Binkies and Barks! How to Introduce Rabbits and Dogs: Bringing the Dog Home

Disclaimer: Many breeds of dog and bred to hunt rabbits and other small animals. Introducing a dog to your rabbits can be risky. The purpose of this series is to mitigate risk as well as find ways in which you can control any risky situation.

This series is based upon my experience of introducing my dog to my rabbits. It is also written from the perspective of someone who had rabbits and then introduced a dog. They have been successfully introduced and now happily live alongside each other. If at any point you are not comfortable with the introduction, you should put an end to the encounter. It is important that you are comfortable and confident during situations that your dogs and rabbits are interacting.

I have never introduced a puppy to our rabbits, only rescue dogs, and this series reflects this. Many of the steps in later installments will crossover.

If you've just come here, you might be interested in: Part One: Selecting the Right Dog

I have not included any timings in this guide, simply because it can differ. It took us 6 months to fully introduce our dog to our rabbits. It might take you longer. It is important not to rush the process.

So, you found the dog you want. You've gone through the process of adoption or purchasing and you are ready to bring the dog home, what do you do?

Preparing the House

The first thing you are going to want to do before you bring your dog home, is get the house ready. For the process of introduction to work, it needs to be over a controlled period of time, this means that you cannot just let the dog meet your rabbits the minute you bring them home. This does mean that you might have to split your time between your rabbits and dog for a little while, at least for a short time. Your rabbits are going to have to be placed into another room where your dog is not allowed to go. 

To prevent your dog from accessing the room, you should either keep the door closed, or use a childgate (personally we used a childgate, and put a blanket over it at first so that he couldn't see the rabbits but could hear and smell them).

Once the rabbits have been moved, I suggest that you thoroughly clean the areas where they typically lived, this should hopefully prevent your dog marking when they are brought into the house.

Bringing the Dog Home

When you first bring your dog home, they are going to be very overwhelmed by the experience, They may try and mark or run around excitedly. Any attempt to get into the room where the rabbits live should be firmly discouraged (although avoid negative reinforcement).

Your dog may repeatedly try to gain access to the room, this may be because they can smell/hear the rabbits, or they are pushing against your authority. It is important not to create a negative association with the rabbit room, however if you keep your rabbits loose, rather than in a hutch or cage, you might considering keeping the rabbit room door closed to ensure the safety of your rabbits. That being said, through reinforcement, your dog should quickly learn that they are not allowed into this room. It is important at this point to ensure that this is consistently enforced.

Acclimatising your Dog to Rabbits

Once you are confident that your dog will not try to access the rabbit room, you can move onto acclimatising your dog to the presence of rabbits in the house (and vice versa). If when you opted to have the rabbit room closed off when your first brought your dog home, you should now introduce a childgate covered with a blanket to keep the dog out of the room. You should regularly go into the rabbit room, and interact with your bunnies, leaving your dog on the other side of gate. While doing this, you should ensure that your dog does not enter the room, but also praise them for being good. Through your regular interaction with the rabbits and praise, the dog should associate the rabbit room as something positive.

Once your dog seems uninterested in the rabbit room, you should remove the blanket from the childgate, so that the dog and the rabbits are able to see each other. Keep a close eye on the behaviour of your dogs and rabbits at this stage, ensure that neither are fixated on the other. In controlled circumstances you can allow your dog and your rabbit to "meet" through the bars of the gate, or in the room if your rabbits are in a hutch at the time. Ensure that such meetings are brief, and that they end in a positive manner, with treats being given to both. You want to cement the idea that such interactions are positive and should be rewarded to bring about positive association.

Next time: Binkies and Barks! First Meetings

If you have any comments, or questions, pop them below. I am always happy to help!