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House bunny and dogs

garryc

New Kit
Morning!
We are considering getting a dog and wondered if anyothers have dogs with house rabbits, our vet said its possible if safely introduced and not left unattended and it was a puppy, does anyone else have an experience or advice to share with us.
Many thanks
 
The personal worry I would have would be how terrified (or not) the rabbits would be. Even with the best behaved dog in the world, if the bunnies are terrified tthen they will spend the rest of their time with you in a terrified state. Mine just panic at the smell of a dog, and often at the Centre they don't cope with the dog/cat smell and are very different in the home.

I would want to run a dog test prior to even considering it, to be honest.
 
I have a house rabbit George - due to him being too ill to be outside- and cavalier king charles spaniels and a cat too.
My vet who has been to my house says its def not the normal to have 2 dogs and a cat and a house bunny with no issues. She was quite amazed to be honest.
I never ever leave my dogs or cat out with George. He doesn't have a crate or cage as he cannot walk on anything other than carpet so he just runs about our rug covered floor. His partner is still outside in the hutch and free range in garden when supervised. But again i they are never left alone even though they dont bother with each other.
If George wasnt so ill he def wouldnt be in our house due to the other animals but we have no choice and luckily my dogs and cat do not mind him. He charges at them and grunts at them though! And bit my cat while the vet was in one day....she could hardly believe her eyes considering he was extremely ill....and still is unfortunlty. Has severe head tilt, still rolls occasionally and is prone to GI stasis if not managed carefully.He also has a lot of medication to take daily. Hes almost 9 yrs old so deserves to be pampered for the remainder of his days!
 
I have a springer spaniel who was encouraged previously to coming to me to chase rabbits and a cross whippet type. Both have been taught to be calm and respectful around the bunnies. Any bunnies I have had have been fine with them. Some are a bit scared to begin with but I've found they soon realise they are no threat.
 
Personally....I would never risk it. If anything happened I know I would never forgive myself...nor the dog (even though I know this is unfair to the dog) . I know it can work...but I wouldn't try.
 
We have a dog and a housebun together, but the dog was there first. We don't have any problems BUT I would never leave them alone together and I always keep an eye on them when either of them get too playful. I would urge extreme caution, but our two love each other and get on very well together.
 
I have a Jack Russell cross Fox Terrier, 3 indoor cats and 2 indoor bunnies (as well as 3 outdoor bunnies). All of the animals get on really welll. but I did have the cats and rabbits before the dog. When he was a pup he was smaller than all of them so he knows who is boss!

I never leave the dog with the rabbits free-ranging when I am not at home....I shut the living room door so the rabbits are kept away from the cats and dog. However, when I am at home, I happily let all of them run around together and will confidently leave the room, knowing they will all be ok. My only issue is the rabbit chasing the dog. Emily is a very bossy rabbit and if Benedict annoys her she bites him or chases him out the room!
 
My rabbits did not give 2 hoots about the dog but he just saw them as Toys. We were hoping to get to the stage where they could all be happily in the same room as us but even with a lot of hard work we just couldn't get the dog to understand. He was also insanely jealous when you paid the bunnies attention at all.

I've moved out now and my buns are a lot happier being the only pets!!
 
I agree not to ever let them out together unsupervised. If they are actually freeranging together I'd say you'd have to be very vigilant and trust your dogs completely. I know how my dogs work, but i still put them behind a child gate when the buns are out as you can't ever be a hundred percent.
 
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