Bonding Pitbull and Rabbit???

[Aspennn]

Hello,

So, i just got my baby bunny a few days ago, shes about 2 weeks old and i also have a German Sheppard and Pitbull, both about 2yrs. My german Sheppard doesn’t care to much for the bunny, she’ll just look and sometimes whine at her but my pit is very curious, maybe because he hasn’t been around other animals before, besides the Sheppard. For the past 2 days hes been going up to her cage and staring and whining and he even nudges at her cage. I always stand by the cage just incase but he doesn’t do much after that, after awhile he’ll just lay down but as soon as he hears some noise coming from the cage he gets right back up and stares and nudges, im kinda afraid he’ll attack her, but he is not aggressive at all, in fact hes a very sweet pit. The bunny sometimes goes up the end of the cage to sniff him but im afraid he’ll just freak out. So, any advice on what to do?

[Bam]

I have limited experience with pitpulls, but I have a German Shepherd with a high prey-drive. To my understanding, pitbulls, amstaff and staffs are eager-to-please-breeds, meaning they like to obey their owners. Have you done obedience training?

When I first got my Bam (it was actually my dog that found him), my dog was very interested. I had to make it clear to her that the bunny was off limits, not for her. Since she’s an obedient dog, that wasn’t difficult. I let her sniff him while I held him, but that was it. I kept Bam in a cage on top of a table so he wouldn’t have to see what to a bunny might look like a Tyrannosaurus Rex to a human, hovering over his head.

Buinnies get used to the smell of dogs, but a bunny should’t have to have a dog standing outside its cage whining. It’s very stressful for a prey animal.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Hi Aspennn, welcome.

Lucky bun to have a new home !
It’s great that the pitbull doesn’t seem agressive towards the cage.
If he is obedient, when he is looking at the cage ‘normally and relaxed’ then that’s fine, but if his ears are in ‘alert’ mode (you know) or he is whining, then just nudge his side slightly so he changes the focus of his attention.
You can say NO too if he listens to that.
When he relaxes his ears or stops whining, that’s good. Repeat this until he stops his excited energy. he should then just turn and go away and not pay any attention if this is repeated and consistant.

I had a lurcher that was in full pointing mode when my rabbit first came home in the middle of the lounge in a cage….. it took 2 days of patient NOs before the dog gave up hope of a free dinner !!.
The first No commands, I saw her ears go back fractionally and then straight back up, her eyes remained fixed on the rabbit and her energy was in full alert….
Bit by bit the ears relaxed for longer each time, she started looking at me saying “WHAT? really? NOT dinner?” but then went back to ‘fixing’ on the rabbit.
Then a day or two later, one final ‘NO’ look from me and she lowered her head, turned away and sort of said ‘OK I get it, she’s one of us’.

Next stage, rabbit out on my lap and cat and dog were allowed to sniff with a relaxed energy (any excitement was met with a NO and finger point from me), and then next stage rabbit hopped around on floor….. with me in VERY clear site of the dog who had by this point realised that this was not a free lunch.
That was the turning point and they continued to share the same space until dog passed away.

Of course, be careful at ALL times – I knew my dog back to front and inside out and she was very obedient. If you doubt even just a bit, don’t push it.

But definitely stop the whining (from both dogs) with a NO or a touch (Cesar’s way! LOL) and keep them relaxed whenever near the rabbit…

GOOD LUCK and let us know how you get on !! :o)))

[Bam]

Vienna, I love your advice!

A lurcher and a bunny must be the most difficult combo imaginable. If you can do that you can do anything.

[MoxieMeadows]

2 weeks old? That’s EXTREMELY young to be away from the mother and should probably still be on milk…

I own 4 dogs, a Siberian husky, Miniature Dachshund and 2 German shepherd mix rescue pups. My Husky has an extreme prey drive (so can’t be anywhere near my bun) along with one of the pups. My mini dachshund is okay, and the other pup is more obedient with less of a prey drive so I’m not too concerned with her either (even though none of them are allowed upstairs except my dachshund).
Although I’ve never had a lot of personal experience with Pit Bulls, I think it really depends on each individual dog. (Like one of my 9 month old puppies has a prey drive to our chickens and the other doesn’t, even though they are the same breed and sisters)

Also training would be a big key. If your dog is obedient and listens to you, it’d be easier to bond your bun with your dog.

[Bam]

I missed that about the bun being just 2 weeks old. Aspennn are you sure your bun is so young?

[MeketatenBun]

I realize that all dogs are different, but when I used to work at a doggy day care, every pit bull had such high energy and such strong “tunnel vision” when playing that things could get out of hand easily, and that was with other dogs who were mutually playing. My husky, Meeshka, does the same, except it is out of the room and whines at the door if she catches a sniff of Meki. I know Meeshka probably just wants to play, but she’s very predator-like in HOW she plays. Stiff, quick movements, very focused gaze, which sounds like what your pit bull is doing.

I really don’t like the idea of predator pets socializing in any way with prey pets. You hear SO many stories of how “it happened so fast” or “I never would have expected this to happen” from people suffering from heartbreak because their cat who cohabited with their parakeet for 6 years one day pounced, or their dog who would snuggle with their bunny for 3 years one day snapped. Your dog is very interested in your rabbit, and if you rabbit was another dog I wouldn’t have any fear that it simply wants to play, but a fearful prey animal running from a playful dog can escalate to disaster VERY quick.

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