Scary Dog

[Nargle]

I don't have a rabbit right now, but I do have a dog, Basil, who has separation anxiety, and gets very panicked and upset when he's left home alone. He has free range of the living room/dining room area when he's home alone, because he can't be crated or put into a small room like the bathroom without injuring himself. Usually when he's alone him the living room/dining room, he spends all of his time pacing, whining, and scratching at the front door.

Now, Basil is great with other pets and he ignores them especially when he's busy scratching at the front door. However, the rabbit cage that I have built is in the dining room and my future rabbit will be able to see and hear everything going on in the dining room and living room. Will seeing my dog nervously pace around and scratch at the door upset or frighten my rabbit? I have heard of rabbits (especially outdoor rabbits) being so frightened by predators that they die of fright, even if the predators never actually break into their cage. I don't want this to happen to my rabbit!!

Would it be a good idea to put up a visual barrier like a blanket on one side of the cage to block the rabbits view, or is it a better idea just to let the rabbit be able to see everything so they know where the sounds are coming from? Keep in mind that this is not a situation where my dog would be pestering or harassing my rabbit. My dog is very well trained and will respect boundaries that I teach to him, he just gets anxious when left home alone.

Also, I can't move the cage into a different room, because the cage is actually a small-medium sized rectangular dining table that I have attached wire grates onto in order to make a large rabbit cage, and I live in a small one bedroom apartment and there is no other place for it to go besides the dining room.

Does anybody have any advice or reassurance?

 

[LaylaLop]

I'd say mostly depends if your future rabbit is used to dogs or not. My bunny now does not care about my dog, and they are left in the same bedroom when I leave. The rabbit in a cage, the dog with a kong to distract him. My dog, too, has mild separation anxiety due to his upbringing of being a rescue/stray. Maybe make sure the bunny has many "safe-havens" like boxes to hide in and such. A blanket may or may not get nibbled on, but could build a cardboard barrier if you want to block the dog from view. Might make the bunny feel safer if it knows it can't be seen by the "predator" outside the cage. In the wild rabbits freeze-up when they know there are predators around and being out of sight might put the bunny a bit more at ease.

 

[Nargle]

Thanks for the reply! Using cardboard as a visual barrier is a great suggestion.

So what does it take to get a rabbit used to being around a dog? Is it just a matter of spending enough time around dogs until they aren't bothered by them anymore? Is there a chance that if a rabbit is not quite used to being around dogs yet that it will die of fright from being around a dog even if the dog is not directly hassling the rabbit and the rabbit has hiding places? Or is it more likely that they'll die of fright if, say, a raccoon is trying to claw its way into the cage and there's absolutely no place to hide?

 

[LaylaLop]

It really depends on the rabbit. My bunny is fearless and will go right up to my dog. When my dog is hyper or hungry he shows more interest in her but they are never left out together. She has many hiding places in her cage and his bed is put out of sight from her cage as much as possible in my small room. He's an older dog though, so he's calmer now than he used to be.

More often when I've seen dogs and rabbits near each other where the dog is making a ruckus and the rabbit isn't the target, usually the rabbit will freeze-up doing the "you can't see me so you can't eat me" kind of thing. I've never seen my rabbit do that, so I'm sure she'd be dead in the wild.. buuut I have had ones that would freeze and you could see their eyes get large whenever a dog could be heard. I'd say just have lots of hiding places and maybe a darkened corner to feel den-like so they are more secure feeling. If mine felt like they could get away they usually didn't freak out, or adapted over time.

Some get used to dogs, some never do. Really depends on if you have a high strung bunny or a more mellow one. I know that's vague, but it's about all I can suggest..

 

[Ashley B]

would it be possible to put up a dog blocker? (Sorry don't know the name.) It's like a baby gate but made for dogs so they can't get to another room. If you put one up in your kitchen it mite work really well. you can buy a bunch and connect them.

 

[hippie]

I have a netherland dwarf who weighs just over 500 gms and he is absolutely fine with my dog. the dog is a papillon and is of med size. i introduced the two of them by keeping my bun in his hutch and letting my dog sniff him, then moved on to letting my dog sniff him outside of his hutch while keeping a lead on my dog. a few times of doing this worked a treat, they get along perfectly now and even eat next to each other. they spend plenty of time together and have never fought. please let us know how it all goes.

 

[Nargle]

Butternut has been here about a week and a half and they both get along really well! Butternut isn't at all afraid of Basil. I'm really glad! At first Basil was very interested in Butternut but how he's ignoring her! Unfortunately she still really wants attention from him, lol! Thanks everybody for the advice!

 

[cocorabbit]

I think there was a Dog Whisperer episode where Ceasar Milan taught the owners how to handle their dog who would just like that all day until they came back home. You should try to see it! Very awesome.