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Rabbits and dogs

A

amanda.panda88

New Kit
Hi,

My boyfriend and I own 2 bonded house rabbits but we are looking to get a border collie puppy. I was just wondering whether anyone knew anything about rabbits and dogs and if they would get along etc... We have our rabbits interests at heart and do not want to upset them by introducing another animal.

Thanks in advance!
 
I have a small Jack Russell that gets on with the buns but Border Collies are much bigger and have ALOT of energy... might be too much for the buns....

Would be your call though, how big are your buns?
 
It more depends on how well you train your dog. If you teach your dog right from the start how to behave around the bunnies it will be much better. being a puppy and most likely wanting to play all the time you will have to be careful it doesnt frighten them but if you put the right precautions into place theres no reason why it shouldnt work :)
I have a springer who was encouraged to chase rabbits and a whippet cross who are great wi th the buns. It took a lot of time and patience with the springer especially but they are great now. Obviously i wouldnt ever leave them unsupervised together and if the buns are inside - i have child stair gates to prevent the dogs coming in and out if there are free-ranging buns when we cant give them our full attention
 
Thank you for your advice :) would it make a difference that the puppy is only 6 weeks? We were wondering if the pup is kinda brought up with the rabbits from a young age they might get along?
 
Pups shouldnt be seperated from mum untill 8 weeks so be careful of the pup u get.

My pup from 8 weeks has got on really well with my rabbit thy even snuggle together under supervision of course :wave:
 
louise1 said:
Pups shouldnt be seperated from mum untill 8 weeks so be careful of the pup u get.

My pup from 8 weeks has got on really well with my rabbit thy even snuggle together under supervision of course :wave:
Click to expand...

I totally agree here - definately at least 8 weeks old. The benefits in staying wi th the mum those extra two weeks are immense. :)
 
You can also have issues the other way around with rabbits attacking dogs/cats to defend their territory.

I guess the main question is can you cope if they don't get on and need to be kept totally seperate?
 
I have 5 dogs, but I would PERSONALLY not get a border collie pup when I have house rabbits, I would have to keep either the rabbits or dog outside.

my dogs all live together outside (large kennels)

I love all breeds of dogs but I would not recommend border collie, would this be your first dog of your own? they are incredibly not only intellgent and require emormous amounts of mental stimulation, but also require lots and lots of exercise, they have quite a high prey drive too, and like to herd animals up ;)
 
Thank you all for the advice. I phoned the lady and she said we can 'reserve' our puppy if we decide to get one but they don't take them away from mum for another couple of weeks. Both rabbits are spayed and don't seem to have any territory issues and we realise it's a big commitment and that the friendship between the rabbits and dog may take a while if they do become friends. It's good to know that dogs and rabbits can be friends though :) We decided to look for a medium dog as we've had experiences with smaller dogs being a bit snappy towards smaller animals.
 
All dogs have an instinct to hunt and kill, they all need training, you shouldnt judge what dog to get by their size, but their breed traits :?

If i wanted to house dogs and rabbits together then i would choose the most laidback breed, however NO puppy is laidback :lol:
 
my friend has two collies one is fine with her rabbits the other has a strong herding instinct and won`t leave them alone..:D
 
I can't say I have any experience of dogs and rabbits, we used to have a Lurcher Cross but we didn't have bunnies then. We would like a dog but like you have that "dog and bunnies" issue now as well as having 3 children.

I love Border Collies but I would remind you that they really are a full time job - my friend had to give hers up at under a year as he was just too much for her to manage along with her young family, incidently he got along fine with her rabbit and the kids she just couldn't keep up with his need for exercise and mental stimulation. I would suggest you have a look at www.wiccaweys.co.uk a border collie rescue but you will find lots of fab info regarding living with and understanding the breed.

Good luck.
 
Our Golden Retriever(5yr old) is very good with our 2 mini lops,who we have only had for 3 months.
I have introduced them slowly and they have become good friends,although I would never leave him alon with them.
He likes to go lick their noses through the hutch 1st thing on a morning,and always goes to check on them when he goes into the garden.:D
 
My two cocker spaniels are fine with my four rabbits. I can let the dogs out when the rabbits are in the garden and they all get on OK. The dogs might watch them or go up and say "hello" but they don't touch them. The rabbits were here before the dogs and i've taught the dogs to leave them alone. I've no experience with border collies but I know they're very clever, trainable dogs so I would have thought they would learn to leave the rabbits alone if you are consistent in training.
 
We used to have a house rabbit and 3 labs when we were younger. We got the choc lab as a puppy after getting the rabbit. They had a fab relastionship, used to play with each other and the lab used to follow the bun round cleaning up after him. At supper time used to have 3 dogs sitting there after food and a rabbit next to them, awww it was lovely. The other 2 older labs didnt bother just usually ignore the bun. Would never leave them all alone together tho, you just never know.
 
I have a dog that wouldn't attack my rabbits if I'm there but I wouldn't trust him on his own with them and they are scared to death of him. I've fenced off the garden so that he can't scare them but my advice would be to keep them separate. A rabbit would be a dog's natural pray in the wild.
 
I would personally never leave a dog unsupervised with a rabbit no mattter how well I knew my dog....sometimes instinct can kick in out of the blue and you might never know when. It all boils down to the fact that dogs are predators and rabbits are prey animals....and you can never truly override genetic programming or instinct. Of course rabbits and dogs, if introduced carefully and properly can become firm friends, but I would still never leave unsupervised. We had Pointers when I was growing up and always had lots of bunnies too. Our dog was as gentle as can be and wouldn't harm a fly, but we never left her unsupervised with the buns. :)
 
I've got two border collies who live quite happily with the buns. In both cases, the buns were here before the dogs, who arrived as puppies and were trained to leave the rabbits alone from day one. Meggie totally ignores the bunnies but Bryn does like to 'herd' if given the chance. He's actually more interested in just watching them but the collie herding instinct is right up there so be careful.

Here's Meggie with Folly when Meggie was about 12 weeks old. I'm sensing I've got a 'thing' for grey and white :lol:
2005_0130Image0033.jpg


And here's both Meggie and Bryn in the kitchen with Pea. Bryn's doing his best to pretend he can't see her :lol:
30032008206.jpg
 
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