What Rabbits Do You Have? Show Off Your Rabbits Here!

[PrimroseMom1]

Hi! This is my Holland Lop, Elsie. She is the sweetest rabbit EVER. I adore her.

Well, it's easy to see why you love her. She is adorable!!!

 

[kacklinkelly]

Thank you so much for the reality check. I appreciate your candor.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Primrose, the same can be said of dogs and sheep, dogs and cats, dogs and chickens, dogs and horses... I feel very comfortable letting my relaxed, older dog that grew up with rabbits since she was seven weeks old with my rabbits. On multiple occasions she has tried to chase rabbits, tail up, running and playing (ie, not hunting) and stopped on my command. She and my cranky (now deceased) mini lop were best freinds for three years before we got our second dog. The mini would litterally climb on her, nibble her fur, scratch at her like a carpet and she would just give a gentle nudge back with her nose. She even tried to play bow to a very stunned wild rabbit once while off leash. Some peoples dogs are safe with their chickens and some breeds even live with them full time and protect them. So while it is true any dog could attack... I don't worry about my big girl. Oh, shed eat them if she were hungry enough, just like even many LGDs would, but since I don't starve her she is pretty safe. She has a super chill temperament and is a coward at heart. If a rabbit tries to growl or scratch her she runs and hides.

Some dogs should never be around livestock, though. And I have a dog like that too. She will often act serene and calm... But given half a chance she will ALWAYS try to attack no matter how much I train her. So since I can never trust her she never doesn't have a barrier between her and prey animals.

It always goes both ways and is really, truly, dependent on the animals and handler's involved.

OH. And if you DO wanna try introducing a dog, Kelly... What worked with moderate results on my husky is doing everything in your power to maintain their focus away from the tasty looking prey animal. Leash on, tight collar up high or head collar, lots of treats, balls and squeaky toys... BUT. Keep it low energy. Quiet commands with the focus on you, just basic obedience. Keep it low key and quiet and they are less likely to take a high energy bolt after on of your rabbits. I find low energy and high focus to be the key to good obediance training... Even if that can be hard to achieve in some dogs. It may also be good to do this anyhow just so your dog can ignore the rabbits in the cages. The way my killer acts around the caged rabbits most of the time you'd never guess she has killed four rabbits (three wild) and a chicken this year. Good training goes a long way.

 

[Angelicisi]

I introduce my pets after quarantines. Most of them. There are some exceptions (rescues and breeders are allowed to say hi on their own, but we don't want to add stresses on breeders or rescues since they're our most sensitive groups so we don't bring anything to them.) Our cat and dog try and mother anything, stuffed animals, chicks, dogs...she's definitely leaving rabbits alone now because they try n give the love back lol

Our rabbits are happy, healthy and very well socialized. We play a local radio station on low volume in the rabbitry, the background music helps with noise fears and overall seems to relax them. I'm not saying go plug in a radio lol we just knew our place has noise at times and at other times is pure serenity, the music helps break up the calm so when a sudden noise happens they sorta look around instead of freak out and get scared.

As far as the breeding in the heat, i let them rest thru July/August. Plan kits for April and/or Sept. (april to allow time for kits to be drinking for the heavy heat)
This lop in the video, regularly takes rides with me in the car, to a movie set, gets handled by 14 different people with noise and lights and chaos and still just chills out, investigates new surroundings and plays with whoever will bend down...lol

It all depends on your pets.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Primrose, the same can be said of dogs and sheep, dogs and cats, dogs and chickens, dogs and horses... I feel very comfortable letting my relaxed, older dog that grew up with rabbits since she was seven weeks old with my rabbits. On multiple occasions she has tried to chase rabbits, tail up, running and playing (ie, not hunting) and stopped on my command. She and my cranky (now deceased) mini lop were best freinds for three years before we got our second dog. The mini would litterally climb on her, nibble her fur, scratch at her like a carpet and she would just give a gentle nudge back with her nose. She even tried to play bow to a very stunned wild rabbit once while off leash. Some peoples dogs are safe with their chickens and some breeds even live with them full time and protect them. So while it is true any dog could attack... I don't worry about my big girl. Oh, shed eat them if she were hungry enough, just like even many LGDs would, but since I don't starve her she is pretty safe. She has a super chill temperament and is a coward at heart. If a rabbit tries to growl or scratch her she runs and hides.

Some dogs should never be around livestock, though. And I have a dog like that too. She will often act serene and calm... But given half a chance she will ALWAYS try to attack no matter how much I train her. So since I can never trust her she never doesn't have a barrier between her and prey animals.

It always goes both ways and is really, truly, dependent on the animals and handler's involved.

OH. And if you DO wanna try introducing a dog, Kelly... What worked with moderate results on my husky is doing everything in your power to maintain their focus away from the tasty looking prey animal. Leash on, tight collar up high or head collar, lots of treats, balls and squeaky toys... BUT. Keep it low energy. Quiet commands with the focus on you, just basic obedience. Keep it low key and quiet and they are less likely to take a high energy bolt after on of your rabbits. I find low energy and high focus to be the key to good obediance training... Even if that can be hard to achieve in some dogs. It may also be good to do this anyhow just so your dog can ignore the rabbits in the cages. The way my killer acts around the caged rabbits most of the time you'd never guess she has killed four rabbits (three wild) and a chicken this year. Good training goes a long way.

