Bunny & Dog interaction

[Katie]

Asking this because I want to know, does my rabbit like my dog?  Does my dog like my rabbit? 
Sirius (my bunny) lives in the living room, which is where the dog also spends most of her time.  Sirius’s cage is in the living room, and when I let her out for exercise, she’s also in the living room.  I moved her out here from her original spot in the guest bedroom; I wanted her to have more social interaction out here.  And also, in my goal to eventually make her a completely free roam bunny, (only in cage at night or while I’m gone/working/the dog is unsupervised)  I moved her out here to start getting her used to the main area of the house.

My dog was here first; has been here a few years.  Her name is Ebony; she’s in between a small and medium dog.  She’s a cocker spaniel.  Friendly!  Except when visitors drop by, lol.  Then she barks and gets scared.  NEVER aggressive; just a scaredy dog, lol.  Even when Sirius was in a small secluded guest bedroom, Ebony was curious about her.  As Sirius was behind the safety of her cage, I let Ebony in the room to take a look at the new family pet.  Ebony wagged her tail and whimpered.  She wasn’t really excited, and not aggressive by any means at all.  Very very curious though.  Sirius didn’t seem to be bothered or scared either; she climbed the side of the cage, sniffing the dog back.  So, carefully, I let Sirius out to meet Ebony.  They sniffed each other.  Sirius wasn’t startled.  Her ears weren’t pinned back, and no feet thumps happened.  She hopped around exploring the room as usual, occasionally coming right up to the dog to sniff her again.  Ebony wagged her tail and sniffed back!  These sessions happened a few times.  Sirius and Ebony seemed passive on each other.  I ALWAYS kept a close eye on them both.

Now that Sirius is in the living room, it’s about the same.  But if I let Sirius out, when she goes over to sniff the dog, Ebony will run away Sirius scared Ebony out of her favorite chair once, LOL.  Sirius hopped into it as Ebony had been laying there peacefully, and was calm towards the dog, yet Ebony seemed offended and ran and hid under the table.  She wasn’t startled; she had already seen Sirius and knew she was out.  I almost think Ebony is scared of the rabbit.  Or maybe jealous?  Jealous now that they share the same area???  Ebony still doesn’t get aggressive, and as my mom takes the dog outside for a walk before work, she says Ebony will still go over to Sirius’s cage and sniff and wag and “greet” her in the morning. 

I think Sirius is more curious about the dog than the dog is of her, lol.  Every time Ebony hops off her chair and runs under our kitchen table, Sirius runs over and looks to see where she went, with her “curious ears” perked up and  forward. (I hope you guys know what I’m talking about! Haha!)

What will make them “bonded?”  I NEVER plan on letting Sirius out with the dog unsupervised.  But I just want them to be as good of friends as possible!

[Bam]

I have a rabbit and a dog (GSD). I used to have 2 rabbits. My impression is that the dog is pretty uninterested in the rabbit/s, but the rabbit/s are interested in the dog. after 6 years, Bam (rabbit) has understood that Effi isn’t very interested in becoming friends, so he is leaving her alone. I think he feels like they’re hanging out togeter when they’re in the same room. I don’t think Effi (dog) considers him company though.

My other rabbit used to look so incredibly proud when he got to hang out with Effi. Here’s a potato-quality picture of them: 

If he placed himself any closer to her, she’d just up and leave, so he knew he had to keep a certain distance 

I did much like you did, my dog was in the house when Bam arrived (my first bun). Effi was very interested and wanted to sniff him. She’s an obedient dog so she quickly understood when I made it clear that the rabbit belonged to the hoomins and wasn’t for the dog. 

When Bam went cage free I made sure he had plenty of safe hiding places where the dog couldn’t have reached him even if she’d wanted to, like under the bed and under the sofa. That only works if the bed and and sofa are pretty near the floor of course, otherwise a dog could crawl under.

The only problems I’ve had with having a dog and buns that is that the dog eats the rabbit’s food if she gets the chance – although luckily, she doesn’t regard hay as food. She sometimes also drinks his water (because somebody else’s water is of course a lot yummier than your own if you’re a dog), so I have to keep an eye on Bam’s water bowls. He has 4 waterbowls in case she’d empty one or two.

[Serenity]

I don’t personally have a dog but my bunny, George, is OBSESSED with dogs and they all have different reactions to him. I do a lot of dog sitting and as a result my rabbits are NOT free-roam. They live in a securely locked cage with plenty of hidey-holes and LOTS of room. The other three rabbits are terrified, indifferent and curious about dogs but George thinks they are very large, incredibly energetic, loud bunnies. As a result, he must prove that he is just as good as them. If he sees a dog he will immediately jump up to greet them and turns into this odd, dog-bun hybrid. Oddly enough, one dog I was sitting, Alice, actually taught him to play like a dog. When she crouched down and wagged her tail he (tried to) do the same and he jumped and chased and played with her. Of course, this was VERY closely monitored and George simply loves playing with them. Some dogs are even afraid of his forwardness, how he likes to chase them. I swear, he would bark if he was physically able to. Not really relevant, just wanted to share my story, lol.

So it seems to me like your dog and bun could use a little more bonding time before they are permanently integrated into living free-roam together but they are definitely working toward it. Keep it up! Ebony might be a little intimidated by Sirius and Sirius is probably trying to prove that she is better than Ebony by making Ebony move from her favorite chair, etc. but that’s pretty normal I think. Good luck!

[Katie]

Awwwwe, so cute!  I love that photo.  Love both of your stories!(:  I don’t think Ebony will be getting into Sirius’s food.  Even when Sirius is eventually free roam, I think I’ll keep her food in her cage.  And her water is in a sipper bottle so Ebony couldn’t drink that if she tried, lol.  Thanks for the stories and tips!(: 

[Author]

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