Yorkie and Bunnies

[Herbs&Hay]

Two weeks ago my family and I rescued two 9 lb, un-neutered bucks that were living outdoors for a year and a half. We are slowly introducing them to being indoor bunnies but keep them in the atrium we have beside our master bath and garage. They will be neutered in a week. And hope to have them move in with us shortly afterwards.

My question is do any of you more experienced bunny and dog owners have special tips on introducing your bunnies to a terrier? Our dog is a 10 years old, active, 11 lb yorkie. He is fixed and sleeps indoors but he’s a terrier.

Any tips would be hugely appreciated.

[SeaTurtleSwims]

I understand your plight! haha I have two beagles, but with a slow introduction period they all get along just fine!

I did not let my bun roam free initially for two big reasons 1. I did not yet trust the beagles 2. he was not yet litter trained.

I spent a long time making the bunny nice and boring. He was allowed to be on the couch or in my lap in a chair or on my bed and the dogs were allowed to run up and smell him. If they started getting too excited I would make them go lie down. If your dog is unable to be distracted from the bun to listen to you, try giving him a stuffed bone/kong to work on in the corner. Positive things happen when he is calm around the bunny, like getting a stuffed kong This can go on for as long as you feel comfortable. I spent about a month this way before my bunny ever hit the ground.

First day on the floor, dogs were not leashed, because leash means excitement for them, but I made them sit by my feet the whole time. When I realized one was totally bored and disinterested in the bunny I let him go do his thing. I kept the other beagle by my side the first week or so until the bunny hopping around was no longer stimulating. It helps if your bunnies do not give a pleasing fear response, like running away from the dogs. My bunny has never run from the beagles therefore the beagles have never been rewarded by chasing it. Reward calm behavior, if one step forward is too much stimulus, reel it back and go back to earlier steps. 

Other people may have different suggestions that work too! This was just the method that worked for my lazy beagles!

[LittlePuffyTail]

SeaTurtleSwims offers great suggestions. With any dog, you need to go very slow and monitor body language. If any bunny or dog is getting stressed out, stop. Some dogs can cobabit nicely with dogs others need to be separate at all times. It’s my advice, however, to never let them be alone together unsupervised. Terrier breeds are especially tricky because they have a super high prey drive.

[LycheeLove]

Great advice seaturtlesswim!

That’s pretty much what I did as well when introducing my 2 month old holland lop (lychee) with my somewhat hyper 3 year old golden retriever (kida). The introduction was Sooo slow. It took 4 months until their bond was appropriate and manageable. Here’s how I introduced the two (now they’re best friends )

First two weeks: I let kida see lychee from far away. I would hold lychee and make kida sit and just observe him. I would also put lychee in his cage on the floor, 3/4 of it draped with a blanket so lychee felt safe, and let kida sniff the cage. This only happened a few times a day and only for about 1-2 min at a time. I made sure lychee looked relaxed and wasn’t panicking he was always sprawled out or eating, didn’t really care too much about kida, just started at her occasionally hah). If kida started getting hyper, I’d say “kida, gentle” in a stern voice. She’s a pretty good listener and would deescalate pretty quickly. When she was in a calmer state, I would praise her with a calm tone of voice and pet her. After the 1-2 minutes, I would lock lychee in the bathroom. For the first few weeks, kida was obsessed and really excited about lychee… Sitting outside the bathroom door for hours just whining.

Weeks 3-6: I let lychee run around on my bed and let kida watch him. Once again, I would say “kida, gentle” and praise her when she was calm. Even though kida is hyper, she listens pretty well. During this time, i did not let them get close enough to touch. After a while, lychee became boring to watch and she’d look at him on the bed, and then lay down on the floor (she’s not allowed on the furniture).

Weeks 7-9: I would hold lychee sitting down, with my hand covering most of him in case kida wanted to claw or bite him she’d do it to my hand and not lychee (she never did). My boyfriend sat next to kida and pet her saying “good girl, gentle kida.” We’d do this every so often. At this point, we’d also put the cage on a chair in the living room so kida could see lychee while we were away (blocked off though so she couldn’t get to the cage or harass lychee)

Weeks 10-13: we let lychee run around on the bed or couch and let kida put her head down and sniff lychee on her own. He loved her and would always come visit when she walked by or put her head on the bed/couch. They’d “kiss” and lychee would run around and kida would watch calmly wagging her tail.

Weeks 14-16: lychee on the floor! Whenever we had lychee out, we told kida to lay down. This kept her calm and it was easier to control both animals this way if something happened. Again, kida is VERY responsive to my voice. When I say no, she immediately stops what’s she’s doing. However, with that being said, she’s still an animal who loves to chase lizards outside, so there is always that possibility of her “instincts” kicking in and chasing whatever is running… Which is why we had her laying down and were right there next to both of them.

Weeks 17+ kida finally understood she needed to be super gentle around the little guy. She would go lay next to him and just watch him and wag her tail. Lychee would jump all over and she’d poke him with her nose, but that’s about it. Nothing harmful or forceful. Now, I can be close by and not on the floor with them. However, my boyfriend and I are always in the living room when they’re both there, just in case.

Hope this helps! Every bunny and dog is different, but this approach worked for us! These two are the best of buds now and even sleep next to each other on the dog bed lol. It’s the cutest thing! Oh, and through this, kida learned the word “gentle” so it’s easy to remind her if it looks like she’s getting a little too excited.

Good luck!!

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