Rabbit and Dog

[MaS1029]

I have a 10 month German shepherd. Shes a very friendly dog and has never shown any aggression to my rabbits. In fact she’s very interested in them. But I I’ve had time in the past where she has sadly killed a rabbit thinking that it was playing with her. Does anyone have any tips on how to introduce the two. I currently have 2 rabbits. A senior Californian doe and a 5 month old buck. Any tips will help

 

[Blue eyes]

Did your Shepherd kill a pet rabbit or one in the wild? (couldn't tell from your post)

If she's not shown aggression to a pet rabbit, then she may be able to be trained how to behave with a rabbit. If it was a pet rabbit that she killed, well, then that likely means that she should not be interacting with pet rabbits at all.

My dogs know the difference between the family pet and the wild rabbits outside. My one labradoodle will chase a jackrabbit or cottontail in a heartbeat, but doesn't ever bother our indoor pet rabbits. That's why I say that if it was a wild rabbit that your shepherd killed, then that isn't a huge red flag.

 

[MaS1029]

Sadly it was a pet rabbit, we have cotton tails under a shed in our lawn that she tries to attack so I was thinking maybe she got confused with my pet rabbit. Once again I’m not sure how her mind works so I couldn’t say for sure but in that situation my rabbit had escaped it’s cage and my dog unfortunately killed it. However my dog and senior doe have been together on multiple occasions and my dog just gets very excited and licks her. Sometimes my doe will kind of nip at my dog push away my dogs face whenever she gets too touchy and my dog will back off and play with toys or resume whatever she was doing before hand. But prior to this situation my dog had never shown any aggression to my rabbits.

 

[Blue eyes]

Honestly, it doesn't sound like a good idea to let your dog be with your rabbit. That he "gets very excited" is actually not a good start. If he licks her without her consent, that is also not good. My one rabbit will "request" to be licked. He does this by approaching our dog and bowing his head down. In this case, it is ok.

I'm a firm believer that a dog needs to be taught how to behave near a rabbit -- not just "let's see how they do together." And this applies only to those dogs that are receptive to this training and that don't have too much predisposition to see the family rabbit as prey.

From what you have described, I'm not convinced that your dog is one that should be permitted to interact with your rabbits.

I have a page on my website where I describe the method I use to teach our dogs how to behave with our rabbits. By reading that, you may get a better feel for what I mean about teaching the dog what behavior is actually acceptable and what is not (beyond the obvious). From there you may get a better idea if introducing your dog and rabbits is a wise idea.