To get a rabbit when I have a dog?

[Bunnyanddog]

NC as it’s fairly clear who I am if anyone knows me. We have a working cocker spaniel who has been castrated and is 5. He’s playful and completely non aggressive. I would like to get a rabbit, I’m just conscious that they can have heart attacks out of fear and I think it would be nice to let the rabbit free in the garden when we are out there, just want to know if anyone else has a rabbit and a dog and what type of dog/how to introduce and if it works?

we had many, many rabbits going up but our house had 2 separate gardens so the dogs (jack Russells) never mixed with them and anyway it’s quite different owning a pet as an adult who has all the responsibility, as opposed to a child who has all the fun 😃

We had a dog and rabbit together, they were best friends. Both were rescues. The garden was secure so the rabbit had free run of the garden each day in summer, if we ever had to pop out we'd leave the dog in the garden to babysit her 😂 as he'd chase away the birds. He would chase birds/cats and we didn't risk him around the guinea pigs but he was brilliant with the rabbit and was left alone with her many many times. She was a lovely rabbit, she'd come running down the garden path when we went outside to run circles around our feet

My point is I’m not sure he really has a “kill” instinct and I suppose what I wanted to hear was if they can get used to a prey animal being a “pet”

But why would you want to risk the rabbits life?

@Cardboardboxingring

thats the sort of thing the pet shop owner said would happen re pairs and fighting/aggression

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

I wouldn’t want to - I’m trying to establish if there is in fact a risk

@BanditBluey

thats very sweet!

My dog and rabbit got on brilliantly. I worried once when the rabbit was out of its run (just had the run of the garden) and my sister let the dog out. I thought he rabbit would be lunch. The dog was chasing the rabbit around the garden, then the rabbit stopped. 🙈🙈🙈 the dog stopped, then the rabbit chased the dog around the garden. They'd then do it for hours. Never worried about them together again!

Keeping prey and predators will always be a risk. It's up to you whether you think the benefits of owning a rabbit is worth the risk that your beloved dog may be the reason it dies.

Personally it's not a risk I'd ever take - it's just not fair on any of the animals involved.

@sanityisamyth

how did you introduce them
and what breeds were they?

Intact rabbits of the same sex will fight, I've never heard of a mixed sex pair fighting. We always had an intact female and a neutered male and they got along famously. Same sex guinea pigs may fight too, but not always: we had two sisters who were best of friends their whole lives. I'm glad to hear more pet shops not getting rabbits in over Easter now - the rescue I linked is having to turn them away as they are overwhelmed 😢

It’s a really, really terrible idea.

You have trained your dog to retrieve animals and now want to buy natural prey to share its home?

@Cardboardboxingring

is this rescue based in Scotland?

Completely by accident. The dog was a Labrador cross (something!) and the rabbit was a Dutch lop eared. The dog was always a bit soppy with everything but it was th speed she chased after the rabbit I was convinced it wasn't going to survive!

@girlmom21

ive allowed my working cocker to retrieve dead birds as his instinct drives him to because I think if you have a working dog you should allow him to do a little
bit of working if possible.

he has, for example, been around cats before with no issue. I’m not sure it’s so cut and dry that’s why I am asking - it’s not unreasonable to ask given the fact some people on this thread (one of whom has a terrier - a very predatory dog) hve had no issues bonding a rabbit and a dog.

im happy to be told not to get a rabbit but I don’t need people being rude. It’s not warranted - it’s better to ask a question than just do the thing, surely?

I had bunnies for years alongside dogs. Never loose together. Sadly even though my dogs were never bothered by the rabbits the door failed and the dog got in their shed. He never even touched the rabbit and he's a terrier but it frightened the old bun and he died. I won't have more rabbits

My dog is very submissive and sweet, she is also a small dog. So submissive that other dogs go for her all the time. But don’t let a smaller dog go near her as she will certainly go for them. Obviously, I didn’t know that until she tried to bite another dog.

My friend had the soppiest Labrador, very relaxed and friendly but he was walked late at night as he would definitely try to hunt smaller dogs.

A rabbit is a more attracting prey for a dog, especially for a dog that was bred to hunt with humans. I understand you would like a rabbit but it is a little bit selfish to risk a rabbit to see if your dog is safe.

I have always have dogs, but at some point, when we didn’t have a dog, we got a rabbit and after a year or so we got a small puppy. I took a month before the problems started, at the end we had to find the rabbit a new home because we knew he could be killed if we turned our backs at the wrong time.

@Amicompletelyinsane

thanks for sharing - very sad

@GetThatHelmetOn

thanks for sharing too - and sorry things didn’t work out

My bunny credentials are being correct, for further details see rest of thread. Kthxbye

I had 2 rabbits, 2 cats and a terrier at the same time. All free roaming, contentedly chilling out together, (once the house was rabbit proofed.)

It was lots of work getting the rabbits litter trained and bonded to one another, but so lovely in the end.

@jimmyhill

but you’re not necessarily correct as some people disagree with you. It’s reasonable to ask you and others posting what you are basing your opinion on. This is, after all, mumsnet - where some people give terrible advice based on 0 experience

Your dog has shown you it already has a prey drive, it wasn't retrieving it was after the squirrel, hunting on, there is no difference between a rabbit or a squirrel now that you know this. It doesn't matter that the squirrel wasn't killed there and then, the chase and capture happened. Squirrel might have been more hurt or frightened than you realised, dies later. That's not going to go away. For info I have two hunting type breed dogs (not retrievers) and small furry animals are all prey, feathers too, its instinct - they see the shape, the movement and they're gone after them.
You can't put pet rabbits into that situation, knowing this has happened before. Rely on a dog changing its nature? Won't happen. Rabbits can die of fear, heart attack sitting still frozen with fear.

Rabbits are wonderful pets but very misunderstood and usually mistreated, and pet shops often share misinformation about the care they require. They have complex and usually expensive needs and require at least one other companion of the same species (definitely not a dog or even a guinea pig). Remember that they are also domesticated prey animals and a garden environment usually isn’t safe or suitable. Don’t subject a rabbit to a life in a hutch with the constant threat of a predator.

Just to say as an experienced Guinea Pig owner, please do NOT get a Guinea Pig as a companion pet to a rabbit. Guinea pigs are very complex animals to look after, they have delicate spines and a kick from a rabbit could be fatal. Two Guinea pigs or two rabbits, not one of each. Here is Sweden it is illegal to sell solitary Guinea pigs - you are sold two or one to make up a pair.

With regards to rabbits as twos - rabbits are herd animals and they rely on the whole herd to be on alert for danger. A solitary rabbit can never fully relax or rest because of stress.

We had 3 rabbits and one dog. Rabbits had a large secure run and hutch for overnight. Dog is a collie/springer/something else - no idea about the rabbits, they were rescues. One was a very large male, the other two were mum and daughter. All 3 were spayed. They were introduced when the dog was about 18 months and the rabbits between 6 months and 2 years.

They got on famously, with the dog often going in the hutch with them. We didn’t have them together all the time, but the got together daily and would chase and dig together.

After 2 of the rabbits had a fight we had to make one a house Bun. She had a hutch she went into overnight but had the run of the house otherwise. We had no incidents, other than one time that the Bun was on the dogs spot on the sofa and kicked the dog in the face when she tried to squeeze on with her.

the rabbits lived long happy lives, one died youngish (5) the other two lasted to 8 and 9.