Introducing dog to bunny help?

[Yield]

i am not sure if this belongs here but this was the only spot that seemed suitable. if it's the wrong spot, i'm sorry, feel free to move it!

anyways, i am curious to the best way to introduce solara (the bun) and lady (the dog). we KNOW lady would not harm solara, because she's done fine with the rats we used to have. (we will NOT introduce our shiba inu with solara, because he once killed a baby bunny in our yard D: )

lady has gotten into my room twice, and gone to the edge of solara's pen, and solara freaked, running in circles, before rushing to the back of her cage, and started thumping her back feet. we rushed lady out of the room. she wasn't acting aggressive, she was just excited because she loves "babies". (small animals, kittens, puppies, human babies. just not wild ones.)

is this just because lady approached solara's home area, or should i just avoid them meeting completely?

i kinda want them to be friends, but i don't want solara to get too scared and such. suggestions, input?

thank you, bailee

 

[LoveMyRabbit0910]

Well, I have a 6-month-old chihuahua, who sometimes gets in my room, and my rabbit gets scared of her, too. Elvis runs around his cage really fast, andgets freaked out.

What I do, is whenever I leave my room, I shut the door. I think it's best if my Rabbit and Puppy never be in the same room together since my Elvis is so afraid.

But..maybe there is a way you can introduce them, and get them to become friends. SorryIf I wasn't much help to ya. Good Luck!

 

[Yield]

@Gina: yeah, i close my door too, but sometimes when i'm going in she likes to sneak her way in! thank you

i actually heard that you should introduce them in neutral territory but i dunno if thats worse or better lol.

 

[Luluznewz]

I would avoid thinking about introducing a dog to a rabbit like you would a rabbit to another rabbit. I'm sure a neutral teritory wouldnt hurt, but i'm not sure if it would make that big of a difference.

I think the biggest thing is to keep the dog on a leash. Even if you are SURE the dog wouldnt hurt the rabbit I really wouldnt trust it. All that would have to happen is for the rabbit to sprint away and for the dog to want to play.

I've read that its best to take the dog in on a leash and let the rabbit see it. Do your best to have the dog ignore the rabbit. Then just leave. I would do that until the rabbit stops freaking out about the dog.

Next maybe allow the dog to be off leash in the room while the rabbit is in its cage. I would stick with this stage until the dog and the rabbit have no problem with each other.

Go slow, if the rabbit is too scared take the dog out. And please, never trust them free together alone.

 

[Yield]

@Jessica: thank you for the tips and trust me, i'd never trust my baby alone with any animal. not even a human. (besides me and occasionally my mom ) i'm just protective lol. that's why i'm nervous to leave her at the humane society while she gets fixed.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

Yield wrote:

@Gina: yeah, i close my door too, but sometimes when i'm going in she likes to sneak her way in! thank you

i actually heard that you should introduce them in neutral territory but i dunno if thats worse or better lol.

i had to install a baby gateoutside the bedroom-door,,now the cat cannot venture in unannounced--,,the bedroom is jojobeez lair-(a very tiny territorial cottontail)-....a batttle ensued one day,,jojobeez won the battle with a 10 # cat,,but lost a toenail and did alot of bleeding...,still scarey to this day upsetting..sincerely james waller:wave::rose::bunnydance:

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I would work on getting Lady to ignore Solara when they are near each other. A dog acting excited around a rabbit will freak the rabbit out. A dog acting calmly and ignoring the rabbit should make the rabbit feel more comfortable.
Keep Lady on leash and get her to do something like sit, lay down or anther trick she knows. Don't play with her or get her excited. The goal is a calm dog near bunnies. Ideally, she should not be interested in the rabbit at all. Stop her from going near the cage for the first few times. If she does act excited or tried to get at the cage, tell her No and get her to be calm again. If the first few times go well, you can let her calmly approach the cage. You might allow her to smell the cage with Solara is not there. I would not let Solara out of the cage when Lady is in the room until you have complete control over Lady and know she can behave herself.

