• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

New puppy = not a happy bun *UPDATE* Please Help!

N

nicoleferniex

Warren Scout
Hi guys, got a slight problem. Yesterday we got a new family puppy, and tonight i had a bad experience from my bun. The puppy is only 7 weeks, very boisterous and curious (shes never met a rabbit before).. Anyway, my bun(Ziggy) was under the dining table and Skye(the pup) came over aswell when Ziggy all of a sudden lunged towards me, me being totally frightened started screaming and crying (18 and still a big baby)..5 mins later Ziggy was fine, when Ziggy came into the house we already had a dog but she was old and passed away just over 4 weeks ago. Has anyone ever experienced this or have any tips for me?
 
Last edited:
At 7 weeks the pup is really young to be away from mum:shock: She wont have learnt all of her puppy manners yet that she would learn with her siblings.

I really dont know what I would do but this age is where pups learn to play and they also learn when play gets too rough, a lot of this is done by biting, rolling, pouncing and general roughhousing. If you have no other dogs in the house to teach skye puppy manners I would be very tempted to keep them separate unless closely supervised. Its likely Skye may think of the buns as her littermates and try and play too rough:shock:

If a pup gets too rough with mum or siblings they let out a really high pitched squeal, if Skye gets a bit too hyper around the buns you could try that? Lots of praise and rewards when she is calm around them. Same for the buns really...lots of love and reassurance while she's in the room with them:D
 
We have two dog's who were both here before the bun's were. Keeping them apart would be difficult and not what I wanted so every time the dogs had been exercised I put them in there dog cages and let the rabbit's go over to them (my rabbits were to curious not to go see) It worked well as the dogs were to tired to bother with the buns but it let the bun's get a good sniff. When the rabbit's were in their area I would then let the dogs sniff about the cage and then the dog's soon got bored too.

It may be different from a little pup but ours thinks he is a pup and used to always sniff the rabbit's and try play. So the rabbit's used to hide behind our bigger dog as she barely moves :lol:
Now they all 4 lay around the TV and ignore each other :love:

It would all depend if your rabbits are nervous buns..... I would not think of letting the dogs around our new mini lops right now as all 3 scare very easily!
 
Last edited:
helen01 said:
At 7 weeks the pup is really young to be away from mum:shock: She wont have learnt all of her puppy manners yet that she would learn with her siblings.

I really dont know what I would do but this age is where pups learn to play and they also learn when play gets too rough, a lot of this is done by biting, rolling, pouncing and general roughhousing. If you have no other dogs in the house to teach skye puppy manners I would be very tempted to keep them separate unless closely supervised. Its likely Skye may think of the buns as her littermates and try and play too rough:shock:

If a pup gets too rough with mum or siblings they let out a really high pitched squeal, if Skye gets a bit too hyper around the buns you could try that? Lots of praise and rewards when she is calm around them. Same for the buns really...lots of love and reassurance while she's in the room with them:D
Click to expand...

the mother had stopped feeding the pup as much and was showing all the signs that she was ready to leave her, my mums an experienced dog owner and if she had felt that the pup wasnt healthy enough we wouldnt have taken her. i think Skye thinks Ziggy is one of her littermates but Ziggy never meeting a pup is unsure, they are fine through the bars, Ziggy knows shes in her cage so she can run in her box if she gets frightened. I think its just going to take alot of time for the rabbit and other animals to accept Skye x
 
mummyb said:
We have two dog's, a big soft Rottweiler and a very boisterous Beagle who were both here before the bun's were. Keeping them apart would be difficult and not what I wanted so every time the dogs had been exercised I put them in there dog cages and let the rabbit's go over to them (my rabbits were to curious not to go see) It worked well as the dogs were to tired to bother with the buns but it let the bun's get a good sniff. When the rabbit's were in their area I would then let the dogs sniff about the cage and then the dog's soon got bored too.

It may be different from a little pup but Beasley Beagle thinks he is a pup and used to always sniff the rabbit's and try play. So the rabbit's used to hide behind Skye (Rotty) as she barely moves :lol:
Now they all 4 lay around the TV and ignore each other :love:

It would all depend if your rabbits are nervous buns..... I would not think of letting the dogs around our new mini lops right now as all 3 scare very easily!
Click to expand...

Ziggy is usually really outgoing, our other dog was old as i already mentioned so wasnt playful but Ziggy loved her so i hope in time to come the same bond will form between Skye and Ziggy xx
 
nicoleferniex said:
Hi guys, got a slight problem. Yesterday we got a new family puppy, and tonight i had a bad experience from my bun. The puppy is only 7 weeks, very boisterous and curious (shes never met a rabbit before).. Anyway, my bun(Ziggy) was under the dining table and Skye(the pup) came over aswell when Ziggy all of a sudden lunged towards me, me being totally frightened started screaming and crying (18 and still a big baby)..5 mins later Ziggy was fine, when Ziggy came into the house we already had a dog but she was old and passed away just over 4 weeks ago. Has anyone ever experienced this or have any tips for me?
Click to expand...

Hi, congratulations of your new addition! As has already been said, 7 weeks is far too young to be away from mum, an experienced dog owner doesn't always = an experience breeder and vice versa :(

Regardless of that, I think what you need to do is keep them separate for a day or so to let Ziggy (18???) fully calm down, then put pup in a puppy pen while Ziggy is out and vice versa, giving lots of fuss/treats when both are calm.

