Bunny and pit bulls

[Justine]

Hey!

I recently decided to move in with my sister for a few months as my current house is going under construction. I have a holland lop and she is my only pet; however, my sister has two pit bulls. This has me so nervous that I feel sick. I don’t want my bunny to be in danger or scared all the time. Does anyone have experience with having rabbits and dogs living under the same roof? Or any advice on how to make sure my rabbit is safe and feels secure in a situation like this? I want the two to remain separate but I also want to make sure she is safe if the dogs somehow got to her area while I’m not home. 

Thanks for any help!

[Kayota]

I have two dogs and a bunny My dogs are okay with the rabbit, one is unsure and the other just doesn’t care. The one that doesn’t care (the bigger, a husky mix) escaped into the rabbit room three times before I decided to change where she’s kept when I’m gone. The first two times Mako was fine and the third time she was freaked out for a couple days because it made more noise (dog pulled the gate down). Aside from that, she does fine on the bed with the dogs and even wasn’t bothered when my husky mix decided to use her as a pillow lol. I wouldn’t worry TOO much, but pit bulls are terriers and have some prey drive.

[Justine]

The dogs are very sweet to people. I’m just worried that their prey drive will kick in if they see the rabbit. I’ve heard horror stories of pitbulls ripping through cages to get to other dogs then killing them. I know I’m blowing this up to worst case scenario type thing in my mind but i love my rabbit and I just want to make sure I take every precaution and not risk her life.

[LongEaredLions]

I would be very careful. Dogs and rabbits can get along very well, but dogs are dogs, and you cannot rid them of the prey instinct completly. Most likely it will be fine, but I would always supervise bunny when he is near doggies, and keep him in a seperate room that is a “no dog” zone. Good luck!

[manic_muncher]

I agree with the no dog zone and natural prey drives, but I also want to add that it definitely depends on the dog, individually as well as possible breed specific. Even if a breed tends to have high prey drive, that does not mean that individual dog will fall into that ‘norm’. As for pit bulls in general, unfortunately the horror stories are much more media-driven than the happy ones, so you can only use those as an awareness to the possibilities. Many are indeed very dog aggressive and some want to chase, but not all, and I would even go as far as to say, not most.

Chances are, with her having two, they are probably well-socialized and probably not dog aggressive. They may even do great with cats and other small animals, rabbits included. I would be more afraid of one hurting the bunny by accident than out of malice. My pits were wonderful with all people and animals that we introduced them to. Anything outside the fence was of course just taunting them and making them want to chase, but other furry members of the family were part of the family.

With that being said, in my opinion, since this is a temporary situation, I probably would just limit the rabbit exposure to peek and sniff sessions through the pen/cage FULLY supervised. This will get the dogs used to the fact that there is another living animal there with them, and with brief periods of being able to satisfy their curiosity, would help everyone all around. The dogs won’t be constantly trying to ‘get at her’ trying to see what she is, the rabbit will not be quite as startled with the normal dog noises as they move around, and you might feel a bit more at ease, knowing you can step out of the house without the constant worry of whether they are going to tear through the door to attack her.

Since you are not looking to house them all permanently, I wouldn’t even bother trying to make them friends or love her. And if you are able to keep her in a room with an actual door that can be closed to keep them out, I definitely would have that door closed anytime I left the room.

[Beka27]

Do you have a closed cage or crate, just in case the dogs get in?

[Roberta]

I think a closed door policy is a good idea. Even better if it locks during the day when your aren’t there… Does your sister have children ?

[Justine]

No, my sister does not have children. I do have a cage that can be closed; although, she has never been shut in it before so that would be an adjustment for her. I have watched my sisters dogs multiple times at my house and I simply keep the door to the room my bunny is in closed when I’m not home and I kept them blocked off from the part of the house she was in. They either had no clue she was in the house or did not care. I plan to keep the door shut to the room she will be in but I can’t stop thinking things like what if they get in when I’m not home. I would feel best if I could think of something where she can go to be safe, that the dogs can’t get into just in case, but I can’t think of anything short of shutting her in her cage. i am willing to shut her in though and i suppose its only a few months…I know I’m being overly concerned but I would rather prepare for the worst possible and have nothing happen then do nothing and have the worst happen.
Has anyone had to get there bunny used to sharing a home with dogs? She is always scared when i watch them and just hides, she will get over that right?

