hi everyone

we are thinking of getting our son a couple of rabbits as hes wanted them for a while now and so have we. We do have a 9mth old BC and i just wondered really would you have any advice on whether we let him and them mix or keep them away from each other etc? never had 2 lots of pets before so could do with the advice before we do it wrong lol guinness is petrified of cats (weird i know lol) so will he be ok with rabbits any opinions/experiences welcome :)

collette :)

Well i don't have rabbits, but i do keep guinea pigs.
My dogs don't bother them at all when they're in the run, but if chance arose, they would kill them. They did manage to get a hold of one, one day, and although he lived to a ripe old age, he was very nervous for the rest of his life.
Personally i would say, don't take any chances. Introduce them slowly and see how it goes, but never leave them alone together.
One of my neighbours had a german shepherd and a huge rabbit, and they were best of friends, so it can work.

I'm sure there are lots of people who have dogs and rabbits together but I think your dog will more than likely see the rabbits as dinner than as his new freinds.  ;)
Sally

Our dog wouldn't leave ours alone at at all :rolleyes: i gave it to my dad to mind while we went away and never picked it up ;)

hi everyone

as usual thanks ever so much for yuor replies i really value you all on this board your soooo helpful!

i wouldnt dream of leaving them all alone lol it was just the initial introductions i wanted to make sure i was ok doing. think we will take it slowly with them and guinness as advised and see if he takes to them or not lol if not we have no probs in keeping them seperated.

thanks again all,
collette :0)

I think it depends on the dog's character.  Our collie was a couple of years old when we got a rabbit, which we used to let run round the garden each afternoon, and she was fine with it.  Never tried to grab it or anything.  She was actually really helpful when it came to putting rabbit back in hutch - used to help round it up, which was quite funny, as she'd never been taught to do anything like that.
  Hilda

My dogs were absolutely fine when we had rabbits.  It was an ideal way to teach them control and they left the rabbits alone just as much as they did the cat.  I can't say there was never a 'scuffle' or chase around the garden (after all instinct does take over at times) but then our rabbits were a giant breed and probably bigger than the cat!  Of course we introduced the small puppy to the rabbit rather than the other way round so that might have helped and it was ages before I would even think of leaving them in the same space unsupervised.

When I was a child I had a Border Collie, and over the years a few rabbits. They got on great together, they would lie in the sun together, and if anyone did the chasing, it was usually the rabbits.

Michelle.

My staff was sitting/sleeping on my lap one quiet sleepy Sunday morning when next door neighbours rabbit appeared 5ft from our opened patio door, comical... she was on it in a flash, me... newspaper everywhere, tears in eyes, doubled over, checking everything was still in its right place and screaming at her to "leave it"  in a confusing high pitched tone... happily she did drop it straight away, bit of fluff lying around but bunny OK until his own border collie killed it a week later

Bunnies can easily die of a heart attack...so be careful with any introductions ;)

when i first got tara i had a really evil bunny called Sassy,tara loved her & would sit in her run to watch her,sassy never minded her at all,believe me  i couldnt have sat in her run for fear of been savaged!
neither animal had ever met a dog/rabbit before,& they just sort of introduced themselves to each other other the first few days.
tara was 18months when i got her with little socialisation or training,& i was her 4th home, yet she knew this rabbit wasnt for chasing or eating.
in the summer theyd be loose in the garden together(supervised) with no trouble.
a fox killed sassy in the end,didnt eat her just left her on the garden, tara just sniffed her body & left her alone.

Hi Colette, Years ago I sold a pup of a coursing breed to a family that bred fancy rabbits. I was so sure of the likely results that after talking to them at length I even added an extra paragraph to my Sales Agreement saying that I took no responsibility for the fate of the bunnies. So much for my predictions - when I visited over the years I'd quite often find rabbits curled up with the dog, and then later with the dogs since the family got very into the breed and now breed the dogs AND the fancy rabbits. But those same dogs chase and catch wild rabbits regularly. The first dog was introduced to adult rabbits when she was a pup though, so I'm not sure how brining in an older dog would work.

A friend of ours had a house rabbit and an Irish Setter and they got on famously...but my dogs (had a Flatcoat and Lab at the time) just saw bunny as dinner unfortunately so could never be trusted with it.

So, pretty much as the others have said, each case will be different.

don't risk it theres no point! a dog will break a rabbits neck in seconds and if it does'nt it will still have squealing in its mouth which is worse  do not put  animals together in a situation where one is able to kill the other if it wanted a rabbit has no defence over a dog!

a perfectly happy situation can turn around in seconds! whether your there or not!

Nails, the obvious solution would be to get a secure rabbit run, that the dog won't be able to get into. And if the kids have got the rabbit out, then make sure the dog is secure in the house.
I would never say don't get another pet if you've got a dog. You just have to be aware of what COULD happen.
I've kept dogs AND guinea pigs for the last 14 years, and only once have they managed to get at one. Fortunately they never killed him.
It's all about just being sensible.

