskimo kind of dog.. I've done my homework and it says that this breedis happy, outgoing, loyal to it's family, and is great with kids andother pets.. now I don't know if they mean rabbits as other pets..*lol*

my bunnies have their own room.. actually it's a sparebedroom that's upstairs and it's divided up into 3 different pens.. Ihave all neutered males but they don't get along that well.. so each ofthem are out 1 at a time..

duhhhh sorry LOL thanks amy!!!

 

[ayglnu13]

Haha I miss stuff all the time too

~Amy

 

[erin]

 

[ditty816]

Thanks for your replys and help Amy!I've done some research too and have found both positiveand negative on it.. *sigh* I don't know what I should do.. I foundthis Eskimo breeder over in MO who's got a 6wk old pup named Comet..she wants $275 ($225 forshipping..which is $500 total) forit.. and it's a 12 hour drive for me to goget it.. so I mightjust pay the$225 to shipit here if I decide togethim..in a way I think I'm being selfish forwanting a puppy too..

I should just count my blessings and stick to raising rabbits.. itseems that's what I'm meant to do.. (I'm 24 and have been raising themsince I was 13)..

Maybe I should explain further too.. My nephew just got 2 new puppiesover the weekend and they are sooo adorable they're huskie, germanshepard, chow mix.. guess I'm just bit by the puppy bug..

My bun's do give me love sometimes.. it's just gotta be on their ownterms.. *lol* especially Rexie.. he's got such an attitude problem itisn't even funny! but man it makes so much more special when he doeswant attention from me..

All I know is that I wouldn't trade my bunnies for the world.. I justthought maybe it would do them good to know another type of animal..

 

[ayglnu13]

ditty816 wrote:

guess I'm just bit by the puppy bug..

Ohhh I know exactly what you mean, I have wanted a dog since I canremember! My dream dog is a Great Dane I am going to be buyingone as soon as I get my own house!

~Amy

 

[bunnylover78642]

What does LMBO mean? I think that is what it is... I just dont understand when people put that up?

 

[ayglnu13]

Laughing My Butt Off

~Amy

 

[ditty816]

my dream doggie is aSiberian Husky.. and they don't do good with small animals.. that's the1st breed I looked at.. says that they'll actually ummm kill bunnies..

maybe someday I'll get one..

I read up on those articles and they sound likevery good advice.. just need to make up my mind now.. weighing goodagainst the bad and all.. I swear I should be a libra instead of aleo!

Mandy

 

[ayglnu13]

ditty816 wrote:

my dream doggie is a Siberian Husky.. andthey don't do good with small animals.. that's the 1st breed I lookedat.. says that they'll actually ummm kill bunnies..



Mandy

That is the EXACT breed of the dog that killed my neighbor's rabbit!!! :shock:

Weird

~Amy

 

[ditty816]

yup figures Amy.. andthat's exactly why I'm not getting one like that.. they have this newbreed Alaskan Klee Kai.. well they're mini huskies.. but supposedlythey don't have the traits of the big husky.. I wouldn't trust em tho..cute as the dickens but maybe dogs and rabbits just aren't supposed tomix.. :?

Mandy

 

[zarathustra]

Hey... just a warning.... Eskies aren't exactlythe "nicest" breed either. I own one. Let me say wehave nicknamed him Satan.

I love the breed but i have found them to be at opposite ends of thespectrum... Sparky/satan will bark/eat/kill/attack everything....pretty impressive for a dog who is fixed. Oi. Nomatter what we did.... he was just an mean territorial one.Maybe i should have anted the bills for the shrink...LOL

Friends who have had eskies have the exact oppositeexperiance. The have been real scarediecats. (Thosetend to look like they are from a puppy mill though.Something about them just does not look right. The dog justlooks bloody mousey.)

Anyways they are generally v. territorial and will pick one owner whothey will listen too... everyone else can bugger off. Checkthe breed descriptions. I have found the well bred ones, tendto fit this fairly closely.

 

[ditty816]

ohhhh.. thankszarathustra! I did read up on the whole territorialthing and about only listening to one owner.. Guess I kinda justoverlooked that part.. or maybe just blocked it out of my mind.. Idunno..

It's funny tho cause I told the breeder that I have 3 house rabbits..guess she doesn't know what "house rabbit" means! she should'vestressed this to me or tried to talk me out of it.. *lol* guess shewants to get that puppy a home..I will not risk my rabbitslives just cause I'd like a puppy.. *lol* I'll get over it..

Ya know what's sweet?! Sherbie was sitting here at my feet just a fewmins ago.. well he climbed up my leg and let me hold/pet/cuddle him..soooo sweet... stuff like that happens and it makes mesohappy that I'm a bunny mom..

 

[pamnock]

I would be very concerned with the American Eskimo around the rabbits.

From a website on them:

"The dog has a high energy level and can be noisy or destructive if not given enough to do.

We used to have Huskies -- They were wonderful with people, but gotloose once and killed everything small animal in sight (our chickens,rabbits and guinea pigs).

Also -- Pennsylvania is the puppy mill capital of the US -- you'd wouldhave to be extremely cautious of who you purchased from because thepuppy mills would not be concerned about breed for temperament.

Pam