 

[Yield]

thank you i will try that out!

 

[Yield]

@Kate: i tried that out i held out a nice beefy treat and got Lady to calmly walk in, and then sit and lie down just in Solara's line of site. I used the treat to keep her gaze on me, and she stayed real calm! Solara just sat and stared. I'm hoping this works for the long run! thank you again

 

[elrohwen]

This is probably a repeat of what some posters have already said, but I'll post the steps I would use. The speed of this depends totally on your dog and your bun's ability to stay calm. No moving on to the next step until everybody is calm.

I would start by bringing the dog into the room, on leash, with the bun in her cage. If the dog is calm, praise her, give her treats, whatever, as long as she's being quiet. If the bun is the one freaking out, just keep the dog far enough away that the bun feels safe. Keep the sessions short and let the bun realize that the dog will sit quietly and not run up to her.

Gradually move the dog closer to the bun. As long as the dog remains calm, she can move closer. If she barks or gets too alert, move her back to a distance where she was calm. Patience is key - you want to reward her for being calm and she'll realize that calmness around the bun is required. And since your bun is nervous, you'll need to keep an eye on her and make sure she's calm before moving the dog closer.

Eventually you should be at the point where the dog can enter the room off leash, be calm, and the bunny will be calm as well. At this point I would allow the bun out of the cage with the dog back on the leash and start from the beginning, slowly moving closer.

These steps might go very quickly if everybody remains calm, or you might get stuck on one step for a few days or weeks.

 

[Yield]

elrohwen: thank you for the tips Lady's learning slowly but surely!

 

[jleo3]

Another shiba owner! Like you, I was owned by two dogs prior to bringing my bun home. I have a 4 year old shiba and a 6 year old pug mix. And also like you, my shiba exhibited her natural instinct to hunt on several occasions whenever a wild rabbit had the nerve to step foot in her yard! Luckilly, she has never been successful!

I brought my male lionhead home about 2 months ago and was very cautious with how the introduction was going to take place. I initially put him and his cage in our guest bedroom, where the dogs are not allowed to be, so that he could get used to his new habitat and the noises in our home. After a couple of days, I would bring the dogs up individually with their leashes on so I could monitor their interaction. I praised them for good behavior (i.e. letting the rabbit investigate them when free roaming or even ignoring the rabbit completely) and gave them a firm "NO!" whenever they were being bad to him.

To my surprise, the shiba actually responded more quickly than the pug mix did. But they still both eventually came around. Now, the rabbit's cage is on the main level of the house where the dogs will check in on him whenever they hear racket coming from his cage, like right now when he's destroying the newspaper I have lining his cage. He can even free roam comfortably while the dogs just watch him from their beds. He still annoys them from time to time, hopping onto them or biting their beds, but they simply just get up and walk away.To make it pleasant for everyone, I give them all dried banana treats when he is out. It’s been pretty nice to positively reinforce the dogs’ behavior and simultaneously teach the rabbit the “come” command.

 

[Yield]

@jen: aww your shiba is so cute
and see, it doesn't help that solara freaks out and runs to the back of the cage ): she's not even interested. so she won't investigate the Kiba and Lady!

Kiba is the Shiba, Lady is a chow/pitbull/shepherd... sounds vicious doesn't she? sweetest. dog. ever. XD

i think i may wait until after she's spayed to start more introductions...

and your shiba is so small!
(but then again, mine is huge!)

This is Kiba!

I know it does like, no reference to his size, but you can kinda just tell he's abnormally large!

Here's a fullbody pic xP

See... he's like what, over 40 lbs the last time we took him to the vet? (yet I still love picking him up XD)

and a normal shiba is like half that size!
and he's afraid of everything, except of course rabbits D:
i dun want him to be afraid but i don't want him so interested. he sniffs the bag filled with litter vigorously when i take it to the trash!

also, just for fun, This is Lady she's 11. Kiba is 2.

But, that's good it went well for you
i hope sometime in the future that it'll go well for me x3