Can basset hounds and rabbits live together?

we have two gorgeous rabbits at home, Angel (white lionhead) and Gimley (black lop) but would love to buy a bassett hound puppy. However I am worried that the bassett may scare the rabbits too much and will not leave them alone because of their scent.
The rabbits live outside but are regulary in the house -they have free run of the garden with the back door open they regularly run in. Has anyone else got a bassett or beagle- hound dog- is it possible they could live together?

I think as with any Dog you could never ever leave him/her unsupervised around your Rabbits. Bassetts are hounds after all and hounds hunt !!
Rabbits are prey animals and some can be very frightened by the presence of an animal they are not used to.
If you did get a BH you would have to stop the free range of your Rabbits and provide them with a secure run that the dog could not get at.

Janex

I dont think it is a good idea. They could stay outside but they should never meet. I have two patterdale terriers who live inside, they never ever go in the garden though. They have never stepped foot in the garden at all, its a bunny only zone.

If i want the buns to have some time in the garden outside of the hutch, i make sure i lock the patio door from the outside so they isnt a chance anyone can open it and let the dogs out. I supervise them while they have a run around the garden.

Theres nothing stopping you from getting a basset hound in this sort of situation but i really dont think they should ever meet. And yes your rabbits would be very scared of a dog that was wanting to get them.

It's far easier to bring a puppy in where rabbits exist as opposed to a fully grown dog who already has behaviours instilled in them.

Every dog was originally bred for specific purposes...i.e terriers to kill, spaniels to retrieve and hounds well....to hound! But it's up to the owner to ensure that the breed related insticts they come with are challenged correctly. I don't think this means that they can't live alongside each other if boundaries are put in place and you have a good understanding of dog psychology before bringing the dog into your home. I have house rabbits and a yorkshire terrier. The rabbits were here first and the dog came late last summer when he was 8 weeks old.

I made a point to treat the dog under the rabbits.... he was encouraged to look at them as if they were higher up in the pack and this meant deliberately feeding them in front of him, petting them etc while he was made to wait until it was his turn. Of course being a puppy he wanted to chase them but I kept him on his leash when the rabbits were around and is he became fixated I would distract him with a toy or reward him whenever he ignored the fact the rabbits were there. I had sessions every day working with him being around the bunnies and it took about six weeks for him to learn to live alongside them peacefully and treat them as another member of the pack as opposed to prey. At the end of the day we create artificial environments for all of our pets i.e making cats and dogs live together so there is no reason why rabbits and dogs can live together as long as you are always cautious when they are together.

My dog loves the rabbits now and while they were wary of him at first they now aren't fazed at all. I would never leave him alone with them however but he spends a lot of time with them because I work from home. People said I had chosen the worst breed to put with rabbits but not all terriers are natural born killers and they are long domesticated since being bred as rat catchers.

I would do some more research into your chosen breed.

I know of a few hunting dogs (lurchers) who live with rabbits... One of which loves the rabbit a lot and will also let the resident rats climb all over her!
The reason for this is mainly because they are quite lazy in the house and can be easily trained to leave them alone and not take much notice... Sofa surfing takes priority!
A Basset hound will grow up to be a strong willed and strong dog but are also very calm and placid if they have the right training, and training needs to be kind and gentle...
I'm sure you will not leave them unsupervised and one tip is not to pick the bunnies up as that will increase interest and excitement when you are training.
IMHO i would not try it because it does depend on the puppy and i would be on tenterhooks all the time which isn't really great for a puppy who is just trying to settle in, but that is just me...

You can do it as it has been done before but i think it depends on the bunny and the puppy... My current two would be fine with a dog around as they are not fazed by anything but i wouldn't try it with my uncles rabbits as they are extremely nervous...

Thanks for your opinions. Some great advice charlie82. It is a tricky one, as I know they probably will never be able to interact or share a garden etc, but as some of you have said a puppy will soon learn to tolerate or ignore the rabbits with the right barriers and learned behaviours in place. An important thing is like you said that the dogs understand their place in the pack and the rabbits will be higher in their pack order and more important.

Charlie82, if we do go ahead and get the bassett this summer I may ask for some more advice of how you trained them together etc if that would be alright?

Thanks for your varied opinions-all we be considered.

i have a jack russel whos fine with rabbits because he was brought up with them. All my dogs love the rabbits and the rabbits love the dogs too. I dont think you will know unless you try it really

I should note that both my dogs are rescues and therefore did not have any training around rabbits and are therefore probably bad around them. They do not get the opportunity for me to discover what they would be like though. And they never will. :lol:

Yes I would be more than happy to give you some advice! My terrier shares the garden with the rabbits with no problems. I only have one rabbit who isn't keen on him so when she is out I don't let him run around the garden, the others aren't bothered at all by him and he just ignores them and does his own thing.

Oscar...I completely agree. That was the one reason I got a puppy and not an adult rescue. I know some rescue dogs get on great with rabbits even if not brought up around them but I would just constantly worry...It was a worry enough with a puppy. My sister has a spaniel x labrador and I can't allow her anywhere near the rabbits as she will probably kill them given the chance. :?

charlie82 said:

Yes I would be more than happy to give you some advice! My terrier shares the garden with the rabbits with no problems. I only have one rabbit who isn't keen on him so when she is out I don't let him run around the garden, the others aren't bothered at all by him and he just ignores them and does his own thing.

Oscar...I completely agree. That was the one reason I got a puppy and not an adult rescue. I know some rescue dogs get on great with rabbits even if not brought up around them but I would just constantly worry...It was a worry enough with a puppy. My sister has a spaniel x labrador and I can't allow her anywhere near the rabbits as she will probably kill them given the chance. :?

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I know for a fact mine would, as they are preoccupied with holes when they go out on walks, so given half the chance they would definately do that. I think Ben was used for hunting as his nose doesnt have a lot of fur on it, and he goes a bit mental when he sees anything 'wild'. The only thing he has ever caught was a hedgehog, however it was curled up in a ball and it spiked his mouth. So he was crying. Thank goodness. The hedgehog was fine by the way, i made sure. Thats why im always surprised to hear of terriers getting on with rabbits, because my are soooo crazy. I love them though :lol:.

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I made a point to treat the dog under the rabbits.... he was encouraged to look at them as if they were higher up in the pack and this meant deliberately feeding them in front of him, petting them etc while he was made to wait until it was his turn. Of course being a puppy he wanted to chase them but I kept him on his leash when the rabbits were around and is he became fixated I would distract him with a toy or reward him whenever he ignored the fact the rabbits were there. I had sessions every day working with him being around the bunnies and it took about six weeks for him to learn to live alongside them peacefully and treat them as another member of the pack as opposed to prey. At the end of the day we create artificial environments for all of our pets i.e making cats and dogs live together so there is no reason why rabbits and dogs can live together as long as you are always cautious when they are together.

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Exactly what I did with my pooch. She is great with them and the rabbits do not care one bit. She often cleans their ears for them! :lol:

I have seen my dog chase cats away from my rabbit runs before now. She will chase cats but never my rabbits. She has been trained to know the difference. However I never leave them unattended together.

My previous buns got on fine with my dogs, they saw eachother through cage bars for a while and were so used to eachother it wasnt an issue infact my little dutch Lottie was the boss, my dog used to lick her and when she'd had enough she'd let him know and he'd trot off! I never left them unsupervised and it will be a slow process with your puppy, he must not see them as a toy, the more th buns get used to him, the more they will stand their ground, the more scared they are the more they look like toys running away and getting your dog excited. Hounds are hunters but if you bring them up and train them there should not be a problem.