REPOST: Bunny Bonding Woes -- HELP

[user 25471]

My parents dog loves to chase squirrels and birds and he would have loved to chase my last rabbit, but my rabbit kind of ignored him so he got bored and gave up on him. It will probably depend a lot how Dortmund reacts to the dogs as to how they react to him - though I would error on the side of caution and make sure they are watched around eachother. I wouldn't let him loose together.

 

[Flakes]

Yeah, I’ve already laid out some ground rules with my sister.

Dortmund is staying in his cage for the first two days I ‘m there — he will probably be traumatized by the 20 hour car ride already, no need to add people poking at him.

Dortmund has the top floor, the doggos have the first floor.

Kids can only play with the bunny under my supervision.

I’ve already tracked down a Rabbit Friendly 24 hour emergency vet in St. Petersburg and his address and phone is in mine and my sister’s contacts.

someone said that on the drive I should take him out of his pet crate every couple of hours to let him hop around. Not sure how to do this on such a long drive in the winter. Do I stop off at restaurants and say “I’ll have a burger and my rabbit will have the salad bar” I do have a rabbit leash and dortmund does have an appetite.

 

[Allen Wrider]

Oh, sorry to hear. That is so sad for poor Skippy (and Quinn). Its hard enough working on the bonding WITHOUT the extra drama. So Quinn sensed the extreme fear in Skippy and is connecting Skippy to that negative outbreak? What is happening today?

I took them out of their cages separately to have a good run. Quinn is a little calmer today but I'll need to do some serious stress bonding to get them back to where they were.

There's a rabbit specialty shop about 35-40 mins out from where I live, and I'm considering taking them in the car, though I'd need help to get them there without incident. It's a real struggle....

 

[Allen Wrider]

Well, everyone, I am BACK. I am sad to say that I lost almost all their bonding progress over Christmas. Everything was hectic, I got and lost a job in the same month, went to Arizona for 4 days, and my car has been in and out of the shop for numerous things.

Overall, the bonding time was sparse to none, and when I took them out to do some practicing, it turned into a full blown bunny tornado. Quinn has become the full aggressor, compared to Skippy's miniscule nips, she has been actively chasing and looking to tear fur. Luckily there have been no injuries, but Quinn has decided that she's not going to tolerate Skippy in her space for more than a few minutes at a time, and I'm very scared to put them together again.

I know it was due to outside circumstances and my own issues, but I'm incredibly upset. Skippy and I have made so much progress with her fears and she really feels like "my rabbit" now. It's far too late to give her up, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to provide the life she needs with Quinn's aggression.

 

[user 25471]

Sorry to hear how rough its been. In your situation I would hope that its maybe the stressful period you'be been going thru that has your buns acting out?..... They sense all this stuff. I wouldn't throw in the towel yet after such an upheaval on he homefront. I am not ready to update every on my bonding status yet....Murphy and Lionel have been housed on separate floors of the house since New Years Day. I am going to wait it out longer yet before I reintroduce them. They are both JUST over 1 year old - and close in age - so I am hoping that allowing them some more time to "grow up" .... get past their teenager stage may help. Murphy actually IS ready I believe, Lionel is still to insecure.