MotherKing Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Hi all, Harry, my 16week Cavalier KC, was initially interested, but aloof, but now obsessed with our pet rabbit. Baxter the rabbit is male, not dexsexed, big, but less than a 1 year old. He has a hutch but he prefers to roam in our backyard and we like him to eat the grass etc. He can't get out and has a great time. So, he has been mostly "free range" up until the puppy arriving. Baxter has also been a bit of a sratcher, biter and thumper almost anti-social, preferring to run and hide than play with people. He would also be rather aggressive when put in his hutch, biting the hand that fed it etc. But when Harry arrived, Baxter changed - he was very inquisitive and passive and we were all surprised to watch a new friendship blossom and soon enough, we've found over the last 3 weeks since we've had Harry that we have 2 friendly animals and our relationship with Baxter the rabbit has changed immensely. We can all pick him up, hug him etc and he will happily allow us to pet him. A few weeks ago they started playing chasings, and it become apparent that Baxter was the more submissive. Then we noticed Harry was licking Baxter's ears (with quite a fever), then he started chewing the ears and removing a bit of hair, still Baxter the bully as we've often thought of him can stick up for himself so we figured he liked it in a sort of strange way, but now Harry can catch this rabbit at any moment, he is on top of him and really getting into the ears and back of the neck. Yesterday he started barking at the Hutch when I put Baxter in for a break and just today, I found that Harry has completely chewed off all Baxters fur on his neck and ears almost to the point of breaking the skin - I fear the next stage is Harry will eat Baxter. What do I do??? I thought Cavaliers would not go for a rabbit as they aren't a hound, I'd read they have a tendency back in their lineage to go for birds, but he ignores the birds that come to the bird feeder on the lawn but that rabbit - he must have given him a sense of fresh meat perhaps? What do you suggest???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 I wouldn't trust any dog with a rabbit regardless of breed, they are their natural prey. Of course there will be the occasional successful rabbit/dog relationship, but they would be few and far between. If I were you I would confine the rabbit to its hopefully dog proof hutch when you can't supervise them, I don't think you can blame any dog for killing a rabbit even if they are brought up together. Better to be safe than sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peibe Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 I had a rabbit living with my female Shar pei for the first year of her life before he past away I never ever left them alone, she was never allowed to chase him, chew on him, jump on him etc They where allowed to be in the yard at the same time and Gus the rabbit often slept with my bitch You can have a successful rabbit/dog relationship if you keep to simple rules, a 16 week old pup needs other pups to rough and tumble with, not a rabbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 A decent solid hutch is the only answer with Baxter allowed out when Harry is securely locked up elsewhere. Harry is a dog, Baxter is a traditional prey species. Dogs of many different breeds can have high levels of prey drive and many dogs don't differentiate between fur and feather. Prevention will be a lot better than cure here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peibe Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Put Harry on a lead when Baxter is having his yard time and teach Harry to be quiet and sit and wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tess32 Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Seperate them, it's the easiest thing to do. Make sure Baxter still gets a MINIMUM of two hours exercise a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucknow Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 I would never leave any dog with a prey animal unsupervised. Dog (and mosquito) proof your hutch. I would also speak to a rabbit knowledgeable vet about getting Baxter desexed, hormones can contribute to the behaviour he has been displaying as well as a lack of handling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Agree with all the above, but don't necessarily believe that your pup is chewing on the rabbit in a 'eating' sense. He is probably playing or even finding comfort or fun in grooming bunny and playing with him in a toy sense. If he wanted to kill the rabbit outright I suspect that would have been done by now. Do Bunnies groom their own ears like cats? If not perhaps try some Bitter Bite around the area to stop pup chewing. Angus used to chew on Trevors ears and ruff. It has ruined the coat which never quite recovered - the tufts he had behind his ears are flat and thin from years of licking and chewing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peibe Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Rabbits do groom their ears, so no Bitter Bite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamuzz Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Agree with all the above, but don't necessarily believe that your pup is chewing on the rabbit in a 'eating' sense. He is probably playing or even finding comfort or fun in grooming bunny and playing with him in a toy sense. If he wanted to kill the rabbit outright I suspect that would have been done by now.Do Bunnies groom