4 month Border Collie and a female rabbit

[WandaNunez]

I purchased a border collie who is now 4 months old, prior to this we had have a rabbit.  Now our problem is that the dog Karter seems to stair at the rabbit and gets in a position like if he is ready lounge at her.  He has smelled her but still, we have the dog doing that.  we have her in a double case for safety.

What can we do to help familiarize themselves and get to have them become some what friends.

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

Congrats on your new addition!

This is something we need to really thread with caution. I don't know your rabbit's personality, but we'll have to keep her emotional wellbeing in mind, as rabbits can get easily stressed and I have known some even getting sick if they were stressed enough. So we'll need to ensure your rabbit stays under threshold on top of keeping your puppy under threshold as well. Here's a read on threshold levels in case you haven't encountered this term before:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

The position your border collie gets in when he sees your rabbit, sounds like the typical stare and crouch behaviors border collies perform when they are herding sheep. The stare is referred to as "eyeing" and the crouch is called "stalking." This behavior is based on somewhat diluted prey drive and it's meant to put pressure on the sheep. It is not something pleasant to endure as it mimics the movement wolves would do on prey and it's what keeps the sheep moving. 

Now, when introducing a dog to a vulnerable animal such as a rabbit, we need to consider several factors that may ameliorate or worsen prognostic factors (the likeliness of them being friends or foe). Factors include, breed, age and personality of both your dog and the rabbit. Let's take a closer insight into these. 

Breed: I would expect the worse candidates for getting along with a rabbit are dogs who were bred for rabbit hunting. So any type of scent hound (like the beagle, basset hound, harrier, dachshund), sight hound (like the greyhound, pharaoh hound, whippet) or terrier (like Jack Russell terriers) along with some types of retrievers, setters, huskies and pointers can also pose some challenges. Your pup is a border collie (bred to herd sheep) which is much better to get along with a rabbit compared to a Jack Russell terrier which was primarily bred to kill small critters (finishers). However, we need to factor in that collies are predisposed to chase and harass any animal that runs, so this may work to our disadvantage. 

Then we must consider age. Generally, I expect an older, calmer dog to be less likely to want to harass a rabbit compared to a young, excitable dog full of energy. Also, an older dog with history of being trained, will have more impulse control than a puppy. However, it's also true that an adult dog has more potential to harm a rabbit than a younger puppy.

With puppies (preferably under the age of 6 months), you'll need to be persistent and remind them often that rabbits aren't there to be harassed. While it's true that puppies when young are pretty malleable and easier to train compared to a full-grown dog whose behavior tendencies have already established, the main problem is that puppies may want to persistently play with the rabbit and that play may include herding behaviors-which may frighten a rabbit .

Also, we must consider the rabbit's age: if your rabbit is very young, she may have lowered fear responses compared to an adult. However, young rabbits are smaller and more vulnerable. It goes without saying, the best introductions should involve young bunnies and young puppies.

Personalities: On top of breed and the age factor, it's also important considering several individual factors such as the dog's level of prey drive. Even within a litter of puppies, there may be pups with a stronger prey drive compared to others. Dogs prone to chasing furry critters typically may pose a challenge due to their high prey drive. 

And then, you need to factor in the rabbit's personality. Is your rabbit more outgoing or is she rather timid? Depending on how your rabbit behaves, your dog may behave accordingly. For instance, if your rabbit is prone to being shy and fearful, she'll likely run away and your dog will likely treat your rabbit as prey. If your rabbit is instead curious and outgoing, your dog may perceive her differently.

As seen, there can be various dynamics going on and safety remains paramount. It is best to err on the side of caution by taking some extra safety precautions. It is also important recognizing that even when things seem to be going well, things may change or regress. Most importantly, it's important to acknowledge and accept that not all friendships are meant to be. With this disclaimer in mind, I will post in my next post how I generally would do rabbit-to-dog introductions, but of course, consider that every animal is different, and based on how your dog or rabbit reacts, you may have to make choices/and judgement calls on whether there are chances things will work out or not. In these cases, I find it it best to err on the side of caution.

 

[Adrienne]

As mentioned, extreme caution is needed when introducing a rabbit to a dog. One can't just open a rabbits' cage and just see how things go. That would be taking a big risk! Taking baby steps and carefully assessing how things are going is therefore paramount.

