Getting a Vizsla (hunting dog)

[PamperB]

Hi everyone.

First of all I’d like to say that this a topic I’m very concered about and I need to know other bunny-owner’s opinions. I’m 21 and living with my family, who decided they wanted to get a dog. I love dogs and was partially up for it. Then they decided they wanted a Vizsla which is a hunting dog.

If you just made a horrified face, that was my reaction too. But since I have no say in the matter and cannot change what has already been settled, I would like productive, constructive criticism please!

Despite many long talks with my mom about why having a hunting dog might be counterproductive when I have a bunny, the 45-day-old pup is arriving in a couple of weeks and I’m pulling my hair out about how I’m going to handle this situation.

Let me set the picture: my bun is a year old and lives inside my room. She has a free range of it except at night when she goes to her condo and stays. She doesn’t leave my room, since the door is always closed. My room is on the second story and right next to the hallway is an open space where you can see the staircase. And the ceramic floor and a huge open space makes me cringe if I picture my bunny slipping so it’s off limits. So Pamper only lives in my room, and plays in the garden or yard under my supervision, when the weather conditions allow it and when I can watch her.

Since the bedroom door is always closed, I figured at first I could (very carefully) introduce the bunny to something with the dog’s smell and viceversa. If that works okay, then maybe I could take the pup (on a leash of course) in my room and then maybe take a peek at Pamper’s condo (without Pamper in the room). Then I could do the same but with the bunny in the condo.

I’m not saying they will be best pals but I have to believe that it will be possible to ventilate the room with Pamper in the condo and not be worried that the door will be open. For the sake of my nerves, I’m trying to figure out how this could work. I was very scared at first because the prospects of having a hunting dog did not look good and it got me into many ugly arguments with my family. I’m trying to find a way we can all live peacefully and safely.

The pros are:

• Pamper doesn’t leave the room anyway. So if they didn’t get along I could just close the door and just be extra careful when coming in, but that’s not my first option.
• The dog is very young so it’s easier to train her and maybe she will get used to the bunny’s smell from the very beginning and not try to eat her.
• And the pup’s mother is the calmest dog I know. Never even barks. And very affectionate.

The cons are:

• Sometimes instincts are stronger. And I couldn’t blame the dog for pouncing on Pamper. I would like to do everything I can to avoid this, though.

 

So please, if you have any opinions, suggestions and personal experience with dogs (hunting dogs especially) and bunnies living in the same house, let me know.

[Bam]

It’s always more difficult with a puppy since they don’t listen very well and they may play rough. So they shouldn’t be left alone togeather, but you’ve figured that out already. What’s good is that it’s quite possible to train a dog into understanding that other pets are off limits at all times, they are members of family, not prey. My dog is a German Shepherd and she’d chase wild rabbits and outdoors-cats all day long if I let her, but she’s never made any move towards my bunnies. She was 3 when I got my first bunny though, so she wasn’t a puppy and we’d done quite a lot of obedience training.

No matter how you do, both pets will pick up each other’s scents. It’s good to make the cents “everydayish” to them. And do try to get your family to do obedience-training with the dog from an early age. You’ll all benefit from it in so many ways, long term.

If you’ve taught the dog that the bunny is off limits, you CAN “blame” the dog for pouncing. Hunting-dogs are generally very higly trainable – they need to be since hunting around people with guns is dangerous and the dog needs to be attentive, listen to commands and obey them unconditionally. Of course a puppy can’t be expected to have that kind of mental maturity, puppies are like little kids. Hunters very often train their dogs to only hunt the types of game they (the hunters) are interested in, there is a term for this that I don’t know in English.

So, to conclude: It is quite possible to teach dogs what they can and can’t do (with the possible exception of Siberian Huskies and a few other, perhaps.) It’s much more difficult to train a bunny since bunnies haven’t been bred to be obedient and to cooperate with humans.

I wish you the best and I believe you can do this, you seem very motivated. Vizlas are beautiful dogs! They supposedly make very good family-dogs.

[JackRabbit]

Instinct can be very strong and even very intelligent dogs can “forget”. We had a close call with our bunnies and black lab one time — just scared the crap out of the bunnies. Our bunnies live upstairs and our dog downstairs (our dog was 12 1/2 and passed away in July). After the scare, we put baby gates in the bunny rooms doorways and put another baby gate at the foot of the stairs.

In your case, you might consider getting one or two pressure mount baby gates for when your door may be open.

[Bam]

Baby-gates is an excellent idea. Many dogs learn to open doors, my dog learnt that as soon as she was big enough to reach the handles.

 

My dog has scared the crap out of my bunnies too, (but so have I). You have to apply good sense and don’t take too many chances, but at the same time don’t create a huge tension between the dog and the bunny – like you don’t want the dog to feel that the bunny is a desireable resource, sth of great value that the dog really really needs but is deprived of.