their own ears like cats? If not perhaps try some Bitter Bite around the area to stop pup chewing. Angus used to chew on Trevors ears and ruff. It has ruined the coat which never quite recovered - the tufts he had behind his ears are flat and thin from years of licking and chewing Good point Clyde - maybe Harry needs a stuffed toy to be able to play with, as roughly as he likes. And then, as peibe suggested, Harry needs to be taught how to behave around the rabbit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidoney Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 (edited) I had a pet silky rooster and also a litter of puppies. There was no desire in the pups to treat the chook like a prey animal. He liked hanging out with the pups. However unknown to me, one evening he went into the puppies' kennel to roost (had I realised he would not have stayed there). The next morning, all there was of him was two feet. There had been no previous indication of this behaviour. Ended in disaster: Edited March 11, 2008 by sidoney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherKing Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 Thanks everyone, good comments I've found useful here. I was interested to see which way the advice would swing... apply deterants/separate. For today, we have of course commenced separation but I'm still hopeful that eventually we will be able to work towards training Harry to not touch the rabbit. He is very mouthy at the moment so those ears must have been just too tempting! I didn't scold him as I didn't catch him do it, but he seems to be aware he did something to the rabbit that we didn't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Well i can safely say our dogs would "bunny bash" We did have a dog many years ago that mothered our Guinea pigs but under no circumstance did we take risks.When supervised they all enjoyed themselves when we couldnt they had a super hutch that they could safely & freely enjoy the grass,nature plus be safe. Rabbits can be nasty if they decide to be so & i would also be worried that it could harm your dog either way only fools trust & that often leads to disasters. Bunny can have his grass just create a bunny haven for him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wuhana Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 seperation for sure , the pugs here are finding my new bunnies very intersting to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jed Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 MotherKing Cavaliers would not go for a rabbit as they aren't a hound I wouldn't trust my lot for a second with a guinea pig, rabbit, rat or chook. They clean up all the rats and mice they find, and I just know a bunny would last 5 seconds. I think Harry might be tasting, tasting tasting and I would separate them asap. I think the rabbit is better behaved because he has company - he was probably lonely. When rabbits are friendly, and get a lot of handling, they seem happy enough, but if they are by themselves a lot, they are lonely. But if I owned Harry I would think his motives were not altogether pure!! We had a "house rabbit" years ago who co-existed quite happily with a Border x, 2 boxers and a cocker spaniel - he was a very bossy rabbit, and thumped and growled if he felt the dogs were getting out of line, but they never even looked like hurting him. They accepted him, and the other rather odd pets we had at the time as "part of the family". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malisa1 Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 That reminds me of a funny story a Friend of ours sold an Akita puppy on visiting their home saw a rabbit hutch that was not exactly fort Knox. Owners were warned that they would have to upgrade to a better bunny house. Well they got a phone call one day owners found Akita pup with rabbit in his mouth bunny RIP. But owners refused to believe that the pup had killed rabbit "he did not kill it he was only playing with him" :rolleyes: Our Friends said no he killed it but owners did not believe puppy really did it. I would not trust any dog with creatures of fur or fowl. Malisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tess32 Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 How is that a funny story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malisa1 Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 How is that a funny story? Tess 32 I did not mean funny Like laughing more like strange/unusual. Funny can mean lots of things not laughing funny. That is the problem with posting on lists some things get taken way out of context............ I hope that has cleared this matter up. Regards Malisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tess32 Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Well perhaps adding a smiley to this kinda story isn't the best idea eh? If things are taken 'out of context' it's often because the original person was unclear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sausy.dog Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Be very wary of pups around small animals. We went out a few days ago for a couple of hours and by the time we got back a half grown chook had got out of its cage (still not sure how) and our 4 month old dachshund puppy had dispatched and eaten it all. The only reason we knew was that she hadn't quite finished the second leg. Dog + small prey animals = total recipe for disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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