Have a look here, http://www.pet-rescue.org.uk/forums/  .
Lots of people on this forum keep cats, dogs and small furries, without any problems. Also if you're looking to rescue rather than buy, they'll tell you where your nearest rescue is.

thanks again all for your replies they wont be left together at any point on their own it was just a more can they get on or should i not bother trying lol well we got one today (a 9 mth old one) and guinness is very wary of it in its box, we will wait and once the rabbit is comfortable with us then start to slowly introduce them, we are in no rush for them to be best of friends at all but now we know it is possible for them to be then we will see what happens in the future.

thanks again for all opinions and advice,

collette :0)

ps snoopy thanks for that forum addy i will have a nosey, also it was a rescue one we got  :)

So what've you called him, Collette?
The pet rescue site lot are brill, a wealth of knowledge when it comes to small furries, so if you ever have any probs, just let them know.

hi snoopy we called him simba as my son is a big fan of the lion king and he is a lion head rabbit so we thought it was appropiate. hes 9 mths old too so already has lived with young children and a family so he is very friendly which is what we wanted, guinness has been watching him with great interest today (as hes in a box in our house till we get his hutch tomorrow) as we imagined every movement he makes guinness is scarpering out bless him lol

thanks for your helpful comments, they are much appreciated!

collette :0)

Hi Nails,

My daughter took in a rescue rabbit.
She was very worried her Mastiff (3YRs) might hurt it. Well the rabbit is a house bunny and now, after careful introductions, the dog and the rabbit lie in front of the fire together.
The rabbit also gets on with the two cats.
The Mastiff is totally people aggressive but loves the rabbit.

My daughters 2yr old daughter named the rabbit Deadcat. 'Cos her Mam kept Shouting 'deadcat' everytime the cats brought in a bird.

hi dawn

any advice on how they did the introductions would be very welcome :) up to now we have the bunny in a box with a custom made door lol and guinness has taken to sitting across the rm from it and just merely watching it, at first he was petrified and ran out of the rm everytime it moved but now he seems more calmer. we do though when it comes out of the box to explore but him on his flexi lead and sit with him so we have complete control incase he went for it. We do hope we are doing this the correct way lol we havent decided on whether it will be a house bunny yet its more than likely though it wont be all the time but a lot of the daytime it will be inside so we still want guinness completely comfortable with it.

collette :0)

I have two rabbits and 3 dogs, one of which is a lurcher, which are as you notoriously bad with small animals.
My rabbits are kept in a large run in the back garden and my dogs never ever look at them. 
As for introductions, we had one dog at a time, in the room on its lead, while someone was holding on of the rabbits.  It just gave them the chance to be in the same room and hopefully understand that by no means was the rabbit there's.  Walked past the rabbits while on the lead still and none of my dogs took any notice.  A quick sniff and a firm no was all it took. 
Obviously you will never leave them alone but mine will happily snuggle up on the sofa together.  I couldn't cope with the house rabbit idea, it would restrict my dogs too much.  And if the rabbits do come in the house for long periods of time in the Summer, the dogs go in the garden.
As ChloeH says rabbits panic very easily and unfortunatley I lost a rabbit who panicked when one of the dogs ran past the run and she flipped over and paraylsed herself.  But so far it sounds like your doing everything right! :)

Hi i have a 3 yr old staffie and a 10 month old blue rex house bunny they are the best of friends the rabbit thinks he is a dog even trys to eat the dogs food and the dog lets him!
Good luvk with your new bunny im getting another in a couple of weeks!

Hi Nails,

My daughter introduced the rabbit and dog over quite a time. She has a downstairs toilet that she put a baby gate at, one that the bunny couldn't get through. She has a lot of control over the dog and the dog couldn't jump the gate.
The dog never showed a lot of interest so after a few weeks she put another gate up. One the rabbit could get through but the dog couldn't. This enabled the rabbit to decide when was 'safe' and if the dog did chase he could get behind the gate. She never has.
It took months and still they are never left alone. It does depend on the animals in question as someone else said rabbits can be 'scared' to death. Not Deadcat he's hard as nails ( excuse the pun).
I'm sure she has 'photo's of them together if she has I could email you some!!
I'd be careful with a herding breed though as the 'chase' instinct is very high.
Good Luck

I have a rabbit and 3 dogs.  but I would never let them be lose together, 1) rabbits can die very easily from fright
2 ) Rabbits necks and backs also beak very easily too!

I keep my Rabbit in its cage which isn't dog proof and the dogs have never worried about it.  The only time was when it got out of it's cage and the dogs where outside (this was a few years ago) and the poor rabbit had 5-6 dogs on its tail, the dogs breeds are Dachshunds and a whippet.  But managed to get the rabbit and it managed to live.

i had a lab several years ago, she was 6 when we got 2 white rabbits, she was wonderful with them, she would lie with them, and clean them, we never worried as she was so gentle.