When we're brought a new dog into the pack that has never met a rabbit before we wouldn't let them meet straight away, a pups play could seriously hurt a bun. But over time the dog learns that being around the buns=nice treats so a good thing .. luckily rotties love food so this part is easy! :lol:
 
Rykat said:
Hi, congratulations of your new addition! As has already been said, 7 weeks is far too young to be away from mum, an experienced dog owner doesn't always = an experience breeder and vice versa :(

Regardless of that, I think what you need to do is keep them separate for a day or so to let Ziggy (18???) fully calm down, then put pup in a puppy pen while Ziggy is out and vice versa, giving lots of fuss/treats when both are calm.

When we're brought a new dog into the pack that has never met a rabbit before we wouldn't let them meet straight away, a pups play could seriously hurt a bun. But over time the dog learns that being around the buns=nice treats so a good thing .. luckily rotties love food so this part is easy! :lol:
Click to expand...

most people get pups at around 8 weeks,she will b 8 weeks on Wed. We phoned the cat and dog home before we took the pup to check she would be ok and they said aslong as she is on some form of solid food it is okay to bring her into the home.. Ziggy is 7 months. They wont be getting allowed together until Skye learns her doggy discipline then they will be introduced again.
 
Ok so after last nights episode of Ziggy lunging at me ive kept her in her cage until she gets the cage moved bk upstairs to my room away from the pup..but today i opened her side door of her cage to give her a treat when she lunged at my fingers and bit me, cutting me. now my fingers doubled in size and shes broke the skin!.. i left her about 15 mmins then went back to stroke her and she was lying down but lunged forward grunting,what does this mean? im getting myself upset thinking im a bad owner :( shes never been like this ..i just want my bun bk :( .. im now too scared to feed her or go near her cage..can somebody please advise me as to how to sort this or wether it will take time.
 
It means she's still frightened :(

Keep her in a quiet room, maybe a radio on, and I'm sure she'll come round soon
 
Rykat said:
It means she's still frightened :(

Keep her in a quiet room, maybe a radio on, and I'm sure she'll come round soon
Click to expand...

im going to move her back upstairs but unfortuantely her cage is too big to move myself and nobody will be home until after 5 to help me. i just got a fright, being a first time rabbit owner aswell. Shes flopped into a bunny sleep which im confused about, if she was frightened would she be realxed enough to sleep or is she feeling secure as she knows her cage is closed. i would lift her up and carry bits of the cage seperately but im far too frightened to go near her just now xx
 
:(

You've introduced a predator and a prey animal.

What else do you expect her to do, but play out her natural instincts.

She's scared, upset and confused and now she's been locked in a cage and doesnt know why.

Make sure you get your finger looked at, Rabbit bites can really be nasty.

Good luck.
 
GrahamL said:
:(

You've introduced a predator and a prey animal.

What else do you expect her to do, but play out her natural instincts.

She's scared, upset and confused and now she's been locked in a cage and doesnt know why.

Make sure you get your finger looked at, Rabbit bites can really be nasty.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Shes usually a free lance bun , iv only kept her in her cage because of her lunging at me, didnt think a new dog would be a problem as she was fine with Jade - our dog who passed away in May. Will she eventually let me put my hand in her cage again? Tonight when i take her upstairs il spend lots of time with her, not that i havent already,ive not treated her any differently.
 
nicoleferniex said:
Shes usually a free lance bun , iv only kept her in her cage because of her lunging at me, didnt think a new dog would be a problem as she was fine with Jade - our dog who passed away in May. Will she eventually let me put my hand in her cage again? Tonight when i take her upstairs il spend lots of time with her, not that i havent already,ive not treated her any differently.
Click to expand...

She might, she might not. How old is she? Is she spayed if old enough?

You should keep them 100% seperate for now and introduce if possible at a much older age. She may well remember this now and may not ever want to be anywhere near your new dog.
 
If you can't move the cage just now why not throw a blanket or something over it for now? Your poor rabbit is terrified and that is the only reason Ziggy is biting you. Does the new pup have a dog cage? It may help if you put away the pup and allow Ziggy out for a little while?
When you approached Ziggy's cage what did you do? When I approach my rabbit's cages (we have 5 buns) I always rustle a bag so they know it's me and are happy for me to go see them ;)

I hope you get it sorted :)
 
shes 7 months, shes going in to get speyed within the next month or so. shes a very nosey bun, but i'll put a blanket over her cage so she has a little more security until later when i can get her upstairs and let her out up there. No we dont hav the dog cage yet,someone had borrowed it and is returning it tonight or else Skye wouldnt of got near Ziggy.im hoping that if she goes back upstairs and i just open her cage she will hopefully come to me
 
Well i left Ziggy alone for a couple of hours and chanced my arm by stroking her and she never lunged at me or grunted or bit me... she let me,im just to frightened to offer her a treat as that was when she bit me before. Il still move her upstairs tonight. I made sure the pup was away from her when i was giving her any attention but im pretty pleased i managed to b allowed my hand in her cage with no aggresion
 
I have a 6 month old pup and many rabbits and although she is fine through wire, i.e not interested in getting at the bunnies. ( Also fully supervised), I wouldn't trust her with the buns one on one.

I have had her on the lead and her instinct is to go play. Playing for a puppy/dog is much rougher than a bun so i wouldn't suggest it. Some people have introduced dogs and buns successfully, but if it looks like it isn't going to work, it probably isn't.

I hope you can sort out a solution where your bun is kept safe from your puppy. Puppy's don't know any different when it comes to bunnys. If you see how they play with a toy it may give you some indication of what they are caperable of doing to your bunny. In my pups case i would't trust her, she is far too rough.

I definately would rethink the situation.
All the best x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Nikki26
Bonding help please - happy update
Replies
17
Views
2K
tonibun
T
D
Taming new bunny
Replies
2
Views
691
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
F
Rabbit bonding help sudden change in behavior
2
Replies
35
Views
3K
Omi
O
Back
Top