As someone who likes larger dog breeds such as Malamutes, Huskies, Malinois, Akitas, Pitbulls, and German Shepherd Dogs I wonder if it is possible to have dogs who are known for high prey drives (I recall that Akitas and Malamutes and Huskies all have pronounced tendiences to hunt small game) get along with house rabbits? I've heard both naysayers and those who say it is possible (my friend has a German Shepherd that gets along with his wife's two English Spots).
Large Dogs and Rabbits
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dark.lapin
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it depends on dog personality and temperment. I would not let desha our hyper pitbull near my flemish giant because she tends not relize how strong she is. Yet I would allow tango our calm labador near my rabbits.Also if your do listens to you really well then you can teach a dog not to bother the rabbits. Yukon my chichula mix just sits there and watches my rabbits.
I would expect it depends on the dog and the training given to it.
The rabbits will be ok with the dog if they are young when first around him and he never hurts them. My rabbits are unconcerned by my dog, however I do not trust him alone with them. It would take significantly more training for him to be ok with them, however he learned to accept our cats, so I probably could do it if I had to. It has been simpler to confine him to a different room when we want to bring bunnies inside.
My dog is a Lab mix. Some kind of herding dog is the other half. He is exictable but very trainable, so not a "high prey drive" dog.
The rabbits will be ok with the dog if they are young when first around him and he never hurts them. My rabbits are unconcerned by my dog, however I do not trust him alone with them. It would take significantly more training for him to be ok with them, however he learned to accept our cats, so I probably could do it if I had to. It has been simpler to confine him to a different room when we want to bring bunnies inside.
My dog is a Lab mix. Some kind of herding dog is the other half. He is exictable but very trainable, so not a "high prey drive" dog.
I have an akita who is safe when supervised around rabbits and poultry. The only way I would do it is to raise the dog from a puppy and interact with the small animals from day 1. I never trust a dog like that unsupervised. There is always a crate or door between my dogs and anything else including each other when they are not supervised.
Here is my akita helping build the guinea pig cage:
It's hard to see but her ears haven't even stood up at this point.
Helping raise a 3week kitten I found on the highway
Learning what chickens are and how rough you can be with them
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/ ... NY0745.mp4
Helping to keep the young chickens from escaping the coop while I feed them
She's in a down stay and only allowed to reach with her nose (nothing is allowed in the mouth) or feet not stand up and chase. She learned to scare or hold things down with her paws until I could get to her and never use her mouth. If she opened her mouth around a smaller animal she got sent away.
Our 20lb shiba does not go near anything smaller than her under any circumstances. I don't even let her on the other side of a cage. She is leashed and held or tied out of reach and even then some chickens have lost their life because they wandered within range of her rope. I think the bigger dogs are actually easier to train around small animals. So long as you start them young and teach them words like "easy" and to stay they can learn what animals are to be protected. Most large breeds have some guarding instinct in them even if it wasn't their main purpose which can be turned to your advantage. Many smaller breeds do not have that guarding instinct to use and it's hard to get them to differentiate between part of the farm and toy.
NEVER EVER LET THEM CHASE!! Do not give them the chance to mess up in that way. Leash them from day 1 and only take the leash off when you have voice control and every time you introduce a new type of animal put the leash back on. Every time they chase or accomplish injuring an animal it will add at least another 20 times of having to tell them not to. Do not give them the option until you are confident you can stop them. In some pictures of my akita you will see the orange band from her electronic collar which was rarely used but there as a backup to make sure she could be stopped instantly and avoid developing a bad habit. I dug it back out for a week when I first got rabbits and otherwise it hasn't been used in years.
Here is my akita helping build the guinea pig cage:
It's hard to see but her ears haven't even stood up at this point.
Helping raise a 3week kitten I found on the highway
Learning what chickens are and how rough you can be with them
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/ ... NY0745.mp4
Helping to keep the young chickens from escaping the coop while I feed them
She's in a down stay and only allowed to reach with her nose (nothing is allowed in the mouth) or feet not stand up and chase. She learned to scare or hold things down with her paws until I could get to her and never use her mouth. If she opened her mouth around a smaller animal she got sent away.
Our 20lb shiba does not go near anything smaller than her under any circumstances. I don't even let her on the other side of a cage. She is leashed and held or tied out of reach and even then some chickens have lost their life because they wandered within range of her rope. I think the bigger dogs are actually easier to train around small animals. So long as you start them young and teach them words like "easy" and to stay they can learn what animals are to be protected. Most large breeds have some guarding instinct in them even if it wasn't their main purpose which can be turned to your advantage. Many smaller breeds do not have that guarding instinct to use and it's hard to get them to differentiate between part of the farm and toy.
NEVER EVER LET THEM CHASE!! Do not give them the chance to mess up in that way. Leash them from day 1 and only take the leash off when you have voice control and every time you introduce a new type of animal put the leash back on. Every time they chase or accomplish injuring an animal it will add at least another 20 times of having to tell them not to. Do not give them the option until you are confident you can stop them. In some pictures of my akita you will see the orange band from her electronic collar which was rarely used but there as a backup to make sure she could be stopped instantly and avoid developing a bad habit. I dug it back out for a week when I first got rabbits and otherwise it hasn't been used in years.
