Bunnies and Puppies

[caudex]

 

(Apologies for the html issues… never seen that before. )

The boyfriend, who doesn’t live with me, got an 8 week old American Bulldog pup yesterday. As you can see, he’s extremely awesome.

 

 While we certainly don’t expect him to peacefully cuddle bunnies, we think it’s necessary that he be able to tolerate them without going crazy, in the event that we integrate our households, or that one of us babysits the other’s pets. We also think it’s smart to introduce him to as many experiences as possible, to socialize him, while he’s tiny enough to scoop up and move if there’s a problem.

Unfortunately, Sophie isn’t who I’d choose to introduce a bun to a puppy. I think she’d get over the initial nerves and be able to handle it, but she just isn’t… laid back. Maybe she’ll surprise me, but I don’t expect her to not care. She’s all I’ve got til I find her beau, though. Any tips on how to introduce them, and persuade them to at least tolerate each other, SAFELY?

[Sam and Lady's Human]

I would wait until your puppy is a fully grown, fully trained dog before I even thought of possibly introducing the 2. Puppys don’t have nearly enough control.

[caudex]

A fully grown dog is two years old. I doubt that the issue won’t come up before then. What can I do in the meantime?

[Sarita]

I would take the puppy to an obedience training class and seek advice from one of their experts.

[Elrohwen]

I agree about obedience classes.

I think the safest way to introduce is to bring the puppy into the bunny room, on leash, with the bunny in the cage. If the puppy gets excited or starts to bark, walk quietly back out of the room and let him calm down. If you repeat this process, he’ll learn that remaining calm allows him to stay in the bunny’s presence. Since he’s young I would keep him at this level for a long time – he may get to the point where he can be off leash while the bunny is in the cage (still supervised, of course). The goal is to eventually have the bunny out of the cage (first with the dog on the leash, then eventually off the leash) but with a puppy that will take a lot of time. For now, just getting him to remain calm with bunny in the cage will be a good step and allow you to have them near each other without either one going crazy.

[RabbitPam]

The puppy, or any dog really, cannot be left unsupervised with a bunny. It’s just very, very risky. An obedience trainer is going to be a big help for many behaviors, so I like that suggestion. But your bunny’s comfort is also at stake here, so it may be better for many of the visits, after controlled time together, to set up a way to either close the bunny’s room off from the dog or to close off the dog from the bunny. Maybe it depends on who’s in who’s house at the time.

He is really gorgeous, btw.

[Beka27]

What a cutie!!! Our “dream dog” is an English bulldog!

I agree with the suggestion of obedience classes, both basic and advanced. It’s going to help him in every way and it’s an investment your boyfriend is making in his long-term companion. He needs to be able to listen incredibly well before being introduced to the bunnies. There is also the possibility the buns will want to have NOTHING to do with him, well-behaved or not. So if he’s around, they may just make themselves scarce.

[TriBun]

Elrohwen had some great advice there. The biggest problem is your puppy is going to want to “play” with the bunny and playing is much different to a bunny than a dog. My beau also has a dog that comes over to visit. She’s a 4-year-old Italian Greyhound so she isn’t big and she is on anti-seizure medication so she’s VERY calm. Even with all that, there are times she wants to play with the bunnies and she pounces (they’re too quick for her to actually land on them, but she tries) which you can imagine is EXTREMELY scary for rabbits. For the most part though, rabbits and dog get along.

They CAN live harmoniously together, but the first step is to calm your hyper little puppy.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Most behaviourists think dogs have a social critical window of up to four months. Social learning can take place later, but is harder. I’d introduce the puppy only to the bunny for a minute-only to let the puppy smell and see the bunny-that’s it. (Puppies are crazy, uncoordinated and unpredictable-a little nip from a puppy with poor bite inhibition can draw blood on an adult human-so nooooooo contact) but a little look and smell (from a distance) could be greatly helpful for when you actually introduce them much later down the line Dogs can certainly be taught to behave around rabbits-puppies not so much but I would take advantage of the critical window and let puppy see bunny.

You can let the puppy smell a bunny blanket to start getting used to the smell so it’s not so novel and exciting when you introduce.
When you do-puppy is on a leash, you are holding bunny securely and possibly you have not one but two helpers

[caudex]

Thanks for all the advice! We’ll start with the blanket, and after she’s spayed and healed we’ll introduce them from a safe distance.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Great!! You’ll have to keep us posted on how it goes!!

[Click & Treat Bunny]

Haven’t been here in awhile but thought I’d chime in here as a dog trainer. Good responses are given, and Kokaneeandkahlua is right in the critical time period for dogs. I actually always love when I see a brand new puppy, because there is so much molding that can be done from the very get go. You’d be amazed at how much they can learn. They are like sponges!

With that being said, yep, socialization which does include to your bunny, and basic obedience classes are important. One of the best things to teach a puppy now is impulse control and learning to be calm. It will help tremendously in the future.

As for introductions, smelling the bunny’s blanket is a good thing, as well as having your bunny in her enclosure, allowing puppy to smell, and rewarding for calm behavior, while puppy is on leash. Showing interest is fine, just want to keep the energy level low. I’d do that for a long time and teach the puppy sits and downs around the cage. If you have a room for your bunny and a gate, you can also use that later on and allow puppy and bunny to sniff each other, ask puppy for sits downs, eye contact from you, etc. You want everyone to feel calm and relaxed with each other. And remember to reward the bunny too as you don’t want her to freak out every time she sees the puppy.

As with any puppy, supervision is needed, and I’d definitely not have them out alone together.

[Mandyyy]

The leave it command and commands like that will be good for him. I suggest you don’t keep him away from them, he needs to see them in a safe environment as much as possible before he’s an adult. I have three dogs, my newest one is a 3-5 years old pit who loves animals. He gets too excited over the bunnies at times though (never trying to hurt them though, he would never hurt a soul), so I had to make sure he was trained well enough before letting the bunnies and him meet, just to be careful. It went smoothly with my pit and he’s completely fine with the buns. He likes to eat their poop though…. I just got my other dogs to stop that, too… Lol.

Good luck!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Thanks C&T

You know I didn’t post this but it’s important. Make sure you tire out your puppy big time before sessions. Dogs only have us, so they sleep (usually) when we are sleeping and at work; when you come home they are full of energy and need exercise and stimulation. Do a long walkie or time at the dog park and some training to tire his body and mind, before doing a session with the bunny. I see peoiple try this all the time, they take a wired dog who has been waiting 12-16 hours for something to do, take them on a walk and try to work on heeling or other training-the dog is just plain wired from all the rest, and needs to work it out. A tired dog is a good dog!

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