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Puppy and Bunnies

Hi, as i recently got a new puppy and he will be 10 weeks when i bring him home. After hes had his 2nd vaccine. How do i got about introducing him with the bunnies. Ive researched that if they are being brought up with them from a young age, they will learn not to bother with them. Does anyone have dogs and rabbits the get a long or am i best keeping them away from eachother. I would like them to get a long as it would make things easier in the long run. does anyone have any tips thanks :D:):thumb:
 
The only thing I would say is that I would never leave a dog unattended with a rabbit or other prey animal. I found out through experience that what happens when a dog's instincts kick in when they manage to be alone with an animal can be very different to how they behave when they are accompanied :cry:
 
I have a Border Collie, an Alaskan Malamute and a Lurcher and mine are fantastic with Burberry who is fully free range. It took a long, long time to get to this stage but mine are pretty amazing with all my rabbits. They are giant breed rabbits though so not much smaller than than the dogs lol. My dogs are penned in when i am out and at bedtimes, they never get left alone. My Lurcher was from hunting stock and he is the most gentle and loving to my rabbits. It will happen but will take time. A puppy is good because he will grow up with them from a baby xx
 
I had great hopes of introducing my two Shih Tzu's to the buns - I even chose Shih Tzu's for their lack of prey drive! Unfortunately the buns were terrified of me for a while after the pups arrival because I smelt of dog - they did get used to it but it took a long while, and the stress of it caused Cheyenne to get very ill. The dogs are kept firmly away from the rabbits - and the rabbits are all fine with the smell now - and they don't even care about the sound of dogs barking anymore.

So - whilst I do believe you can train a young puppy to behave around rabbits - you need to be aware of how the rabbit may react to the smell of dog, never mind the sight of dog.
 
I was amazed at how well my Rabbits adapted to the presence of Morse (Pomapoo Puppy). Having never met a dog before I expected any introductions to take months. But all of the Rabbits just seemed to think that Morse was a strange sort of Rabbit I think as no Rabbit showed any fear at all. I do not allow Morse to yap/bark in the Rabbit's room. If he does he is put in the kitchen and ignored for 10 minutes. I cant remember the last time I had to do that though.

I never leave Morse in the Rabbit's room unless I am there too, even though all Rabbits are in enclosures. I never will. Enya enjoys winding Morse up and she tries to entice him to chase her along the side of her enclosure. But Morse knows he must NOT do so, or it's another time out session for him !! Enya always has been a right little madam so it comes as no surprise that she would try to get Morse into trouble !

I guess I have just been extremely lucky in how things have gone, but I will never be complacent and it will always be my responsibility to keep my Rabbits safe. However much I come to trust Morse, he is a dog and it is also my responsibility to ensure that he cannot get direct access to a Rabbit or cause any of them any distress in any way.
 
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