Bunny and neighbour's dog - am I being overprotective?

Hi there :wave:

About a fortnight ago me, my partner, and our indoor bunny Valentine moved into a new house. V has been inside since last autumn/winter. Now that it is getting milder, we would love for her to be able to spend some time outdoors enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

The problem is that our new neighbours have a very noisy Labrador. She is quite nervous and barks whenever she sees someone she is not used to. The gardens are not huge and have low brick walls between them. So Valentine will be able to see the dog and vice versa, and they will be pretty close to each other.

V does not like being handled and she will most likely be a little stressed by the time we get her to the run anyway. If the dog then starts barking… well we are pretty worried about what will happen, and she certainly won’t enjoy being outside. To make things worse I’m sure than once she is freaked out she will be even more difficult to pick up and carry back into the house.

Can anyone suggest a plan, or give us some inspiration, for how to try it out without putting bunny at risk?

We really don’t want to deprive her of having time outdoors, but at the moment we are just too scared to risk it

Could you put up a bigger fence? Our rabbits our now used to the neighbours dogs but when the dogs first arrived they were a bit jumpy, so it may be she gets better with time, but I would try higher fences to help shield the dog from her

If the wall is low you might need to add something to increase the barrier to be 100% sure the dog can't get over. I would start with a small secure area, eg run or crate, including some cover, eg card box/carrier, and see what she thinks. Some bunnies are totally relaxed about it. My neighbours to one side and behind us. both have dogs and my rabbits have never bothered when they bark.

Flora and Parsnip were very nervous of my dogs when they first came home - especially since they'd been 'pestered' by the dog in their previous home. However, it only took them a couple of months to get used to them and now they can both be free-ranging at the same time.

The long and the short of this is that you cannot control the behaviour of the neighbours dog but you can control what you do for your bunny. I'd suggest putting up a tall fence between you and your neighbour - one that the dog can't see through or get over. I'd then make sure I had a really robust run that could be anchored to the ground or was underwired so that you knew bunny was really safe. I'd then spend really short periods of time outside with your bunny when the dog was there and slowly but surely to extend these periods of time. Make sure your bunny has somewhere to hide where she feels safe. She WILL get used to the sounds of the dog but it will take some weeks to achieve this. The main thing is to ensure that the dog cannot see the rabbit, which will only serve to excite it even more and make it noisier.

Good luck with it and let us know how you get on.

Thanks so much for the quick and positive replies I'm so glad to hear that this is achievable!

Our neighbours have put up a wire fence on their side which prevents the dog from being able to get across, but the holes are big enough that she can poke her face through the gaps. So, yep, I think that investing in a higher fence sounds like a good idea.

I bought a really good run towards the end of last summer, which would definitely be secure. It's pretty huge, but we could probably adjust it so that it is smaller to begin with. We would provide her with a tunnel/cardboard box and carrier to hide in if necessary, and we were thinking about putting a blanket over part of the run to begin with to add a sense of security for her.

We are hoping to adopt a boyfriend for Valentine very soon (had to put this on hold whilst we moved), so hopefully we can get the garden sorted in the meantime and then could try them both outside together. Hopefully they would then be able to provide some comfort to each other!

Will let you know how it goes

If the neighbour has already put up a secure fence, all you really need is some screening on your side - such as a bamboo screen or brush fencing (the type of thing you just buy on a roll and attach to an existing fence).

I agree with the others. I'd only add that perhaps you could wait until your neighbours are out with the dog when you introduce Valentine to the garden for the first time, in fact the first few times. She needs to feel confident with her surroundings before there are any encounters (even through a fence) with the dog. Good luck!

I think it depends on the dogs behaviour aswell, if the dog is barking at the rabbit then yes I am sure it will be terrified, if it is barking at something else possibly not, my rabbits aren't bothered if the dog barks they just look to see what she is barking at but, if she were to bark at them I am sure they would thump and feel threatened.

Hoppit! said:

I agree with the others. I'd only add that perhaps you could wait until your neighbours are out with the dog when you introduce Valentine to the garden for the first time, in fact the first few times. She needs to feel confident with her surroundings before there are any encounters (even through a fence) with the dog. Good luck!

Click to expand...

I totally agree - we would definitely discuss our plans with the neighbours (they know we have a house rabbit) and will try and arrange timings with them for the first few trips outdoors!

Thanks Mackers - the screening sounds like a great idea - much less obtrusive than a fence

Selina is nervous of everything and everyone tbh. Luckily my neighbours dog NEVER barks literally. And I'm very close to the dog in question as I look after her when the neighbours go away etc. But I wouldn't really want Selina to see dogs... let alone hear them as I know she gets scared.. I think a bigger fence is definately a good idea, although that doesn't rule out the noise.. however, a bigger fence means that the dog might not bark afterall... I was also going to suggest a screen type thing if a fence is out of the question