Introducing your Dog or Cat to a New Rabbit

Will my current dog or cat get along with a bunny?

This is a huge question for many first time rabbit owners. It can be stressful thinking about a larger animal possibly harming a small bunny, but the truth is that most of the time if you take the introduction slowly and carefully, all turns out well. Within a couple weeks, it’s as if the bunny was always a part of the family.

Breadbox’s Vera with Jasmine the dog. Photography by Diane Lewis.

Guidelines for the first weeks:

Keep yourself calm! Your pet will pick up on your stress. The first introduction should be done when you are feeling happy and lighthearted, not stressed and tense.

Take it very slow in the beginning, keep the rabbit near their space so that they can hide if they feel frightened.

Use a gate of some sort so that they can see and smell each other, but cannot interact. Restrain large dogs with a leash. Trim your cats nails and position yourself between the cat and rabbit just in case.

Think about letting your pet smell something that belongs to the bunny.

Gage your dog or cats reaction. It is normal for the dog to be excited initially, or for a cat to try to stick a paw through bars of a cage. This does not mean doom! But it does mean that you should continue to be involved in all interaction until these behaviors have calmed.

Guide your pet to be gentle with the rabbit, treats should be involved.

Start with short visits that end on a positive note. You should not be scolding your pet continuously.

For Very Excited Dogs:

If your dog is having a hard time calming down, start by having them sit in another space of the house, wait for complete calm and reward with a treat. Move closer, and closer to the rabbit area waiting for complete calm each time, and giving treats as they achieve this. Continue the process over a period of several days. Do not rush yourself! This takes a lot of patience on the part of the owner as well as the dog. Encouraging calm in dogs can change an entire experience for them. When they go into an experience trusting that you are in control, they continue to look to you for direction during the experience. Work them closer to the cage or rabbit area until you can trust that the dog will maintain calm during a full introduction to a rabbit being free.