Bunny friendly dogs!

Hello everyone again! No idea if this is the right forum to post this but will give it a try! We are wanting to get a puppy once we have moved house (currently in an apartment) and have a garden. How many of you have experience with dogs and rabbits? We want to get a Wheaten Terrier (parents have one, love them to bits!!!) but of course because they are terriers they have the chase instinct so here's some questions:

1. can you train a terrier to ignore the rabbit and leave it alone when commanded? (obviously never leave them unsupervised)
2. is a puppy (who you can terrify into leaving the bun) the best option or should we get an older dog?
3. has a bun ever bullied your dog before?
4. what other problems can arise through the cohabiting of two species that are not "trying to kill each other" related?

We plan to keep bun in the kitchen or dining room (cage only - will have freedom to wander wherever when we're home) and dog will sleep in the hallway so in theory, depending on the house, there should be at least 1 solid door between them, ideally two. Also plan to have a bunny proof area of the garden (also dog proof from the other side) so they can get their own space.

Does this sound feasible?

I want a dog!!!

My dog gets on fine with my Amber, he was fine with my other Rabbits too even though he was here first he is a German Shepherd dog :wave:
They are never left alone together and the dog has snuffled Ambers bottom a couple of times:shock: and they used to play a little game of hide and seek in the garden occasionaly but on the whole they get on fine :lol:

Hi I have a 7 yr old Boxer we bought her because I was petrified of dogs and my children who were 3 at the time picked up on it. Best move we ever made. She is excellent has never snapped, growled or anything else at the children or pets. I have 3 indoor buns who she watches and sleeps near (buns and at times her choice). 2 cats who are only 1 and 2 she mothers them. We also have 6 guinea pigs who she guards when they are in the run.

I would say a big dog is best as smaller breads tend to like the chase. Just my opinion thought and there are always exceptions.

Hope that helps.

I dont think it is really about breed (although certainly some have a higher prey drive) but more about personality. I have two poodle crosses, one is VERY food orientated and I would never trust her around any of my small furries. The other just wants to love them and was forever trying to lick them. They were never allowed near them without me being there, and they are now permanently kicked out my room, with the buns having free range of my floor 24/7.

I think I would keep in mind that bun was there first, so if bringing a dog in doesn't compromise the buns current living situation then I would consider it. If you go through a rescue, they can often much dogs to suit your lifestyle.

I have a westie and four house rabbits. The dog lives down stairs and the rabbits upstairs. Personally I would NEVER let my dog anywhere near my buns.

As you know, terriers are bred to kill rabbits etc. All the terriers I have ever met have this odd little switch inside them, one minute fine next minute killing machine, bred for centuries to be a good ratter or whatever.

Conversely, terriers have this thing bred into them, by us, to kill, is it fair to make them live against centuries of selective breeding? It would be like making me live with a chocolate cake but never be able to eat it, now that is not going to happen:lol:

I know some people on here keep terriers with buns, but I am not one of them

I agree, its more about the training rather than the breed but you have to remember what the breed was originally intended to do.
therefore if you get a terrier of any breed or another working dog with a high energy/prey drive you are going to have to work alot harder to train it (not that its impossible) but you will be training against nature basically.
I would never just rely on a door to keep them apart.

i have a terrier, she was possibly a rabbit/ratting dog before she was abandoned (i imagen because she's cack at catching things :roll: )
I am comfortable with putting my bunnies in the run and letting them mingle like that as Dotty (my dog) cannot physically get to them. But shedoes chase them around in the run, which makes Sebastian binky and doesn't bother Mae :?
When Mae comes in for extra food, Dotty will lay next to me or sit on the floor and only sniff Mae if I allow her.

She is good with them, but I have no doubt if I put the bunnies on the floor and let Dotty "play" they would be killed instantly.
You cant fully trust any dog, or cat for that matter. I think a dog that's breed isnt a hunting type would be best :wave:

Hi,i have a staffordshire bull terrier and a x collie and also 6 rabbits one of whom lives in the house ,the dogs are fine to be out around the rabbits although if i am out they are seperated ,ps one of the dogs is also blind x

We used to have tibetan terriers and they were good with the buns and GPs (supervised) but Frankie did once kill a sparrow that got into the house and he did once catch my bun Jasper in his mouth but was gentle enough not to harm him thankfully (we were lucky).

Can't say I'd recommend a husky after what happened to G&T.

My goodness, lots of replies! Thanks guys!!

Our hearts are set on a Wheaten Terrier so don't think we can compromise on the breed! We would be very vigilant with the bun and dog, keeping the dog somewhere else while bun got his run about time, or if we can train the dog from day one have them in the same room, we will, but will be supervised i.e. no just nipping out the room and leaving them to "play"! As for night-time arrangements (I see someone above commented on this) I should clarify that bun would be in his cage (big cage, really hard to open) and dog would be at least a door away if not two (ideally) so should cause no problems during the night.

I think the main thing I'm picking up is to be very vigilant - noted!

Any more advice is always welcome!

Outside of the house my westie, Angus, is typical for his breed and will chase anything small and furry (or feathery) that moves, and I've no doubt he would rip them to pieces if he ever caught them. However he is great with the other pets I have. It's like he sees the other animals in the house as part of the family so off limits.