Particularly important would be making sure your puppy is trained to be under voice control despite the distraction of the rabbit. The more you are able to keep Karter calm, the more he'll be able to attend to your requests and be able to refocus his attention on you. The more he's excited, the more he'll struggle in controlling his impulses. Following are several tips.

-Train Leave it and Drop it

Before introducing your pup to your rabbit, having a pup under good voice control and responsive to you is paramount. In particular, you want a pup who responds to "leave it." Practice this a lot around small distractions, and the progress to more distracting stimuli. Remember to always use treats/foods that are higher in value than what the dog was asked to "leave."

On top of training a solid response to leave it, you also want train a strong response to drop it,  just in the unfortunate case your dog would grab your rabbit with his mouth. I know of a dog owner who saved her neighbors' rabbit thanks to this skill. Her dog had broken through the fence and grabbed one of the neighbor's rabbits. This timely cue saved the rabbit's life  before the dog shook his head side-to-side to break the bunny's neck/back. Here is a guide on how to train leave it and drop it:

 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/

-Train to go to a mat

Another handy trained behavior is teaching your puppy to go to his mat. Your puppy is young to hold long stays on a mat but it's a good skill to work on as he grows and gain better impulse control. You can use this when you want your rabbit to romp around without your dog chasing her or bothering her in any way. Here is how to train this:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

-Stop by the Obedience 101 Section

You may also find it helpful to train your pup to sit, lie down, stay and come when called. These skills can come handy at different times. Make sure to train a solid response to your verbal cues working around distractions. You can find how to train them in the obedience 101 section:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/

-Drain Excess Energy

It may help to ensure your pup's energy has been drained before he's introduced to your bunny. So you may find it helpful to take him on a walk (if he has finished his shots and your vet gave you the green light to take him on walks) or play with him for some time, having him run around, prior to the meeting. With a good amount of energy drained (do't forget about brain games too), your pup may be less over the top and reactive to stimuli.

-Start with scent swaps

A good place to start is to introduce your dog to your rabbit's scent. It sounds like you have already done this, however, scent acquaintances can work both ways. Do this by placing a towel or blanket your rabbit sleeps on (and therefore has her scent) and placing it close to where your pup sleeps.

Do the same with your rabbit. Give your rabbit a mat or blanket that has your dog's scent. Fun fact: blessed with 100 million scent cells, rabbits have an excellent sense of smell! Dogs have 300 million.

-Gradual Cage Visits 

Once your pup has showed to be under exceptional voice control and his energy has been drained, you can put him on leash and allow him to visit the rabbits' cage. Work from a distance and do this only if your rabbit is more of the outgoing, inquisitive type. Shy, fearful rabbits can feel scared and trapped if we let a dog come too close to their cage and frighten them which can lead to stress. Having in the cage a place where your rabbit can retreat to and feel safe can help. 

Watch your dog's body language carefully, if he shows worrisome signs such as staring, crouching, whining, or pointing, tell him to "leave it" and move away out of the room.

Then try again to approach, if he keeps on staring or pointing, remind him to "leave it" and move away. If he stays calm though, even for a split second, praise him and reward him with high-value treats (kept in your treat bag or pocket).

Keep the sessions brief and rewarding and spread over the course of several days. If your dog stays calm, you can even ask him for a sit/down at a distance from the cage and praise and reward him while there and then leave. Even if your rabbit isn't moving much in the cage, you're creating positive associations with smelling the rabbit and staying calm nearby the cage.

-Introducing Movement

Once your dog does well with your rabbit in the cage, it's then time to progress to having your rabbit behind a larger container such as a play pen or behind a baby gate so that your dog (always on leash) can watch her moving.

Here is where things may get challenging, as movement is what stimulates a dog's prey drive. Keep your pup at a distance where he's under threshold and do the same exercise as with the cage. As he gets calmer, start asking for sits and praise and reward them, then gradually progress closer to the enclosure, always paying attention to his body language. As you feed your dog treats, you can have a helper feed your rabbit goodies too so both animals get to reap the positive associations of seeing each other. 

Here's the thing: the more your dog acts calm near your rabbit, the more your rabbit will calm down too and she may also be curious about meeting your dog. Hint: gradual introductions help both rabbits and dogs!

