beagles and bunnies??

[evansvillegirl26]

We are tossing around the idea of getting a dog.  I really love beagles and was reading about them but alot of sites said it’s their natural instinct to hunt them. So has anyone ever had a beagle and bunnies?? Or should I search for another breed of dog. We want a medium size dog if we get one.  I probably would not get a puppy since we will get one from a shelter I wonder if that does not make any difference?

[jerseygirl]

Oooh there is a beagle at my local RSPCA and I want her! But alas…. BunnyLiz has beagle(s) and another member whose name I can’t remember. I think if they’re introduced properly and while the beagle is young – it can work.

[BunnyLiz]

Awesome that you remembered Jersey! Yea I have two beagles, both about 2 years old but are still considered pups in my eyes. Molly is crazy lovey, she will lick anything to death, I mean anything. She is almost crazed lol, but we have to remind her all the time that one kiss is fine but any more and she has to go give kisses to her toys or her pillow, and she will for at least 10 minutes lol. So she is a mom at heart and loves to mother though she never had a litter of her own. So she loves both bunnies, follows them and when she is told to stop she sits and watches calmly. Sage is weird, and socially awkward, she had limited human contact as a pup so she goes by whatever molly does. But Sage has actually hunted before (against my will! she is legally my moms boyfriends dog that lives here and he hunts). Yet she treats my bunnies fine and more stares with fear in her eyes then anything, she has ran from them before. From my understanding, as my moms boyfriend hunts rabbits (*tear*), the beagle doesnt kill, it finds the burrow in the brush for the hunter but I could be wrong. Either way Sage is not a good hunting dog now ; ) But I think they understand and I dont leave them alone together. And they were introduced between a gate, then leash, then a firm sit and stay there order etc etc.

[Elrohwen]

From what I’ve seen in dogs I’ve worked with, terriers are actually much more dangerous to small animals than most typical hunting dogs because terriers are bred to kill small critters. Many hunting dogs are only bred to bring the game to the hunter (or point out the game) so the hunter can get it. I think a beagle, especially raised from a puppy, would most likely be fine. They like to track, but most that I’ve known aren’t killers.

[Sarita]

Well you do have to be careful with puppies because they are just naturally more exuberant than older adult dogs.

But with any dog you should not leave them out unsupervised with the rabbit.

One of my vets told me the tale of a rabbit and a dachsund that were good friends according to the owner but one morning the dog turned on the rabbit and well, it was not a good outcome for the rabbit. Just need to be extra cautious.

[evansvillegirl26]

Thanks for the replies! I would always watch when the buns are out!! Thats good to hear that it is a possibility to have a beagle with the bunnies!! I think they are just the sweetest dogs!! Hey maybe I could get one that would tolerate my buns! They chase my cats out of ever room!! My cats do not care for the buns lol!

[Elrohwen]

Would the shelter let you bring a bun or two to meet the dogs? The shelter I’ve worked at always makes sure the dogs are ok with their new potential doggy friends and does cat introductions as well. Maybe if they have bunnies they can try introducing the dog to one and see how it reacts, or you could bring your own bunny. Even with a bunny in a carrier, you’d probably get a pretty good indication of how the dog would act.

My mother in law’s dog gets a little excited by Otto’s smell, but when you show him to her (in the carrier) she quickly calms down and loses interest. If she lived with us, I’m sure she would get used to the bunny pretty quickly and be able to live in the same house as him with no issues. My friend has a jack russell, and she becomes fixated on small animals and gets very intense; she obviously would never be safe around my bun. So I think you could get a good read on the dog before you brought it home.

[Cake]

We just adopted a german shepherd. We picked her because she was the best around the bunny. She doesn’t even look twice. The dog we brought home first to try was just dead set on trying to get into the cage. (I say try and bring the dog to you, that way bun doesn’t get stressed)

With the dog we picked I knew it was perfect because when she went up to sniff the bunny, bun didn’t thump and came over to sniff back.

I think any breed dog can work, it just has to be the right personality.

[katie, max & penny]

i agree with cake. the right training and the right personality matters more over breed i think. of course, some breeds are much easier to train. i have 4 dogs and 2 buns- a lab, a pug, a chihuahua, and a brittany spaniel and all of the trained and grown dogs (all but pug) are great with my buns.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m trying to convince my bf about a dog too. Unfortunetly, the breeds I love most are all terriers. I would want something small though so my buns wouldn’t be intimidated and a non-barker!!! Well, at least something non-yappy.

[babybunsmum]

my dog is crazy-good with buns ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR6uo9PGAIU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytOB6Dc8ric) after a long and slow bonding process to the 2 buns i had when i adopted him. the buns were in a bedroom so i could close the door on them and keep them out of his view. i still never leave him alone with any small critter because he’s a big goof and gets excited when they move around fast. he wants to play and tries to stomp on them to catch them. *rolls eyes* this can escalate so quickly that you really do have to be careful even with a dog as passive as mine! great idea to bring a prospective pooch home first to see how they react. good luck!

[KytKattin]

Out of the 10 dogs my bunnies are around, only two do I not trust. One because he is just strange (he just like to look at them, kind of fixates, but never goes after them). He is a Duck Tolling Retriever mix. The other I don’t trust because he sometimes is unpredictable in lashing out at things (mostly another dog). He is a pit/whippet mix and did accidentally send my sister’s chihuahua to the e-vet due to a popped out eyeball.
Of the others, most are chihuahuas under 10lbs, most being only 5lbs or less. Needless to say, they aren’t really a threat in any way as the rabbits like to chase them. Buddy, being a pit/corgi, just leaves the room voluntarily when I bring them out since he doesn’t like to be bothered, and Rachael a Sheltie/’take a guess’ mutt is not only lovable, but doesn’t have the brains to hurt a fly.
When my boyfriend’s house flooded and he moved in for a while and brought his big German Shepard, Diego, my Nova learned how to escape her cage and both of them came to the door to great me like best friends. My only worry there was him stepping on her, but then I can’t even catch her.
So anyways, I do believe that you can have any dog with rabbits, even one that may have harmed small animals in the past, it’s just a matter of how much work you are willing to put into it and how experienced you are. Though as with any dog (except for like a Chihuahua and a Flemish giant), don’t leave them alone together. Though now that I think about it, the big rabbit might hurt the little dog…

Oh, and see if you can find a breed specific rescue since you have an idea of what you’re looking for. The only thing to watch out for there is that the people running the rescue might put an automatic ban on people with small pets due to the supposed nature of the breed.

[Karla]

Maybe try to see if you can find a beagle from a breeder who has rabbits as well. I have been looking for the perfect dog breed as well to go with free-roaming bunnies and have decided for the Finnish Lapponian as it has no hunting instincts at all. And better yet, I have found a breeder who has lots of rabbits herself, so I know that the puppy will have been socialised with rabbits early on.

The first three months of a puppy’s life are so important when it comes to socialising and how the dog will behave in certain situations – so if you don’t choose to get a puppy, then really make sure that you know the early history of the dog in order to know how the dog will behave with small animals when you are not looking.

But I think with the right clicker training you might be able to teach most dogs to leave the bunnies alone.

[Sage Cat]

I agree with the others that it has more to do with training than the breed.
Although, I would be more likely to stay away from small dogs like terriers and dachshunds that were original trained to go into holes and kill small prey animals.
From what I have noticed a lot of people on this site have medium to large dogs that get along quite will with their bunnies.
Someone even has a pit bull that totally mothers her 2 buns, and love to give them slobbery kisses – ha, ha, ha!

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