ideas on intruducing new dog to bunny

[shlbysmom]

ok first off  there r never together unsupoervised even in cages so with that said i got a new  puppy she is mixed not sure what all she has n her  but anyways i was wondering what a good way to get her used to the bunny and get her to realise she is a friend and cant hurt her i got them out and had the dog on a leash n she wasnt to excited about the rabbit she of corse watched her when she herd her walking but  i let her get close enough to sniff her with a tight hand on the leash and she did fine but the bunny growled and boxed at her so im more worried about bunny making dog mad than anything but any ideas would b great!!!  thanks

[Andi]

Your bunny may show agression like that to let the puppy know she’s the Boss, so that as the puppy grows she won’t hurt your bunny. Or she may just be scared, and is protecting herself.
It’s important to let them see/smell each other in a safe enviroment for both. As much as you want to praise good behavior of your dog and discourage bad, same goes with the bunny. Lats thing you need is a nice dog, and a mean bunny beating the dog up. lol… it happens.

Take your time, keep everyone safe, you can try to pen them beside one another for play time. Just make sure both have a safe place where they can hide from the other when they are done playing/seeing one another. This will allow them to see/smell one another but not be able to touch one another.
I taught my dog ANY touching of bunnies is wrong, even if it was grooming, b/c i wanted to discourage her using her mouth on the bunnies, even gentley… she is a dog and accidents happen.

Good luck

[Beka27]

I have not introduced rabbits and dogs myself, but from what I have read and what I’ve learned thru other’s experiences/stories, you want to wait until the puppy is no longer a puppy. Spend this early time really working with your dog one on one. Attend obedience classes and teach your dog to not get excited over things, and to walk away (“leave it”) upon command. After several months of training and the animals being in the same house getting used to sights and smells, you can take formal introductions from there.

It’s tempting to want to “just put them together” and hope they get along, but a bad experience now, can and will make it impossible for them to live peacefully together later on.

 

Edited to add: In my opinion, dog obedience training is so, so incredibly important, especially at this young age.  Even if you didn’t have a rabbit, I’d still strongly recommend it for any dog you bring in your home.  With our dogs growing up, we had gone both routes, professional training for some, and “figuring it out on our own” for others. And all thru out their lives, the professionally trained dogs were so much better behaved than the “self-trained” dogs.  I’m not saying no one can ever successfully train a dog themselves, because I know some people are very good at it, but for my own dogs, from this point forward (especially having rabbits in the same house) I will be sure to seek out professional help for them.

[shlbysmom]

thanks so much u guys !! she is very good already .. i have only had her for a few days but she gets spayed monday so im trying not to do to much b4 then b4 i know she will change come after and will calm down some but so far she wont walk thro doors with out being told and i have introduced them some and it has went well on the dog part like i said not the bunny part so far lol but she is like that with all other animals she meets so it will b a work in progress i love them both so much even the new puppy i just want them to respect each other and nobody feel loved more than the other cause its equal and i just am really worried about it but i am off tomarrow so i will work with working each other into each other some more and yes i am gonna work on training the dog WELL i agree they need manners and need to know there place any other feedback will b greatly appriciated!!

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