The dog and the bunny

[Jroyalimages]

So when I got chuey I already had my dog Bentley, a miniature dachshund. I was a little nervous about them getting along since miniature dachshunds are rabbit dogs by nature. Bentley has never been formally trained to hunt which I guess worked in my favor. When I first brought chuey home. I put him in Bentley’s crate, and let the dog sniff around it just to see what his initial reaction would be. Bentley was very interested in the bunny and that kinda scared me. He did the usual barking, trying to put his paw through the bars to touch him, circling the cage. But upon further observation, I realized that the dog was trying to get chuey to play with him. He was kneeling down, tail wagging, rolling over. So I was very relieved. I left him in the cage for a little while longer until bentley lost interest and walked away. He stayed in the crate for maybe 4 hours (with food, water, litterbox). Chuey was really good about this and didn’t show any real signs of stress. So I then took everyone into the bathroom. I put Bentley on his leash and opened the crate and chuey immediately came out. I did this in the bathroom becaus it’s smaller and the bunny could be visible to me and Bentley at all times. Although Bentley was very interested, I had him focus all of his attention on me by asking him to do various things. I would let him see chuey and then call his name and have him sit. I figured that if he could still focus on me, then if for any reason he got too excited I could redirect his attention.
So the next day I did the same thing in the bathroom. Chuey was a little more comfortable and actually came up to us for a split second. Bentley smelled him and I immediatley called for his attention. I did this a couple times and eventually took off his leash once I felt comfortable. Now this part won’t work for all dogs, but I know Bentley like the back of my hand so I trusted him enough for this.
Bentley is submissive to me. So I asked him to lay on his side in a submissive manner and I made him stay there for a couple minutes. At this time Chuey was running around and doing his own thing. Every time Bentley popped his head up I put him back down on his side. He eventually just didn’t pay attention to chuey and completely ignored him. I did that for a couple days until I felt comfortable enough to let Bentley just sit and watch chuey. He learned that he was not to play with him and basically had to just ignore the bunny. And it worked for me. Now both animals stay out all day and over night. The only time I lock either of them up is when I’m gone from the apartment.

How did you guys introduce your cats/dogs to your rabbits? I’m interested to know the different methods people use

[Little Lion Head]

That was a really smart way to go about it!! You have a very well-behaved dog

I’ve never bonded two different species. I tried to introduce Pumpkin to the in-laws dog and she just thumped and cowered, so I do see any dogs in our near future..

[MoxieMeadows]

Glad you had good luck bonding your bun and dog! I have a mini dachshund too that I’ve tried bonding with My bun (Moxie) before, but it just isn’t working out at all. :^/

[MoxieMeadows]

(P.s., I’d LOVE to see some pics of your bun and dog! )

[Jroyalimages]

I attached some pictures of the besties together!cc

[Little Lion Head]

They both seem very content!

[Hazel]

Looks like those two are best buddies, great job!

When we were getting our cat used to our bunny, we had a similar approach. I rewarded her for ignoring the bun, and being relaxed around him. When he would get close to her, i gave her lots of treats. If she started to go into hunting mode (staring, crouching), I would clap or call her name to snap her out of it, then reward her when she relaxed. Like you did with your dog, I was trying to teach her that the rabbit is not a toy, nor a playmate and that if she wanted to interact with him, she had to be calm. She got the hang of it pretty quickly. Unfortunately that doesn’t necessarily mean that she always plays by the rules. Sometimes she gets ants in her pants and tries to play a game of chase with Oscar. She knows what’s allowed and what’s not, but sometimes she doesn’t feel like behaving. Because of this, they are never left alone together. When we leave the house, they are always separated. All in all, they are pretty good friends, although things don’t always go smoothly between them. Oscar often asks her for pets, which she either ignores or takes as an invitation to play. It’s very obvious that they don’t speak the same language.

 

 

[MoxieMeadows]

My dog is not the problem in the bonding. It’s Moxie. Is there anyway to make a bun ignore the dog? Lol! (I had a thread a few weeks ago in the lounge bout this that nobody replied to…) Moxie chases my dog ect. and acts kinda like a bully lol. I wish they would get along!

Here are my 2 (Oh, and your dog kinda looks like mine! But mine has a little more black/dark brown on her):

  

[Jroyalimages]

Your doxie is the cutest!!!!!! Omg lol. I’ve had dachshunds all my life and some of them can be pushovers, like mine. I think you can use that to your advantage, and try teaching her to ignore and most of all avoid the bunny. That way you can prevent your doxie from “correcting” your bunny. Like I said, dachshunds can be pushovers but they also can sometimes have a short fuse when bothered for too long.

[scubahood]

i kind of messed up introducing my dog to dennis but it worked out in the end
i assumed that since he didn’t try to eat my old pet rats the same would go for the bunny but i forgot that the rabbit is naturally skittish compared to the fearless rats and that CHASING IS FUN!!!

i kept my dog on a leash at all times for about a week and gave him 5 minute or so “time outs” in the back room until he calmed down around her

they tolerate each other now.  snuppy (the dog) get’s angry with her when she gets to close to his food or toys which i actually don’t mind since he doesn’t hurt her and i don’t want her having that stuff anyway

 

 

 

 he always pushes his bed back up to the one opening of her house.. no matter how often i move it back

[MoxieMeadows]

Ha ha, well my dog does try to avoid my bun, Moxie. She (my dog Snickers) avoids her like the plague and will try and climb into my lap lol! But my bun (Moxie) will seek her out and chase her around. I’m not sure if Moxie is trying to have fun with Snickers and play, or is being mean!

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