Someone asked about introducing his rabbits to other animals. Rabbits are not chickens or cats or horses. Rabbits are prey animals and if you only have a few pet rabbits, my advice was not to take a chance on injury or death to find out which kind of dog you have. Of course, there are exceptions and you might actually have a dog that won't injure or kill your rabbit, but the majority consider rabbits prey. That's why a running rabbit is used to make the greyhounds run at the races. The safest route is to separate the two animals. When I first had chicks my little dog was being so sweet. I was holding Katniss and faster than I could move, without warning, my dog had his mouth over katniss' head. She died within a day.

This is the sweetest calmest little dog that killed Katness. I have never given him access to my chickens or bunnies again. I had to experience a death to know that. I don't want more deaths.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Chickens, horses, sheep and goats are 100% prey animals and act like it. My husky would kill a sheep, a chicken or a goat in a heartbeat if she could. And your dog is a terrier.... I can't say I am too surprised, it is what they were bred for and most people forget that when they introduce their dogs. They get so confused when their jack russel or their daschund who is "so sweet" kills something but it was what they're programmed to do down to every fiber of their being. Greyhounds and salukis, dogs bred to hunt rabbits, also stop short of killing their prey, typically cornering it and waiting for their master. It's what they were bred for. Same with border collies, heelers and shepherds. One of my dogs is a mutt with some of these breeds in her... She's the polite one. One of my dogs is a husky. She will absolutely act angelic until she gets the chance to strike if there's a person around. It's all about the dog. I've had rabbits die at the hands of one of my dogs too. My sister's Pomeranian would never touch a rabbit. She thinks they're smelly stupid things to be avoided. Some Pomeranians would bite. I still hold that it's all about the individual dog and only the owner (if they know what they're doing) or a professional trainer can determine if their dog will be good or not. If not, absolutely, don't risk it. But some dogs are bomb proof and that includes for rabbits.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Chickens, horses, sheep and goats are 100% prey animals and act like it. My husky would kill a sheep, a chicken or a goat in a heartbeat if she could. And your dog is a terrier.... I can't say I am too surprised, it is what they were bred for and most people forget that when they introduce their dogs. They get so confused when their jack russel or their daschund who is "so sweet" kills something but it was what they're programmed to do down to every fiber of their being. Greyhounds and salukis, dogs bred to hunt rabbits, also stop short of killing their prey, typically cornering it and waiting for their master. It's what they were bred for. Same with border collies, heelers and shepherds. One of my dogs is a mutt with some of these breeds in her... She's the polite one. One of my dogs is a husky. She will absolutely act angelic until she gets the chance to strike if there's a person around. It's all about the dog. I've had rabbits die at the hands of one of my dogs too. My sister's Pomeranian would never touch a rabbit. She thinks they're smelly stupid things to be avoided. Some Pomeranians would bite. I still hold that it's all about the individual dog and only the owner (if they know what they're doing) or a professional trainer can determine if their dog will be good or not. If not, absolutely, don't risk it. But some dogs are bomb proof and that includes for rabbits.

If someone new to chickens and rabbits thinks their dogs are safe to introduce to their rabbits has a good chance they are wrong about their dogs and end up with an injured or dead rabbit. Even experienced people like you can be wrong and end up with a dead or injured rabbit when they were sure their dog wouldn't hurt their rabbit. Once you find out you were wrong, it's too late. To be on the sure side, just don't introduce the two. It's never the safest way to go.

 

[Angelicisi]

I agree that predators and prey should not be friends. It is rare it works out well.
We introduce many animals to our dog because they free range and It's her flock/herd to protect, my dog does NOT tolerate wild rabbits-telling me even tho she's been nice with our lop- a bunny moving quickly lop or not would cause instinct to kick in and a bad situation. We have an indoor rabbitry so the dog can safely watch the building and not bother the bunnies inside. The video was during a rare occurance the cat was allowed inside lol

Someone asked about introducing his rabbits to other animals. Rabbits are not chickens or cats or horses. Rabbits are prey animals and if you only have a few pet rabbits, my advice was not to take a chance on injury or death to find out which kind of dog you have. Of course, there are exceptions and you might actually have a dog that won't injure or kill your rabbit, but the majority consider rabbits prey. That's why a running rabbit is used to make the greyhounds run at the races. The safest route is to separate the two animals. When I first had chicks my little dog was being so sweet. I was holding Katniss and faster than I could move, without warning, my dog had his mouth over katniss' head. She died within a day.

This is the sweetest calmest little dog that killed Katness. I have never given him access to my chickens or bunnies again. I had to experience a death to know that. I don't want more deaths.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Can an Amercauna lay a rosy/brown egg like an RIR egg? If the answer is yes, don't answer unless you want to hear me cry all the way from here to there. Lol. I haven't been keeping track of those eggs bec I an expecting a blue or green egg. Now the girls are all laying in crazy places. This must stop. I thought I had an extra brown egg today considering the number of hen less the Amercaunas. Here is SnowWhite under the bunny hutch. I took the foto from inside the house and the first time she actually saw me through the window and ran to the door where they get treats. When I didn't appear, she went back under the hutch. When she left I went to check. NO egg. I think blue Amercauna eggs are mythical. Lol. Here she is under the hutch.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Sorry. I thought I was on my chicken thread. The story on this hen is well known over there. Nine months old and haven't been able to find her eggs yet. Lol