New puppy and bonding.

[Bunnyluvva13]

Recently my family got a Yorkshire terrier puppy. She is 8 weeks old. I am in need of advice on how to bond her to my 1 year old bunny. She has a very calm and cuddly personality. She does like to chew on peoples hands and feet while playing and cuddling though. My rabbit (Cupcake) sleeps in my bedroom but does ocasionally visit the rest of my house. Coco (the puppy) stays in my living room area (area because the kitchen and hallway are all connected). We have not started any training yet (besides potty training to her puppy pad). Cupcake is pretty calm but at times can be stubborn and often will not stay still. So any advice?

[Megabunny]

Probably no great advice here. Maybe you can hold the two of them apart and see how they react so they can get some contact first instead of just sticking them together w/o a bit of a preview for them both? Iif you have a leash (can you put one on a Yorkie baby?) I’d suggest that, in order to give her a tug if she starts roughhousing. That way you can more easily avoid chaos if things go south and you want to separate them w/o having to jump in and accidentally land on someone and cause even more serious injury.

But I’m no dog trainer, so don’t take my idea as anything more than friendly advice

[Bunnyluvva13]

I dont have a leash fro her quite yet considering she is too young to go on walks. But i can have another family member help keep her back. 

[Megabunny]

Yeah, I didn’t think you’d have a leash but as long as things don’t get chaotic you should be fine. I just wouldn’t want to see everyone scrambling to grab one of them and falling on them. I imagine the pup can follow the bun anywhere and you won’t necessarily be able to follow the two of them, but I can’t imagine the pup could do any serious damage. Will likely just be happy to have another playmate who can move as fast as she can! I’ll be curious to know how it goes.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I agree. Have the puppy restrained, either in a harness and leash or by someone holding him and introduce them. I doubt with a puppy, there would be any signs of aggression but with terriers you need to be careful as it is inbred in them to chase small animals. They were bred to catch rodents so it’s normal for them to want to chase a bunny. The fact that the puppy is so young will probably help, though. Make sure to watch for any signs of stress in your bunny too. As puppy gets older and learns obedience you can gradually let them have more freedom with each other.

[Bunnyluvva13]

Thanks for your advice now i just have to find a good time to introduce them.

[Bunnyluvva13]

Our first session went great! Lasted about 5 minutes and then we took them apart to give them some cooling down time before the next one. Cupcake sat in my lap the whole time and her brething didnt escalate too much (usually when she is stressed she breathes a lot faster). Coco stayed calm, she didnt bark or growl. Lots of sniffing from both sides and even a mutual nose touch (meaning they both put there heads forwards). We had apple and banana cut up to feed to them throughout the whole time.

[Megabunny]

The pup eats fruit?? How cute! Sounds like you’re off to a great start. I bet it’s going to be a whole lot easier than trying to bond with another rabbit ://

[Bunnyluvva13]

Yeah, she eats fruit. Its a healthier treat than the ones you can buy. She also gets a small meal of cooked meat in the morning. Once she is old enough we are going to home cook for her but for now she eats dog food specially designed for yorkie puppies. Hopefully it will be easy. I keep thinking how cute it will be to see them cuddling.

[Bunnyluvva13]

Second session over. Everything was the same as earlier except the pets had more freedom. The pup even licked the bunny. After we took Cupcake away CoCo whined and looked all around for her. It was really sweet.

[LittlePuffyTail]

That sounds promising (and adorable).

I just saw on FB this morning, my vet posted a pic of her daughter’s new yorkie puppy and their lop bunny snuggling.

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