[Beka27]

I would err on the side of caution and have her closed in when you’re not home. Just in case…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Since these aren’t your dogs, and they won’t be living together forever then there is no need to even chance interactions with an end goal of cohabitation or friendship.
I would keep your rabbit locked up in a cage in a room that is shut when you aren’t around. Let your rabbit run free in that room when you are in the room only. Put a sign on the door like ‘do not disturb, rabbit is in here and scared of dogs’ so any guests will know to leave that door shut at all times.

You won’t be at your sisters long, don’t take chances and then you won’t need to worry about the dogs

[Roberta]

No Children is good… It means you can secure them and not worry that a little person is going to ignore your direction and place your bunny in harms way…

[Justine]

I really like the idea of a door that locks from the outside so that I can keep it locked when I’m not there. It would give me a little ease of mind. One of the dogs does seem to have a very high prey drive and I almost am thinking it might be better if at least that one and my bunny never even see each other.
Will my rabbit eventually adjust to sharing a house with dogs? In the past, when i have watched the dogs, they haven’t seemed to notice she is at the other end of the house but she definitely knows that they are in the house.

[Monkeybun]

Your bunny may or may not ever adjust, it’s hard to say. One of mine was charged by a black lab all the time before we got her, and she reacts very bad to dog smells still, but i know other rabbits that climb all over dogs and snooze with them after previous scares.. so it is just kind of a wait and see thing at this point. But, if one of the dogs has a high prey drive, be VERY cautious. If you do ever let them meet, have the bunny caged, and the dog on a leash and under control, just in case. Better safe than sorry.

[Bam]

Two dogs are worse than one, two dogs can urge each other on in a hunt. So secure your bunny. My dog (German Shepherd) gets along excellently with my two bunnies, but wild rabbits outside she sees as prey and she will chase them if the opportunity arises. If the dogs seem like they don’t know there’s a rabbit in the house it means they’re not really interested. Because they do know, they pick up on the merest traces of scents. So that is really good, it means they probably have no desire to seek the rabbit out. Pit bulls and amstaffs are generally very good at obeding their masters (there is a term for this charachteristic but I don’t know it in English), so you can probably teach them the bunny is off limits, but since they won’t be in the same home forever, I too think it’s best if you don’t introduce the 3. A separate room with a door you can lock when they are alone in the house sounds like the best solution.

[Beka27]

Posted By Justine on 10/09/2013 11:43 PM

I really like the idea of a door that locks from the outside so that I can keep it locked when I’m not there. It would give me a little ease of mind. One of the dogs does seem to have a very high prey drive and I almost am thinking it might be better if at least that one and my bunny never even see each other.
Will my rabbit eventually adjust to sharing a house with dogs? In the past, when i have watched the dogs, they haven’t seemed to notice she is at the other end of the house but she definitely knows that they are in the house.

That’s exactly what I would suggest!  

A couple options… some houses have door knobs that can be re-installed “the wrong way”.  We had to do this in our laundry room when our son (when he was a toddler) locked himself inside!  

If the doorknob can be locked from the inside and then pulled closed, that could work.  Some knobs have a pinhole or a slit that can be manipulated to open it once locked.

Or a pretty simple option, get one of those eye and hook things (I think that’s what it’s called) that you can lock from the outside.  We used this on our walk-in closet when our son was younger and we used to store xmas/bday presents in there…

Whatever you do, make sure the door can be opened by anyone living there, not just you!  If there is an emergency when you’re not home and the bun has to evacuated, you want people to be able to access the bunny quickly.

[Eepster]

My father’s first pet bunny was killed in a dog attack, and when I was a teen, a dog tried to break into my rabbit’s hutch. Caution with dogs is not unwarranted.

When the dog tried to break into Nibbles’ hutch, Nibbles retreated to the safest most solid wooden part of his hutch. His instinct to hunker down in a safe enclosed place kept him safe till we were able to get the dog off the porch.  Fortunately this was just one small dog, not a pair of large powerful dogs.

I don’t think locking your bunny iin his cage makes him safer. The wires of a rabbit cage is no match for a pair of powerful dogs. Also, being locked in the cage prevents your bunny from using the strategies nature has provided him with to survive, which is to run fast and squeeze into a place that the dogs can’t follow.

