Jealous dog!!

Ok so my 10 week old rabbit Sapphire does not care about the dog AT ALL. She just ignores him and gets on with life. HOWEVER, our dog is insanely jealous. He is fine with her to be in the living room in a run if no one is paying her attention but as soon as I lean in to pet her or get in the run he gets up
Immediately and starts whining.

He has tried to snap at her a couple of times when she's been near the bars of the run. I don't know what to do as ideally we'd like them to be able to have free run of the house when
People are home. Any tips on getting the dog to like or at least ignore your rabbit??

Ps hopefully my ill bun Humphrey (saph's brother) will be home soon from vetspital too.

I've no real advice but wanted to say I know that this is quite normal behaviour.

Is your dog neutered? I ask because often behaviour like this can be territorial. It will just take time - ultimately you were his & now he has to share - going to take some adjustment xx

Hiya.
Can I say, that if your dog is a baby and has already snapped at your bunny, please keep him away from her.
Maybe have a room for the bunnies with a baby gate?? Or an area which has been blocked off by nic cubes or something??
Its not sounding that promising and instincts will kick in.

Please dont think Im having a go at you.Ive seen pics recently which have been all about prey and predator pets.Very upsetting.

You have to reward your dog for being calm around the bunnies. I would ignore the whining completely as it's for attention and if he snaps immediately remove him from the room and human company so he knows that if he snaps he gets exactly the opposite of what he wants.

No dog and rabbit should ever be left free ranging without an adult being present all the time. Some of our members have had a well trusted dog, kill their rabbit.

raine said:

No dog and rabbit should ever be left free ranging without an adult being present all the time. Some of our members have had a well trusted dog, kill their rabbit.

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I would agree with this - and also add that young buns are particularly susceptible to stress caused by dogs barking, whining or scrabbling in the vicinity.

Even the smell of a dog can upset them.

they will not show this stress outwardly as they are prey animals and showing reactions like this is something which would be a problem in the wild - they are hard-wired to not show stress.
However they will feel it inwardly and it can lead to illnesses.

Please do not allow the young bun to be subjected to the dog in any form.

I would not risk letting them out together at all if this is happening. I know it's lovely seeing a rabbit and dog get on but it's better to be safe than sorry I never let my dog near my bunnies - my bunnies are outside

Ruthie xxx

My dog is exactly the same :roll: Whenever I pay attention to my rabbit or go to feed her the dog will bark and jump at the rabbit and put her paws on the wire mesh as if to say go away this human is mine! she is a very jealous dog. It is especially bad if the rabbit decides to grunt at me. The dog goes insane. I try my best to tell the dog off but once she gets into a hysteria it is hard to calm her down. The rabbit on the other hand will actually go for and tease the dog. The rabbit will stick her paws up on the mesh and grunt at the dog and the dog will do the same :roll: It's like dealing with a pair of children. The dog has never done any harm to the rabbit as we always watch her if she needs to go into the garden for a wee or something. The dog will walk up to the rabbit and will want to smell her or play and generally acts nice. No aggression or hunting behavior. But then the rabbit will turn around and whack the dog and then the dog barks at her and she rabbit will run away. Just try to discipline your dog and teach her not to be jealous of the rabbit. And not to keep them together unsupervised