How to get dogs use to my rabbit.

chickenmama109

Free Ranging
6 Years
Mar 5, 2017
3,576
4,780
517
texas
Hi, I have a one year old outdoor rabbit and I really want to bring her in to be a indoor rabbit. I was wondering how to get three dogs to like her because they all bark when they see her, we have a German shepherd a lab and a chihuahua. I was wondering what the steps were to get them to be with each other. Thank
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It depends on your dogs' exposure to this specific rabbit and their responses to your leadership how long they will take to stop seeing the rabbit as prey. All the dogs I have had over the years eventually tolerated one rabbit out of my rabbitry that I selected as pet. It takes much more time than a week or two, especially since you have a pack of dogs: in a pack, prey drive is contagious. Identify the dog in your pack that is the leader. Start with muzzle training him or her. Muzzle training is non-negotiable before starting bonding sessions involving predators and prey species. It sounds like your dogs have already met the bunny so keep up short exposure sessions under supervision, first with the bunny behind cage bars and later with the rabbit in the open but with one dog only and muzzled. Do not overwhelm the rabbit, if he appears stressed, keep the sessions even shorter until the rabbit chills out. Use high-value treats to distract your dog from the novelty of the bunny, and only reward the dog when they arrive at a calm state: they must learn to sit and pay attention even though the bunny excites them. Some dogs won't take treats in the rabbit's presence at first: just be patient. With time and exposure they will settle. Once you got one dog settled in the rabbit's presence, add a second and so forth. Once all dogs are calm with the rabbit, you can move the rabbit inside permanently but in a dog-proof rabbit condo. Never let your dogs be unsupervised with a free-ranging rabbit in the house (where it can be cornered) because even a rabbit they know can trigger the predatory sequence in them once the rabbit gets up to speed.
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