A tip to increase criteria: if your rabbit isn't moving much, you can have a helper calling/luring the rabbit with goodies from one end of the pen to another as you work on keeping your dog calm.

-Keep the leash always on 

While you may feel a sense of victory when your dog can calmly approach the pen, don't lower your guard and assume all will go well if you let them meet face-to-face with your dog loose, off-leash. Once your pup is loose, he may feel compelled to chase, and things can go disastrous within seconds. Sure, you can rely on your voice control maybe, but trust is established over time, as your dog proves himself over and over trustworthy in a variety of scenarios. Don't risk your rabbit's life.

On top of this, should your dog chase the rabbit, he'll likely feel compelled to chase more and more (chasing is rewarding) and the rabbit may feel compelled to run more and more (escaping is rewarding) and you're stuck now in a pattern that may be difficult to overcome. So it's best not to get stuck in this sticky situation.

So if you want to progress to the next step, that is, removing the barrier, make sure your dog is on leash and at a safe distance, and ensure he doesn't startle your rabbit and remains under good voice control. As always praise and reward calm behaviors and say "leave it" and leave the room should he get excited/over threshold.

As you progress, if your rabbit approaches your dog, make sure to praise and reward your dog for remaining calm and have a helper praise and reward your bunny for her investigative behavior. This may not apply to you, but worth of mentioning for possible readers: avoid doing this with dogs who resource guard food.

-Keep it positive

It may be tempting to correct a puppy for whining or trying to chase the rabbit. Doing so though may backfire. Telling your dog no repeatedly, scolding him, or giving repeated tugs on the leash, may create negative associations with the rabbit. With time, your dog may start to feel that the rabbit is nothing but a source of frustration and reprimands.

Instead, do your best to keep it positive, tell your dog to leave it, praise and reward for refocusing on you and then leave the room and try again until he is calmer which you should promptly praise and reward. And remember: if you have to tell your dog "leave it' constantly, you're going too fast through the process. Take a few steps back and lower your criteria.

-Should you progress any further?

A time may come where you may want to see how things go with your pup off leash. This can be risky. Even if your dog is trained, consider that there is no such thing as a dog that will respond 100 percent of the time. Even the best trained dogs have their oops moments (ask any trainer of champion competition dogs) and in this case a precious life is at risk. So it's important to evaluate things carefully as the risks at stake are very high.

Sure, there are dog owners who have successfully raised dogs with their rabbits, but there are also dog owners who have had their rabbits injured or even killed by their dogs, so it's imperative to carefully evaluate things-always putting a rabbit's safety first.

-Never leave rabbit/dog unsupervised

Dogs may learn to leave a rabbit alone when the owners are not around, so the moment they leave, even for a few split seconds to grab something, they may revert to their prey drive and attempt to chase or even harm a rabbit. Don't let this happen.

-Create a safe haven

Provide a safe place where your rabbit can retreat to should she feel the need to have her own space. Make sure she has access to small, tight spaces that your dog cannot access- if she just needs a break or in case of an emergency.

-Use safe confinement options 

When you cannot supervise your rabbit and dog or when you want your rabbit to enjoy some play time without being pestered, it's important to rely on some type of confinement. Your pup can be crated or kept behind a sturdy baby gate (with wire mesh or some protection at the bottom that your rabbit can't chew, push through or jump over) and that your puppy can't jump over while your rabbit can be kept in a dog-proof play pen (or whatever you are using right now as long as it is dog-proof). It goes without saying that it's your responsibility ensuring that such enclosures are sturdy and capable to withstand your dog's determination.

-Final thoughts

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Preventing your pup from harming your rabbit is important. You owe it to your rabbit keeping her safe and ensuring her emotional wellbeing. 

As mentioned, there are never guarantees on the outcome of training and rabbits are animals and dogs are animals, and therefore we can't always control or predict their behaviors.  Many dog owners who would have sworn that their dog had no mean bones in their bodies, were shocked when that day their dog came in through the door carrying a dead squirrel or dead baby bunny. It happens, and even with the sweetest and best behaved dogs- and we can't blame them, it's their instincts.

 It is therefore ultimately a pet owner's responsibility ensuring the safety of their pets-and some times, the best thing to do is, to just err on the side of caution and play it safe by keeping certain pets separated and out of harm.

 I hope this helps!

Let me know if you have any questions,

Best,

Adrienne