The bunnies were based in a dog crate with the door always open giving them the run of the house. All 3 of the dogs just ignored them. Angus was even once pinned in a corner with Edgar, my English lop, humping him (obviously before Edgar was neutered) and he just sat their and cried until I rescued him. :lol:

I do have to watch Angus if I'm pet sitting though as any strange animal in the house is not part of his family and so fair game as far as he is concerned.

i have a whippet, a lurcher, a boxer and two beagles and none of them take any notice of the rabbits....Little Bill the baby beagle only takes notice of them when he tries to steal their greens but that's it.

Mazzawa said:

Hello everyone again! No idea if this is the right forum to post this but will give it a try! We are wanting to get a puppy once we have moved house (currently in an apartment) and have a garden. How many of you have experience with dogs and rabbits? We want to get a Wheaten Terrier (parents have one, love them to bits!!!) but of course because they are terriers they have the chase instinct so here's some questions:

1. can you train a terrier to ignore the rabbit and leave it alone when commanded? (obviously never leave them unsupervised)
2. is a puppy (who you can terrify into leaving the bun) the best option or should we get an older dog?
3. has a bun ever bullied your dog before?
4. what other problems can arise through the cohabiting of two species that are not "trying to kill each other" related?

We plan to keep bun in the kitchen or dining room (cage only - will have freedom to wander wherever when we're home) and dog will sleep in the hallway so in theory, depending on the house, there should be at least 1 solid door between them, ideally two. Also plan to have a bunny proof area of the garden (also dog proof from the other side) so they can get their own space.

Does this sound feasible?

I want a dog!!!

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You should not aim to terrify any dog, fear can lead to fear aggression which is extremely difficult to cure, any punishment during training can slow down the training process and inhibit a dogs ability to learn. I have clicker trained all my dogs which works really well, and use training discs to show them when a behaviour is unwanted, training a dog the 'leave it' command is really useful and you can use this when the dogs and small animals are together, I would not let the dogs interfere with small animals, they are ok to look but not react, sniff, touch the small animal.

Hallways may not be the best area for dogs to be kept as they will see you leaving and this can cause anxiety, I would choose a small room for them to stay in whilst you are out, pups cannot be left for more than an hour if you want to house train them, older dogs can normally manage up to four hours. The breed you have chosen is quite boisterous and will need lots of exercise and mental stimulation.

Radish said:

i have a whippet, a lurcher, a boxer and two beagles and none of them take any notice of the rabbits....Little Bill the baby beagle only takes notice of them when he tries to steal their greens but that's it.

Click to expand...

Ooooo, I love Beagles.

Anyway. I just found Wheaten Terrier rescue people.http://www.dogpages.org.uk/breedt.htm

To be honest, I'd go to a rescue. Let's face it breeders do it for money and not the love of animals. There is no such thing as a responsible breeder when there are unwanted animals in the world.

We got our beautiful girly from a rescue centre locally. They allowed us to have her on trial and take her for a walk and introduce us to our animals at our rescue centre. She is a whippet x terrier which breed wise you'd say no way would get on with bunnies but she is great. She is fine with the bunnies and other animals and is my little gem. I wouldn't be without her and she is always at my side. Of course she has history that she may never get over but she was 2 years old when we rescued her. I never considered getting a puppy as I felt a puppy would be more inclined to 'play' with a bunny or other animals. There is some kind of myth that people need to get baby animals in order for them to become 'used' to a certain lifestyle or other animals within a household which is rubbish.

I have a border collie x lurcher, so in theory she should round the buns up and then kill them :shock: .... but that couldn't be further from reality - she loves them - in fact it's Colin who does the rounding up!!

If you are wanting to get a terrier that will be friendly with your bunes the worst thing you could do is adopt an adult. Adults are harder to train, and of course being a Terrier, the instinct to chase is VERY strong. Your best bet would be to get a puppy, and still there is no guarantee s/he will not chase the rabbit/s

Thank you for all your fantastic replies! So helpful!

Clicker Training - this is something we would definitely doing along with puppy training classes. Thank you for pointing out that negative association may lead to aggression, had not considered this.

Puppy or Rescue - my parents' Wheaten was second hand so we got her when she was 4. Having seen pics of her as a pup and heard all of the stories we really felt we have missed out having never had a pup (all dogs have been rescues). We want a puppy for 2 reasons: the first is as stated above, we want what we missed out on. The other is that this will be the only time that we can get a pup as I work from home so will be able to look after them full time. In a few years time this will be changing but will have care plans for the dog in place (in laws who want a dog but cannot look after one = lunchtime walks!) so in reality the next couple of years is our only chance before retirement!

Wonderful to hear all of your compatibility stories - what I'll certainly make sure of is that we take lots of time with training, seek the correct advice etc and not rush anything in the hope that it all works out. We'll also be seeking out a breeder that breeds a placid temperament - we'll be doing this with help of the Wheaten Society of GB

Thanks again!

I have a Jack Russell - Alfie, though im sure he thinks hes a rabbit!! :lol: We got Alfie as a puppy so he grew up along side Sooty and Oreo and they have never been bothered by him..

He quite often will sit next to their run and they will rub noses through the bars BUT I would NEVER let them meet :shock: hes a terrier, its his natural instinct to chase and kill so I would just not like to risk it!! It would only take once and something terrible could happen... Im so careful even when im going to feed/clean them etc that the dog is at a safe distance...
Any chance to show off some pics :lol:....

Alfie as a puppy - the buns were bigger than him!!!




Here he is now - he loves the buns



and they love him (with a piece of mesh inbetween!)



edited to say - Im not being negative and im sure training could be done to intergrate your dog and buns, its a personal choice that i havent decided to but good Luck to you if you do - cant wait to see piccies :wave: