Potentially Introducing A Dog

I wasn’t sure where about this post would fit, so I decided to pop it in here.

The other half and I have wanted to get a dog for a while, and we went to the local dogs trust place today, saw a dog that we like.

We have two rabbits, who live outside in their hutch and have a heavy duty run that they have access to via a heavy duty tunnel (run a round binky box).

We bought this up with the dogs trust and they are going to bring the dog over on Monday for a home visit, home check and “rabbit test”. As we want to make sure that the dog isn’t going to try and eat them as that would obviously be a deal breaker.

Providing the checks and everything on Monday go OK we then need to move on to other visits, presentations etc, so things will move relatively slowly.

The dog is 2 years old mastiff cross (possibly with some sort of terrier) who is house trained, good with other dogs etc etc.

If, and it is a big IF at this point, we did rehome her does anyone have any advice on how to get the dog and rabbits used to each other?

I should make it clear that the dog would never have access to the rabbits, other than being able to sniff their hutch/run. The rabbits would never have free run time with the dog etc. But, if we rehome the dog they would need to at least tolerate each other.

I hope that makes sense, we would like the rabbits not to freak out every time they seem the dog and race all over the place stamping their feet.


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this may not be what you want to hear.. and many may disagree.. but any dog with a possibility of having terrier in I wouldn't be comfortable allowing around a rabbit. to have a dog around rabbits you would ideally need them as a puppy to teach them friend not food, but you can't really ever train instinct out of a dog. a dog that has been bred for hunting could "snap" at any given moment. its why for instance its not recommended to have a husky with cats, they can just snap and attack the cats due to their high prey drive. it doesn't matter how much they are trained.. instinct is instinct and you can't really remove that.

as for rabbits, you could for instance give the dog a blanket, allow the dogs scent to be on it, and then give it to the rabbits. it would allow them to get used to the dogs scent and become less scared.

for the dog.. I guess similar. offer a blanket or an item to the rabbits, allow the scent on it, and give it to the dog. this scent swapping should get them used to one another as much as possible. general corrective behaviour, such as running at the rabbits, barking etc should be told with a firm "no", and calm behaviour around the rabbits rewarded. hopefully that should get the dog to understand what you are asking of them.

good luck, let us know how it goes xx

Thanks, I agree with regards to the possibility of terrierness in her.

It’s good that the dogs trust will do a “rabbit test” it was something that I set on from the start that any dog we got whether a rescue or a puppy must be good for us and the rabbits. We don’t have a dog flap or anything like that, so any access to the garden would be controlled by us.

The idea of blankets is interesting. And if we did adopt is certainly something I would try, The don’t need to be best mates, but if they at least tolerate each other that is good enough, and a better relationship might grow over time.


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Personally, I prefer to teach a dog that all rabbit areas are out of bounds. Trying to teach them to be 'friends' from day 1 seems too big an ask, and too risky. Rabbits are easily spooked and dogs may get too excited by them being around (especially if you are not), are far more capable of damage to runs, etc than you think.

Shimmer said:

Personally, I prefer to teach a dog that all rabbit areas are out of bounds. Trying to teach them to be 'friends' from day 1 seems too big an ask, and too risky. Rabbits are easily spooked and dogs may get too excited by them being around (especially if you are not), are far more capable of damage to runs, etc than you think.

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I'd have to agree. We have two dogs, though they were here first. We have kept them completely separate from the rabbits. The dogs are not allowed upstairs where the indoor rabbits are and we don't let them in the garden where the others are, they have a ton of walks instead.

I guess it does depend on the dog, but I'd never trust ours. Also we know someone who's dog just won't leave the rabbits alone and is constantly up at the hutch, it can't be fun for them.

Good luck though. I'm sure it can work x

Shimmer said:

Personally, I prefer to teach a dog that all rabbit areas are out of bounds. Trying to teach them to be 'friends' from day 1 seems too big an ask, and too risky. Rabbits are easily spooked and dogs may get too excited by them being around (especially if you are not), are far more capable of damage to runs, etc than you think.

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Thanks, unfortunately we don’t have the real estate to have, for example, an area of the garden where the hutch and run is but is fenced off where the dog would not be allowed.

This would be the gold standard solution, but it just isn’t possible.

Like I said I don’t want or need them to be friends, but they do need, or rather the dog needs to tolerate the rabbits. I would expect her to go out and have a good old sniff, that is what dogs do, if she tries to get at them then that’s it and it’s no rehoming, but, if after having a good old sniff she wanders off then that it potentially something we can work with.

Bearing in mind we still need 1-2-1 appointments with the behaviourist etc.


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TheThreeB's said:

I'd have to agree. We have two dogs, though they were here first. We have kept them completely separate from the rabbits. The dogs are not allowed upstairs where the indoor rabbits are and we don't let them in the garden where the others are, they have a ton of walks instead.

I guess it does depend on the dog, but I'd never trust ours. Also we know someone who's dog just won't leave the rabbits alone and is constantly up at the hutch, it can't be fun for them.

Good luck though. I'm sure it can work x

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Thanks, while we have dog experience, and we have some rabbit experience, we don’t have dog and rabbit experience.

It’s a learning experience, and we might have to consider our options etc, if we did decide to rehome her.


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Aslong as the dog doesn't care about the buns (ignores them) and can't get to them I think that's okay. My dogs in the past always accepted the buns and just ignored them, I think when the dog visits if they're fixated on them, that's not going to work you can't have to dog being so interested that it chases them up and down their run and spooks them.

The dog breed I want in the future is a hunting dog, so I have similar concerns.

