Dog + Rabbit =?

[Keggin]

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I just got a bunny a few days ago and have been trying to introduce my dog to it in the most careful way possible (She is known to kill chipmumks and squirrels). Everytime the bunny comes near her, she tries with all of her strength to break away from me and sniff the bunny. I eventually let her sniff it, and she sniffed its butt. I really want them to get along so I don’t have to keep the rabbit locked up all day.

My bunny is also fearless. He/she isn’t scared of anything (The bunny will literally circle around my dog and sniff her)

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[Mikey]

Be careful with circling, thats a very common sign of aggression. The bunny might be trying to attack rather than just sniff. To be fair, you should not have gotten a rabbit when your dog is known to kill animals around its size. One false move and your rabbit will end up very seriously hurt. Even the best trained dogs cant always control their instincts. But you already know that so i wont lecture

Youll want to do it very slowly. Rabbit in its cage, dog on a leash and harness. Let them sniff through the bars for a few minutes. Do this on and off every day for atleast a week. When the dog stops caring as much (may take months) move to letting the rabbit out of its cage. Keep the dog on a strict harness and let them sniff. If the dog nips, growls, lunges, ect remove the dog from the room. Come back an hour later and try again. Each time, make sure you have someone there to grab your bunny in case your bunny decides to attack, too. Once your dog stops caring (atleast a month with this), move onto unleashing the dog. Let them share a room together with you and atleast one other person there to watch them. Correct any signs of aggression by separating them for a few minutes. Do this until your dog absolutely does not care that the bunny is there

[Vienna Blue in France]

If your dog is obedient and listens to your ‘no’s and ‘good boy’s then you have a chance.

As soon as he goes into what you may recognise as hunt alert mode – ears forward, shoulders pert, almost deaf to what you are saying – then say no, and repeat (not agressively!) until he gives in and looks at you, or you see his ‘shoulders’ relax or his ears go back…you can touch his shoulders gently too, to make him ‘snap’ out of hunt mode and look at you, then leave alone, see his reaction and wait and repeat and repeat until he realises you are not going to give up and, as Mikey says, until he really doesn’t care (or even better, understands bun is part of his pack).

I had a dog and cat and my dog knew absolutely that HER cat was part of her pack (and the rabbit too!) yet the neighbour’s cats could be chased from the garden .

Once the neighbour’s cat was chasing my cat, who came running down the garden, through my dog’s legs to safety while the other cat realised ‘just in time’ that the arch he was about to go through was made from dogs legs !! and did an about turn before the chase took a different turn back up the garden !!

So the idea is to make the dog understand 1) its not OK to go on hunt alert when looking at bunny 2) that bun is part of HIS pack 3) not to care about bun’s presence.

It’s absolutely possible, but it’s entirely YOUR responsibility to gauge when step 1 is safe to continue to step 2 and so on. If you’re not sure, don’t !
OK, so bun is not scared, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t danger.

Good luck and we look forward to a happy family animal photo in 6 months’ time !

[Author]

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