# Rabbit and Dog bonding



## Trigger_and_Tommie (Feb 20, 2013)

I recently got Trigger, he's looks to me a young lop rabbit, not sure on exact breed. I wanna say he is less then a year old but that could just be me being relatively new to buns.

I do have two dogs I had before Trigger. One is a medium size mutt who is about 3 years old and a small chihuahua, not sure on age.

Both dogs are extremely playful, and want to be playful to Trigger as well. The thing is, I'm afraid they'll either hurt or scare him to death. He runs around my room currently supervised and has a lot of shelter space where they can't get him.

Dog 1, the medium sized dog, doesn't really do much but try to chase after him and occassionally try to paw it.
Dog 2, the small chihuahua, is the main trouble maker I see. She tries to nip at the bun, chase it, lunge at it and such.

How long will it take for them to get a long? Is it possible?


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## daisyandoliver (Feb 20, 2013)

I have an older Pomeranian and he got along with my rabbit after a couple weeks. At first he would chase and jump after him but he could sniff him through his cage and just got use to him so it is possible. I'm not sure how long it'd take for you.


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## PaGal (Feb 20, 2013)

I have a 107 pound mutt who is very active and excitable, I always say he is a small dog in a large dog body. I have a year old (almost) Flemish giant. My dog is always interested in playing with . Thumper has free reign of one room but when we let him out in most of the rest of the house supervised Thumper or when I let my dog in his room they will both try to play. They are always supervised when together. Thumper may be big and we purposefully got a large rabbit because of the dog, but the dog is still much larger and I am sure could easily hurt him if we were not vigilant. Not that he would purposefully hurt the bun just accidentally by playing. I would suggest to only have them together when you can supervise.

I think you need to get to know your bun to decide on how and when to introduce them all. Thumper is not very skittish so the introducing was no real problem plus I made my dog lie down for the first introduction just to be on the safe side. I still make him lie down if he starts getting too wound up or if he's in Thumpers room I send him out. Once your bun gets used to your dogs he could possibly lunge at your small one for unwanted behavior or even bite. Or they could all settle down over time. Thumper does like interacting with the dog and even reacts more boldly when I have my dog laying down. He'll zoom right past him, sniff him and jump over him.


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## Nancy McClelland (Feb 20, 2013)

Our small dog is a Great Dane, so we don't have any inter-species inter-action. Even a gentle dog that size could totallly hurt a rabbit without meaning to.


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## woahlookitsme (Feb 20, 2013)

Chihuahuas have a prey drive and that might be what is causing her to go after the rabbit. Boundries need to be set for the chihuahua that biting and chasing is not allowed. Either with a spray bottle or something else. We dont tollerate chasing in our house and anyone who does it gets locked in a crate or room by themselves while the rabbits are out.

If rules are set early on then the faster they can become friends or at least be calm in the same room with each other


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## Beazle (Feb 20, 2013)

I had a German Shephard pup that I got at the same time as my first bunnies, and he LOVED them. They would chase each other. My current dog is a butt head and will want to play with the new bunny (based on his behavior with the cat) so he wont really be able to interact when I do get one. My roommates dog is a small Pom and she's not going to give a crap, and the cat will play and probably bond to it. 

It really just depends. I will say that if your dog is already exhibiting prey drive that you should keep him/her away from the rabbit, period. That's a risk you don't want to take. If the other one is fine with bunny then let them bond and interact SLOWLY. Start with keeping the dog out and the bunny in the cage, let them sniff. Switch it around to the dog in the kennel, bunny out, let them sniff. Put your dog on a leash and have another person with you when you introduce them so they can grab the rabbit if the dog should lunge, and then work from there so the dog can be off leash. But you should always have your dog on leash whenever introducing them to another animal or person.


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## missyscove (Feb 20, 2013)

There are 2 dogs in my house and both are very good with my rabbits. They will sit calmly on the rug or on my bed while the rabbits run around. Still, they are never alone with the rabbits. I do think it's important to train your dogs to behave around the rabbits (even just to be calm while near their cage), but I wouldn't expect the dog and the rabbits to bond and be friends.


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