How should I introduce a new puppy to our rabbit?

Red: How should I introduce a new puppy to our rabbit?
We are about to get a puppy goldendoodle. We have had a black mini-rex (female and spayed) rabbit for the last year and a half. At the moment the rabbit has the run of the house when we are home and has her cage when we are not. I am looking for suggestions/tips for introducing the puppy and the rabbit so that ideally we will be able to let the rabbit continue to run around with the puppy.

Answers and Views:

Answer by smilethenscream7
Try letting the dog sniff the cage first. Keep the rabbit away from the dog for the first few hours. -This is the time when a dog gets antsy and wants to sniff out his new home… possibly mark his territories. Its normal!

Bring the rabbit out in your arms, and have someone holding the dog. SLOWLY walk closer to the dog, making sure he sees the rabbit. Let them sniff each other out.

Finally, let the rabbit roam, and the dog roam. But keep them supervised!!! I would say within a months time, they should be okay with each other.

Answer by Dana
take the puppy to the rabbit and watch what the puppy does to the rabbit if it bites tell the puppy NO if they not good with each other then dont let them be together unles your with them it should be ok
goog luck

Answer by Alyssa
it may not be easy, but you could try to put the puppy on the leash, and the bunny on a harness to keep them from hurting each other if something DOSE happen… Then slowly allow the two to meet each other, but let them sniff each other. My grandma had a Bunny and got a cat, she just put them together when they were babies and know there friends! Just let the two be together…

Answer by Jade
i watched a video about this,
tell your dog no when he trys to play with it as this may end up in a fight, and keep your puppy on a lead and your rabbit in a hutch or cage or pet carrier,do it step by step…

Answer by kla3232
My biggest concern would be to not scare your rabbit with the new member of the family, but am confident that the two can live in harmony. The puppy is going to want to play with the rabbit, it is only natural. All babies want to play. I would just supervise them at all times until you are confident that the pup won’t play too rough. Eventually they will be so use to eachother that there will be nothing to worry about. Just don’t let that cute puppy face get the best of you. You have to let the pup know your the boss and that playing rough with the rabbit is not ok.

Answer by pickle
Unfortunately, you should never leave a dog and rabbit alone and unsupervised. The dog can easily kill a rabbit when playing, not actually meaning to hurt it but it is something that they can’t control. My dog and rabbit adore each other but when the rabbit gets too playful, the dog gets all excited and wants to pounce on it. I keep them separated by a fenced in rabbit area so they don’t have run of the house at the same time. My rabbit vet told me she made the mistake of letting her dog play with her rabbit and that was the end of the rabbit.

Answer by the pocket otter
The puppy is going to be bouncy and curious. You’ll want to get both the puppy and rabbit used to the smells of each other, and when they actually meet each other you could have a person holding each of them so that the dog can’t lunge or anything. It is totally possible for them to be great friends though – I got my baby from a breeder whose dog got on quite happily with the rabbits.