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Has anyone had experience in this area....?

C

CuBar

Warren Scout
Hi everyone, We are currently (since last night) looking after my aunt's 6 month chocolate lab. (he's gorgeous) But i dont think I thought through properly how to introduce my house bun Cuba and the dog :roll: I just assumed they would be great friends as she told me he was fine with rabbits, cats etc..
When he arrived last night cuba was a bit scared but then so was the dog. We haven't actually let them meet face to face, but just through the cage. Cuba seems very interested and nosey, not worried about her but the dog seems VERY interested and gets very exited and starts whining when she moves. I think he thinks its a toy but one that runs, fast. :shock:
I dont want to not be able to let her out in her own territory, she came out today but the dog had to be shut in another room, not really ideal for the next two weeks!
Has anyone experienced this before? I dont dare risk letting them loose together just in case he tries to..you know..eat her!!!! :shock: :shock:
She comes first but I dont want the next two weeks to be a nightmare!!
Please send me some suggestions :roll:
 
I wouldnt let my bunnys loose around a dog. I know that some dogs and bunnys can get on but if they dont the dog can do a lot of damage so they should never be left alone. What is your dog like with your house bun? Im not saying if the dogs ok with that one let it play with the new one, I was just wondering. My cat is fine with one of my bunnys and grooms her sometimes but ignores the other two!

Are you only looking after him for the next 2 weeks? Is it really going to be a nightmare putting the dog in another room so the bunny can play each day?
 
Carob said:
To be honest I think it's safer if dog and rabbit are kept seperated!
Click to expand...

I'd be inclined to agree. From my experience no matter how well behaved you think the dog is, there is always a chance that play can get too rough and the bunny would be injured, albeit unintentionally. From what you say it seems that the dog is very interested in the bun if he's whining and getting excitable, which I would say indicates that he'd love to get hold of her :shock:

If I were you I'd be shutting the dog in another room while the bunny is out. Better to be safe than sorry! :D
 
If the dog is whinning and looks excited I think that the dog would love to eat your rabbit.
I have two dogs which are fine with our house rabbit but they would not even wag their tail at her they know she is off limits.

Kathryn
 
I think if you had a dog permanently, then you would need to ensure they were introduced. As its ony two weeks and the dog is only six months and lively, I would not risk it.
 
Thanks for all your comments, everything is fine in the dog rabbit world, we have found a compromise, we have put a baby gate up between living room and kitchen so the two animals can be out but not get to each other. :D
The dog has thankfully calmed down a lot toward the rabbit, he just looks at her now, but im definately not risking them together.

Just out of interest if it were a puppy from..say 8 weeks, what do you think the chances are of dog and rabbit getting along, or is it just a case of how long is a peice of string? Just for future reference :lol:
 
when we introduced our dogs (3 Labradors) we had each dog on a lead and introduced them slowly. I am glad you have managed to reach a compromise. My 3 labs and 2 house buns lived free range all the time in fact Pepper the bun would snuggle up to Hiedi (lab) at night. I was never worried at all, we may have just been lucky but it worked really well :D Sadly we lost two of the labs last year and the house buns but trhe lab which was left loved spending time in the sheds with the other buns.
 
We got Sadie at 5 months old and there are piccies of her with the rabbits over in the stories area of the forum now, I think it was easier to introduce her to them and she is very calm around them now compared to Buster who we adopted at 2 and has very clear ideas about what rabbits are for and it isn't a cosy snuggle!

However it really depends on the dog, if you adopted an older dog that had been fostered around bunnies and showed no interest then that dog would be a good bet! Otherwise a puppy could be taught to ignore the rabbits before it is big enough to do any damage, however some dogs have a naturally high prey drive and no matter how much training may not be able to resist a rabbit running in front of them so it really is down to the individual dog.

Caz
 
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