There are very many people who have both cats and dogs and the dog will still chase and every strange cat it meets outside, but the family cat is ignored or a friend. My only problem with having a dog and bunnies is that my dog steals the bunny-food. (I didn’t chose the combination though, I became a bunny owner very unexpectedly, by finding a stray bunny. The first 3 months or so, my dog could only look at the bunny, (NOT stare) and he was in a cage on a table. She is an easy dog though, being a German Shepherd.)

 

I don’t see that you have much choice in this, so that’s why I’m saying like Tim Gunn: “Make it work!”

We’ll all be very happy to help so please write and tell us about any problems that you encounter along the way =)

[CojoCinder]

^ Hehe. We have the opposite happening… bunny tries to eat the dog’s kibble!! (But the other dog also scarfed down all the bunny pellets one time. Weirdos.)

We have 2 medium sized goldendoodles (and Golden Retrievers are hunting dogs). They were 6 and 7 when we got our bun, a Flemish Giant named Boris. Our dogs are really well behaved, so we haven’t had too many problems. I’d say the biggest hurdle is getting the BUNNY to understand the dogs… he will be the one to run up to them, and at first, he didn’t know what a snarl or growl meant. (He is only ever out with the dogs under supervision.)

He got lunged at a few times, and seems to be learning to give them more space. In addition, I will correct the dog if she snarls at him for no reason and she is definitely getting better. Sometimes even wags her tail when they sniff faces! The other thing that is harder (at least to me) is that the bunny will want to “groom” the dogs… so he will be licking their leg but then might also nibble a little. And dogs don’t understand that (heck, I don’t like it either!) and it’s not fair to them to have to put up with it. So I try to push him away if he starts that.

Other than that, no big deals really. When he zooms around, they don’t pay him much attention (and honestly, he’s so fast, I’m not sure they could really GET him and do serious damage without me noticing what was happening and stopping it.) Only once when he zoomed straight up to one of the dogs did she snap at him. But again, it’s him instigating it more than it is them.

Hope that helps!! I think you will be fine. Just set the ground rules and stick with them!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I have two dogs, both have very high prey drives. When we adopted our first dog, it was nuts. He literally would sit outside the bunny room drooling. Our new dog is currently adjusting and training, but also high prey drive.

First it’s doable-both with safety and with training.

Baby gates can be overcome, what I did was I made a tall gate out of the cubes that everyone uses to make condos. You can make it stand supported by attaching some cubes at perpendicular angles. Sorry I’ve dismantled my gate a long time ago, so I can’t send you a picture, but hopefully you get the idea!

I had the gate against the door as an extra protection and also to keep the dog out while I went in. It also came in handy for desensitizing (training) because he could see and smell but not rush in.

I did the training like this:

Blanket swap-so bunnies and dog get used to the smell (they will hear each other through the normal course of the day and naturally desensitize)
Then viewing safely through a gate, up to being allowed to go in on a leash (under control and once other training is in place-sit, down, calm, gentle and drop it all have to be in place-those commands you can work on with the dog over time-but make sure your dog is responsive and under control if you progress to going into the room with the bunny). You can also hold the bunny while someone else handles the dog on a leash to allow for close up sniffing -this will also give you an idea of how the dog will react.

Not all hunting dogs have hunting instincts, and lazy couch potato bred for nothing but pretty dogs can have high drives. So try not to worry too much. Until puppy has the second round of vaccines and some obedience training there is not much use doing anything except maybe the blanket swap-and constructing your safety gate.

Also go over the rules with your parents (i.e. they never open your door without knocking etc) and keep the gate in place always -that kind of thing. Make sure you have 2 layers of safety if you leave the house-dog in the crate and your door shut, etc.

Good luck!

[PamperB]

Thank you guys so much. This is great advice. I will take into consideratione everything you have said!
Keep it coming!

[PamperB]

Thank you guys so much. This is great advice. I will take into consideration everything you have said!
Keep it coming!

[JackRabbit]

This is more of a permanent type solution, but we considered putting split doors on our bunny rooms — the kind where the bottom half of the door could stay closed while the top half could be open for ventilation, etc. This wouldn’t work for a dog that could open doors though.

[LBJ10]

I’ve never had a problem with my dog (who is now 16) and the buns, so I’m probably not going to be much help here. We have had a lot of little critters over the years. She’s a dachshund though, so little critters are VERY exciting. LOL We had chinchillas for quite a few years and she absolutely adored them. They would play with her and jump on her back. After they were gone (passed away), my husband wanted to give bunnies a try. Our dog was so excited to have new “playmates”. Now the buns are not afraid of her. They will come up and sniff her. But they could really care less about her. They sniff, go “eh”, and hop away. My poor dog is so confused. LOL

Like the others have said, a high prey drive dog and bunnies are doable. It won’t be easy though. I think you’re on the right track about desensitizing the puppy when its first brought home. That can go both ways too. Pamper would be desensitized too. That’s probably the best place to start.

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