Rabbit behavior issues while fostering dog

[napagirl]

Hi All,
After losing my 9yr old rabbit in 2021, I adopted a sweet lionhead rescue rabbit almost two years ago. She has a similar living setup as my last bun- large xpen during the day, and free roam in our living area with us in the evening where she gets lots of binky exercise. Everything has worked out really well over this time with her, and we have a really good routine in place.

My elderly mother has an 10yr old chihuahua who is very sweet, and has come for a night or two during a visit. We always keep the rabbit and dog separated, as I just don't trust that split second that something could go wrong if the dog snaps (she has done this rarely with humans). This October, my mom suffered a mild stroke. She had no one else to look after her dog (she lives in a retirement apt), so we had to take the dog in for 3wks until she returned home. During that time, I kept dog/bun separate for safety. The problem was that my bun started chewing the baseboards CONSTANTLY when she was out with us in the evenings foor her roam time. We tried giving her toys, wood blocks, etc, but nothing worked. This behavior ended when the dog went home.

Well now my mom has fallen and broke her hip. We're looking at a few months rehab, and the dog is back. The chewing behavior has started up again- grrr. The dog is very quiet, sleeps a lot- not a disruption at all! But my bun is back at chewing the baseboards with a vengeance. We've tried bitter apple, ivory soap- no match for her! We may have to block them off with tiles or something. She has lots of chew toys/blocks/sticks, but she only likes baseboards! We've tried the calming herbs for foraging- no luck. Any suggestions besides a major effort to try to block all of these off?? There is no one else who is willing or able to watch the dog, and I don't want to stress my mom out further by trying to relocate her dog to a stranger. Help!

 

[JBun]

She's likely experiencing some territorial anxiety with the dog there, so is releasing that stress by chewing the baseboards. There are a few ways I can see to try and deal with this.

You could attempt to slowly expose her to the dog, safely through wire paneling to keep her protected, so she can get used to the dogs presence so it's no longer a source of stress for her. Now this may only work if the dog is obedient to commands and will remain calm with your rabbit nearby in her safe protected space, and this doesn't overly stress your rabbit to have the dog nearby. If the dog is noisy and/or hyper, this wouldn't work and will likely stress your rabbit more.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/introducing-dog-to-rabbit.html
The other option is bunny proofing your baseboards. You can try tacking cheap 1x3, 1x4, etc pine boards over your baseboards to protect them and give her something to still chew to release that anxious energy. Or if you want to completely stop the chewing, put polycarbonate sheets up to cover the baseboards. That's what I did to rabbit proof my baseboards and wood furniture. Bought a pack of 12x16 poly sheets off amazon and stuck them on using removable double sided sticky dots. If your baseboards are 90 degrees and flat at the top, you may be able to just use the plastic corner guards instead.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bunny-proofing.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bunny-proofing
https://bunnyproof.com/stop-bunny-chewing-baseboards/
It's hard to see in this picture, but the baseboard and wood dresser, have the poly sheet covering them. I'll post a better picture of it tomorrow.



I'd also suggest providing some tunnels and cardboard hide boxes, to give her places she can run to if feeling insecure. The boxes can also be something for her to expend energy on shreading up. Provided she's not inclined to consume excess amounts of cardboard, which can pose a risk of gut blockage.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Toys_and_games

 

[napagirl]

She's likely experiencing some territorial anxiety with the dog there, so is releasing that stress by chewing the baseboards. There are a few ways I can see to try and deal with this.

You could attempt to slowly expose her to the dog, safely through wire paneling to keep her protected, so she can get used to the dogs presence so it's no longer a source of stress for her. Now this may only work if the dog is obedient to commands and will remain calm with your rabbit nearby in her safe protected space, and this doesn't overly stress your rabbit to have the dog nearby. If the dog is noisy and/or hyper, this wouldn't work and will likely stress your rabbit more.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/introducing-dog-to-rabbit.html
The other option is bunny proofing your baseboards. You can try tacking cheap 1x3, 1x4, etc pine boards over your baseboards to protect them and give her something to still chew to release that anxious energy. Or if you want to completely stop the chewing, put polycarbonate sheets up to cover the baseboards. That's what I did to rabbit proof my baseboards and wood furniture. Bought a pack of 12x16 poly sheets off amazon and stuck them on using removable double sided sticky dots. If your baseboards are 90 degrees and flat at the top, you may be able to just use the plastic corner guards instead.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bunny-proofing.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bunny-proofing
https://bunnyproof.com/stop-bunny-chewing-baseboards/
It's hard to see in this picture, but the baseboard and wood dresser, have the poly sheet covering them. I'll post a better picture of it tomorrow.

View attachment 65715

I'd also suggest providing some tunnels and cardboard hide boxes, to give her places she can run to if feeling insecure. The boxes can also be something for her to expend energy on shreading up. Provided she's not inclined to consume excess amounts of cardboard, which can pose a risk of gut blockage.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Toys_and_games

Thank you!!! This is all very helpful. I was wondering about safely exposing her to the dog. She gets really frightened even more easily than my last rabbit because she was evidently dumped as a bunny on a freezing night, left in a box. Supposedly, law enforcement investigated the box, and rescued the 3 bunnies. She is afraid of noises and the dark, so I try to keep things calm for her...