I've always put obedience as a priority when it comes to owning large dogs just to prevent issues. What of introducing a dog over a year old to a house rabbit? I've heard recommending starting young when it comes to teaching dogs not to harm rabbits and make sure 'Thumper' has a hiding place from 'Fido'.
i find a lot of it depends on the dog in question as well. Some dogs will listen even if they have a high prey drive, other dogs...it's like their brain simply shuts off because their instinct is higher than their obedience level.
I would be unwilling to let any dog near any rabbit unless I KNEW what it's reaction was going to be. It just goes too quick for something bad to happen. I'd have the rabbit fully caged and the dog on a lead when they were first introduced and if the dog pounces on the cage or rushes with mouth open that would tell me it's not a good mix. Kenneling a dog while a rabbit runs loose, or kenneling a rabbit while the dog runs loose to me is no big deal and just something one does.
I would be unwilling to let any dog near any rabbit unless I KNEW what it's reaction was going to be. It just goes too quick for something bad to happen. I'd have the rabbit fully caged and the dog on a lead when they were first introduced and if the dog pounces on the cage or rushes with mouth open that would tell me it's not a good mix. Kenneling a dog while a rabbit runs loose, or kenneling a rabbit while the dog runs loose to me is no big deal and just something one does.
We had a registered hunting trained beagle adult dog, she wouldnt even look at rabbits in cages.my toy poodle ignored them unless they were out of cages.our jack russell just goes crazy over rabbits guines pigs etc.i would never trust him.My friend has a golden retriever shes well trained and perfectly fine with bunnies.i think you should know your dog, he ought too have the basic obediance training.I would still proceed with extreme caution.None of my dogs would be alone with my bunnies.I think my elderly chihuahua could be trusted lol.
Iggysbabysitter
Well-known member
I have a newfie/bordercollie mix, about 90 pounds. I can trust him to babysit the adult buns that graze in the backyard (that is the ONLY time he is quiet out there!), he occassionally will get up and put himself between the bun and any dog that may wander over from the park (but on the other side of the fence). My husbands 7 pound poodle, however, can't be trusted around anything... she thinks she's bigger than Big Bertha, the flemish giant, and if she can reach them she steals the kits (not sure why, she dragged one to her bed once).
Something to think about is the attitude of the bunny. I have a few who come to Dino (the big dog), hop around, over, on to get a reaction... some have even nudge him with thier faces to get him up. Since he's not interested in playing with them he normally hunkers down a few feet away and hopes the extra attention will end.
Something to think about is the attitude of the bunny. I have a few who come to Dino (the big dog), hop around, over, on to get a reaction... some have even nudge him with thier faces to get him up. Since he's not interested in playing with them he normally hunkers down a few feet away and hopes the extra attention will end.
Pickles
Well-known member
It definetly depends on the dog. I just wouldnt trust it too much (eventhough there is proof that in some instances its ok).
It also depends on the rabbit. I've had a buck that decided the area around the back door belonged to him. He played with our hunting dogs and would come when called, even outside. The dogs had already proven they'd catch and kill any wild rabbit but he was treated as a pack member. As he grew older he started to assume a dominant role and staked out his territory. He began to attack any dog that got near the back door - jumping up and clawing faces, landing on their backs biting and kicking them - the dogs became afraid to go outside unless he was confined. He was given away because of it.
Shara
Well-known member
trained my pitt/lab mix to leave the rabbits alone, and he was three when I did it. He also has a HIGH prey drive, and chases jackrabbits, deer, and cats if he escapes. Of course, I found him a new home because he KEPT escaping and it got too much to handle, but there it is. He was able to be trained. I was able to trust him loose in the house with rabbits everywhere, also loose.
Cattle Cait
Well-known member
Our beagle/brittany/blue heeler pup tried chasing the barn rabbit, an English Lop, and it whooped her butt. She never bothered a rabbit again. The border collie couldn't have cared less, he had better things to worry about (chickens).
I've seen examples where the rabbit turns the tables on the dog. Such as what looks to be a Californian or mix thereof interacting with a pair of Siberian Huskies.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DejrLgo-7-4[/youtube]
The owner looks like he's on the alert and keeps both sets of animals from injuring each other.
This other video with a dutch rabbit and a husky is why I would have misgivings introducing rabbits and dogs. The rabbit isn't harmed in the video but it is clearly on the defensive and the puppy is a bit rambunctious.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8kD665U0xk&feature=related[/youtube]
I wonder why the owner didn't leash the dog or put him on the down/stay or done something so the rabbit was less stressed when meeting his new housemate.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DejrLgo-7-4[/youtube]
The owner looks like he's on the alert and keeps both sets of animals from injuring each other.
This other video with a dutch rabbit and a husky is why I would have misgivings introducing rabbits and dogs. The rabbit isn't harmed in the video but it is clearly on the defensive and the puppy is a bit rambunctious.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8kD665U0xk&feature=related[/youtube]
I wonder why the owner didn't leash the dog or put him on the down/stay or done something so the rabbit was less stressed when meeting his new housemate.
