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Thinking I may have to rehome my rabbits. At wits end

amme

Warren Scout
We have a dog and she goes mental to get to them. To get to my rabbits she has to go past the decking and down a very muddy garden. She then paces round the run until I have to fetch which then drags mud into the house. Once on she then whimpers and moans to go back out to them. I have had 6 months of her doing this and I don't think I can do it anymore. I am sssooooo stressed
 
Who was there first? Are the bunnies in the dog's space, or is she the newbie that just can't handle the bunnies?
 
Could you not fence off the part of the garden where the rabbits are to stop the dog getting near them? Or, have you a spare room indoors you could give over to the rabbits?
 
dog is not speyed YET but we are planning on it. i have a decking fencing aroung the decking plus a gate which is locked, then a garden wall adjoining it. she somehow manages to get down there down. the rabbits are in a shed with a run, when the dog goes down the rabbits stay in the shed and dont come out.

we have no spare room

i love my bunnies and really dont want to rehome them but i cant see an end
 
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You need to only take her out on the lead to start with, otherwise there's no consistency and she'll never learn.

Hope you can sort it. :)
 
Lets start at the beginning :wave:

Who was there first - dog or bunnies?

What training has your dog received in terms of recall, 'leave it' commands etc.

What do you do when you bring the dog back indoors or when you reach her in the garden ?

Have you chastised her in any way when she does these things?

I'm not trying to instigate a dog training debate but I have some experience with this as I rescued a Springer Spaniel that wanted to eat my guinea pigs :shock: -
 
Maybe it would be good to take initially take the dog to obedience classes. The dog should be trained to obey command and classes should help. It sounds a bit chaotic and must be very stressful for you.
 
What breed is she?
How old is she?
How often and long are her walks?

You need much more focus on you, rather than this exciting thing that moves away every time the dog goes near it. If your chastising her when she is already completely focused on the rabbit, then really your just proving to her a) she can completely ignore you, and b) prove that the rabbit is much more of a game than going back to you.
 
Lets start at the beginning :wave:

Who was there first - dog or bunnies?

What training has your dog received in terms of recall, 'leave it' commands etc.

What do you do when you bring the dog back indoors or when you reach her in the garden ?

Have you chastised her in any way when she does these things?

I'm not trying to instigate a dog training debate but I have some experience with this as I rescued a Springer Spaniel that wanted to eat my guinea pigs :shock: -

dog was here first as a puppy she is now 2.

she comes back to the whistle and will "leave it" but only when she wants to.

she is told a stern "NO BAD" and then put in her room for a bit. this is how she is chastised.

the problem i have is that she her business out there too, so do i take her out on her lead to do her business aswell??????
 
Maybe it would be good to take initially take the dog to obedience classes. The dog should be trained to obey command and classes should help. It sounds a bit chaotic and must be very stressful for you.

ben there and done it:oops:
 
Does she have focus on you when you go for a walk? or is it just in the garden with the rabbits?
she has focus on me when walking but as soon as the back door is opened she darts out and heads towards the rabbits- i am sure she just wants to play!!!!
 
she is labrador x sringer sapniel. she is 2 yrs old and her walks are about and hour 2 x a day.


Say no more - a cross of two gun dog breeds :lol:

I can empathise as we've had Springers and working cockers for years. In
the end, with Ollie, I used a water spray gun - I know some people won't agree but it worked a treat and in the end he would sit with us in the garden and watch the guineas/bunnies for ages.

I would NEVER have left him unattended with them though as given the chance, he still would have tipped the run over and let them out to play :roll:

If we were on a walk and he caught side of a wild rabbit, he'd be off !!! Yogi is better trained as we had him from a pup and he takes no notice of any of the furries.

You will get there in the end but you might need to enlist the help of a behaviourist. Much depends on whether you can afford to go down that route and how many other options you are prepared to try :?

I used to have all my guineas indoors but for their sake, we moved them outside into big accomodation so they weren't stressed by the dog and we could concentrate on training him in the garden with them. It was safer for them that way. Luckily we rescued Ollie in the Spring so it was warm enough to put them outside.

Good luck
 
Say no more - a cross of two gun dog breeds :lol:

I can empathise as we've had Springers and working cockers for years. In
the end, with Ollie, I used a water spray gun - I know some people won't agree but it worked a treat and in the end he would sit with us in the garden and watch the guineas/bunnies for ages.

Good luck

thanks lol i will try a water gun :lol: right taking her down the garden with wellies on :D and water gun in hand :D
 
I'd take him out on the lead to go to the loo, until you can trust him not to run out as soon as you open the door.
 
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