Introducing dog to rabbit, need advice

[ShadowProve13]

Hi there everyone. As the title suggests, I'm going to be introducing a dog to my rabbit at the end of this month.
My mother's friend is going on a cruise and asked if we could look after her dog for a week. We have an indoor rabbit who didn't quite have the best introduction to dogs as a young bunny. I've been researching lately on how rabbits could be affected by this, and many say they can get along as long as the dog isn't too hyper. That's where my problem starts.
The dog we have to look after is a Maltese Shih Tzu, and he's very hyper and loves to cling to people. They have already met once and they were separated in different rooms but there was a glass door so they could see one another, and all the dog would do was bark at my rabbit and wanted to play with him. My rabbit ran away and hid himself and I stayed out there with him, he was very unwilling to go down to where the dog was despite there being a door.

I have tried to explain to my mother about this but she only sees it from the dog's perspective and says since his owner also has a cat, he won't hurt my rabbit. Just before I told her about how rabbits can go into shock in some cases with meeting hyper dogs but she didn't want to hear about it since we already agreed to look after the dog, and just thinks I'm making up excuses so I don't have to look after the dog.
It's very frustrating that no matter I cannot get my mother to listen to me.
I know the simple answer is "Put him in his cage", but he actually freaks out when we put him in the cage due to before we got him off our neighbour at the time he was in a cage and constantly harassed by her dogs.

At this point the only thing I can think of is keeping the dog downstairs (we have a double-story house). I would put him outside but we have a Muscovy duck that the dog loves to chase. I'm really at a stump, so I was wondering if anyone has suggestions of what I can do?

 

[RavenousDragon]

That is quite a pickle. You could potentially try to take the dog on a long run and tire him out and then try to introduce the rabbit- while the dog is resting and calm. But still, I'd keep the dog on a leash with a good hold and keep a close eye on signs of stress in your rabbit. Other than that, I'd suggest keeping them separated, like you said.

 

[Akzholedent]

I would just keep the dog separate from the rabbit. It's only for a week. Maybe have a pen and keep the dog in it. But if your bun stresses out that much around dogs, that's something I wouldn't chance.

 

[ShadowProve13]

I see, thank you for your opinions on the matter

 

[TheBunz]

http://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/introducing-dog-to-rabbit.html

A member of this forum or Binky bunny (I forget) wrote this article. Could help you.

 

[Aki]

Keep them separated. For a week, it's not worth the risk. It will be more or less easy depending on the way your house is built but it's often just a matter of closing one or two strategic doors. I have the same problem when I go to my parents for the holiday: they have a cat who kills EVERYTHING from rabbits to snakes including birds, frogs and mice (my mother is in the same state of denial as yours, saying he wouldn't kill MY rabbits even though he disembowled dozens of wild rabbits - yeah, sure), I have two rabbits AND a dog who chases after cats (my mother is a lot less cool with the dog chasing her cat than with her cat chasing my rabbits, for some reason). As you can imagine, a lot of doors are closed when the four of them are in the same house. It's not very pleasant and I'm really not looking forward for my next stay, but it can be done!

 

[Blue eyes]

http://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/introducing-dog-to-rabbit.html

A member of this forum or Binky bunny (I forget) wrote this article. Could help you.

Thanks, Bunz. That was my article.

However, in this case, since it is only temporary, I would agree with those who said to just keep them separate. If this were going to be permanent, then, yes, I'd suggest following the dog/rabbit intro tips. But one week isn't enough time to do so.

It'd be less stressful for both bunny and dog to just keep apart for the week.

 

[ladysown]

keep them separate. not worth the risk. lock bunny in a bedroom keep dog on a short leash so you can grab him fast if need be. Try not to introduce them. A yappy barky dog could cause too much stress.