Dogs and rabbits together? Is this smart, even possible without disaster? Anyone have experience/advise? ?

I have two bunnies and really want to have a dog as well. I have read up on it. People have been successful but say you can never leave them alone in the same room. I really want to add a dog to the family but I do not want to be constantly worried something may happen. Does anyone have any experience with this and could give me advise, etc? Thanks!Dogs and rabbits together? Is this smart, even possible without disaster? Anyone have experience/advise? ?
I brought a rabbit home to my dog Biscuit, who is a chihuahua/schnauzer mix. and they get along beautifully. They even chase each-other in the back yard. It's pretty funny to see a rabbit chase a dog...but it's cute. I started with holding the rabbit and introducing her to the dog and showed the dog that she was just as important and couldn't jump on her and such, and after only a few corrections Biscuit knows her limits. This might be a special case though since both my rabbit and the dog are about the same size...Dogs and rabbits together? Is this smart, even possible without disaster? Anyone have experience/advise? ?
If you are completely committed to properly training your dog (not the rabbits) then you may have great success having both species in your household.





Do be wise in choosing the breed of dog. You would not buy a bird dog if you had parrots. Don't buy a hunting breed. Remember that includes Terriers/Ratters, too.





I have a chihuahua who love rabbits - my dwarf breed rabbits are bigger than he is. My dog is well trained and obeys. No chance of rabbits getting harmed by him. I also have a Great Dane. She is another story. She has a strong prey drive. She has killed rabbits before. I've worked with her and supervised rabbit interaction for 2 1/2 years. Now, she guards them and I can't get her to eat rabbit meat. She won't even touch it.





My rabbits are not out all the time and I've always supervised their play time. Rabbits will become friends with anything that does not try to eat them - including dogs and cats. I think it is certainly possible for you to have both dogs and rabbits in your household - just be a responsible dog owner and put in the time required to make a great dog. I know many rabbit owners and most of them have dogs, too.
It seems possible - not with a dog like mine, god knows, but maybe with the right dog.


The only anecdote I have is a friend of mine had a dog %26amp; rabbit who got along, but the rabbit died of a heart attack (the vet thought) one time when the dog was chasing it. Which makes you wonder, was the rabbit scared of the dog, or did he think chasing was a fun game and he just got overstimulated?
This IS NOT a good idea, people may say im a bad pet owner for this, but i dont care as long as it stops any of your bunnies from getting hurt.


I once had my bunny out for some exercise, and my mom opened the door, and my dog ran in, and chased my rabbit! i almost had a heart attack, and if it wasnt for rabbits being so fast, my bunny would be dead right now.


so please DONT put your bunnies and your dogs together.
I guess it's all in the personality of the dog. I have one Labrador that I would trust him with any small pet I've had rats, mice,a wild baby bunny I raised, and ferrets around him, crawling on him, and he never once offered to snap or bit them. And I have another lab that sees those animals as food and I can't let him in the house. If I were you I would try to get a dog that is more of a herd dog instead of the hunting instinct he would have the herding instinct, second I would get it as a puppy and introduce them right away, third you would probably have to train the dog to not chase the bunnies or not to be to ruff.



we had both dogs and rabbits when i was a kid and they did just fine. the dog even cleaned up after the rabbit! gross, yes, but quite handy!





as long as you have a friendly dog, you shouldn't have any problems. we had a lab mix and a cocka-poo and they got along just fine. i'd only be worried about leaving them alone together if the dog was aggressive or overly strong. a pit bull, for example (no hate mail, please, i love pit bulls!!) may not be able to play gently enough and could probably hurt the rabbit. but, again, it depends on the dog's disposition and rearing. e.g., teaching your dog to rip apart stuffed toys is probably a bad idea in this context.





the only natural tendency you will have to really curb in your dog is the desire to chase your bunnies if they run. play-chase is okay (our rabbit loved it), but if the little guy really wants to get away or be alone, the dog needs to respect that. don't forget, too, that a bunny can do real damage with their back claws!





just use caution, common sense and keep an eye on them all until you are confident they're all happy.





best of luck to you!!!
I would think the only possibility would be if you raised the dog from a puppy around the rabbits? Still I'd think it's a little iffy.





But at the very least, the dog would get lots of exercise before he tasted the rabbit..
golden retrievers r real friendly w/rabbits %26amp; can even b alone w/them all the time. idk bout any other breed but as long as theyr brought up 2gether they dont really hav a problem.
I had a bunny and a little dog.


They didn't mind eachother at all.
how big a dog?