Every dog is different, I think just see how that dog reacts, good luck, I hope it works out

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Graciee said:

Aslong as the dog doesn't care about the buns (ignores them) and can't get to them I think that's okay. My dogs in the past always accepted the buns and just ignored them, I think when the dog visits if they're fixated on them, that's not going to work you can't have to dog being so interested that it chases them up and down their run and spooks them.

The dog breed I want in the future is a hunting dog, so I have similar concerns.

Every dog is different, I think just see how that dog reacts, good luck, I hope it works out

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Yes, that’s what I meant by tolerate. The is going to sniff the run/hutch, but if once she is finished she is happy to do something else then is at least a start.

Our rabbits are very easily spooked, they are regularly scared by brooms, and washing baskets etc


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Our dogs do all fine with ours. Our one dog is a border terrier x jack russel. He is the softest dog ever. I don’t think you can generalise that any dog with terrier in them could be a problem. I think you need to base it on the dogs own personality. Our bunny is far bigger than our other dogs and they are such good friends. You need to do the bunny test and do from there. No way to know until then. You need to have very close supervision etc. Hope it works out. If this dog isn’t right keep looking until one is right and suitable .


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I know from tragic experience that what dogs do when they are unattended even briefly can be very different to how they behave when they are accompanied. They can ignore the prey animal or even lay cuddled up to them, and even lick them affectionately, (mine did all of those things) but after what happened I would never trust any dog unattended with a prey animal again

Elop said:

Our dogs do all fine with ours. Our one dog is a border terrier x jack russel. He is the softest dog ever. I don’t think you can generalise that any dog with terrier in them could be a problem. I think you need to base it on the dogs own personality. Our bunny is far bigger than our other dogs and they are such good friends. You need to do the bunny test and do from there. No way to know until then. You need to have very close supervision etc. Hope it works out. If this dog isn’t right keep looking until one is right and suitable .

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I agree with this completely

Generalisation can be helpful when picking a breed of dog, but an adult rescue... I'd see how they were, they may not be very 'terrier' like at all

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Zoobec said:

I know from tragic experience that what dogs do when they are unattended even briefly can be very different to how they behave when they are accompanied. They can ignore the prey animal or even lay cuddled up to them, and even lick them affectionately, (mine did all of those things) but after what happened I would never trust any dog unattended with a prey animal again

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I don't know what happened, but this sounds terrible :'( I'm very sorry

I agree though, I'd never leave them unattended.

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Graciee said:

I don't know what happened, but this sounds terrible :'( I'm very sorry

I agree though, I'd never leave them unattended.

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It was awful, yes thankyou
I just wouldn’t want anyone else to go through it. We would never in a million years have foreseen it happening, but these things can and do happen.

Zoobec said:

It was awful, yes thankyou
I just wouldn’t want anyone else to go through it. We would never in a million years have foreseen it happening, but these things can and do happen.

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Ofc I think it's a very important point, it's good to have the animals living happily around each other, but always protected by a proper run/living area and never unattended, so that disastrous things don't happen hugs x

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zarathustra said:

Thanks, unfortunately we don’t have the real estate to have, for example, an area of the garden where the hutch and run is but is fenced off where the dog would not be allowed.

This would be the gold standard solution, but it just isn’t possible.

Like I said I don’t want or need them to be friends, but they do need, or rather the dog needs to tolerate the rabbits. I would expect her to go out and have a good old sniff, that is what dogs do, if she tries to get at them then that’s it and it’s no rehoming, but, if after having a good old sniff she wanders off then that it potentially something we can work with.

Bearing in mind we still need 1-2-1 appointments with the behaviourist etc.


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If the dog seems OK, you could protect the rabbits by putting a second fence (eg 2' puppy panels) around 'their' area and just leave a small gap (eg 4") between the run / hutch and the second fence. It may be enough to stop any direct contact between dog and rabbits, and isn't enough of a gap that the dog could get in. You would still be able to step over it. It works with our lurchers, who could easily step over it if they wanted, but they know that those areas are out of bounds - but the dogs would still be supervised if they were out loose.

The other thing we do is tether the dogs when the rabbits are out in the run - so the dogs can go out but can't reach the rabbits (or the gates).

I think it's completely dog specific. I grew up with a Terrier that HATED every other dog that tried to come near it and would try to bite them, but he was absolutely fab with my hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits. He'd let them hop over his legs and just watch them the whole time. Maybe we were just very lucky, and I'm not suggesting that's the relationship you want with yours, but I think it's dog specific. Obviously some breeds have a higher prey drive but some are just dope on a rope :lol: I hope your dog works out, I think the idea Shimmer mentioned is a good one if you've got the means to do it. It adds that extra layer of protection and stops the dog getting too close.

Well the dog was here for about half an hour or so.

She was fine in the house, and the first time in the garden, but when she saw the rabbits she got stressed and fixated on them, and it was a struggle to get her back inside.

We really liked her, and it is a shame, but the boys need to be safe and they wouldn’t be with her about.


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zarathustra said:

Well the dog was here for about half an hour or so.

She was fine in the house, and the first time in the garden, but when she saw the rabbits she got stressed and fixated on them, and it was a struggle to get her back inside.

We really liked her, and it is a shame, but the boys need to be safe and they wouldn’t be with her about.


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I'm sorry, for you and the dog, that it didn't work out.

Zoobec said:

It was awful, yes thankyou
I just wouldn’t want anyone else to go through it. We would never in a million years have foreseen it happening, but these things can and do happen.

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What a dreadful thing to happen.