Can you build your bunny a bolt hole/safe room. I’m thinking it should be made of completely solid strong materials, like 1 or 2 inch thick wood, screwed together instead of nails. It should be fully closed, including the bottom, so if the dogs flip it over bunny is still protected. Have two doors, b/c bunnies tend to be less reluctant to go into things they have an alternative exit from. The doors should be just big enough for bunny to squeeze into. Have open tunnels leading into the safe room area, so that the dogs can’t easily stick a paw in.

I don’t have time now, but if you’d like I could draw up plans for what I have in mind later.

[Justine]

That would be awesome if you could draw that up! I had thought along those lines that I wanted somewhere that she could run and hide if the worst case ever happened and they got into her room.i couldn’t think of anything though that would actually make her safer rather than just trapping her. Also annoying I thought if wouldn’t be strong enough. The pitbulls are quite large and I know they could get through most things if they wanted badly enough.

[Elrohwen]

I have two buns and a dog and it works out ok. My dog isn’t super high prey drive, but high enough (and high enough energy in general) that he isn’t allowed access to the bunnies. While we’re gone, he’s crated in a separate part of the house. If the dogs can’t be crated, I would keep the bunny behind a closed door, preferably one you can lock if you think other people might open it.

When we’re home, the dog can see the bunnies through a baby gate. At this point, I know he won’t jump over it (at least if we’re around), but plenty of dogs can and do. So if you want to try a baby gate while you’re home, I’d recommend the rabbit be in an enclosed cage or pen at least, for extra security.

I think the easiest thing is to just limit the dogs’ interactions and exposure to the rabbit. Keep the rabbit behind closed doors at all times and don’t even let the dogs know she exists.

[Eepster]

I hope this makes sense, I only have paint available, since somebody who will remain nameless chewed through the wires of the computer I had photoshop on.

[Justine]

It makes perfect sense and I love the idea! Thank you very much for taking the time to draw that up! It’s great too because she can use it as somewhere secure feeling to sleep or whatever. I agree with you that locking her in her cage just traps her and I will feel much better knowing she has somewhere to go that is safe. Hopefully I am just making something out of nothing and there won’t be a single incident but just in case I want to be sure to take every precaution possible.

[MoveDiagonally]

I don’t think you have to get very complicated with all of it. A backwards locking doorknob and maybe a sign on the door reminding everyone it’s a dog free zone will likely be sufficient. Especially if your sister and whoever else lives there is respectful and aware of your wishes and concerns. Limiting her space to a secure enclosure while you’re not around is a good idea not only as a “just in case” but also so she doesn’t do anything destructive when no one’s watching to your sister’s home. Even really good bunnies can get bad ideas (I’m sure they think they’re good) when they’re in a new space.

I wouldn’t worry about socializing her with the dogs as it’s just a temporary living arrangement.

[Justine]

I wouldn’t be quite as worried except I know my sister. She’s the type of person who will go into my room to borrow something and forget to close the door. I am hoping she will take this as seriously as I am and then there will be nothing to worry about. I actually feel quite a bit better thanks to everyone’s input. So thank you everyone!

[SweetTEa]

i know this is an old post, but for the sake of others who ask would like to say my best friend has a pitbull Boxer mix who is 10 months old and a bunny. Bunny lives inside in a cage, and her dog is an indoor dog also. He is super hyper active and loves his older brother bunny. We allow both of them time to play daily and just leave bunnies cage door open (it’s on the floor) so if he gets tired of playing with Beast (the pups name) then he can just go back to his area and lay down. Pit bulls are loving animals and most likely it helped that Beast was raised growing up with the bunny. The boxer part of him makes it so he likes to throw paws, but we tell him to knock it off and lay down when he gets too excited. The bunny does his happy excited hops when he plays with Beast. They get along great. Beast even likes to give Bunny Kisses through the cage when it’s not time for bunny to be out and about. So even though this post is old, wanted to get that out there since most people were saying pits are scary and that you shouldn’t let pits around bunnies. Again, if you want to have both, it’s probably better to raise the dog with the bunny so he grows up learning the bunny is another family member, but also just keep an eye on them, start with in cage interaction, then maybe a baby gate with the bunny hopping about.

[LongEaredLions]

Hi SweatTEa-
Great advice! However, like you said, we ask members do not reply to old threads like these, for confusion’s sake. I’ll lock the thread.

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