Hi i was thinking of buying a pet rabbit but i have 2 collie dogs they are 4 and 6 are quite hyper but great with kids. What i was wondering given their breed if they would be likley to attack the rabbit. They have never shown sighns of being vitious but arn't too keen on other dogs apart from my mums collie
2007-09-23 01:32:13 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Dogs
As long as the rabbit has a sturdy secure cage and run then they should be fine.
We have a Weimaraner with a high prey drive who easily catches rabbits when out in the fields but who leaves our guinea pigs alone now (he did used to camp outside the cage drooling at first!).
Just keep an eye on the dogs and make sure you tell them 'no' if they get a bit too eager to make friends through the mesh of the cage. They will soon learn.
If you are thinking about getting a rabbit, get a guinea pig too for company. Rabbits don't like living alone, two males may fight, so a guinea pig friend or two is the best bet.
Added:
We also used to have a Border Collie x Springer Spaniel who used to lay next to our rabbits run. The rabbit got out one day and I was convinced the dog would eat it, but they became great friends, sunbathing on the lawn together, the rabbit snuggled up against the dogs belly! Most dogs will chase things that run (our rabbit didn't) and once the dogs realise the rabbit just hops around and takes no notice of them they will get fed up watching it.
2007-09-23 02:54:13 · answer #1 · answered by ELLE T 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless you can keep the rabbits completely seperate - somewhere where the dogs can't even see the cages - don't bother. It is natural for dogs to kill rabbits and Collies have a high prey drive - that's what makes them good sheepdogs -when they are trained.
My friend bought her daughter 2 rabbits. One lasted about 2 days before her otherwise sweet, gentle & obedient sheepdog killed it. Now she is obsessed with getting to the other one!
2007-09-23 09:27:36 · answer #2 · answered by anwen55 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They would probably scare the rabbit to death. If you got a pet rabbit, you would either have to keep it in a cage, or only let it run around when the dogs are in another room-door shut so they can't get to the rabbit.
Even if the dogs are not vicious to the rabbit, they are herding dogs and will likely try to herd the rabbit around and play with it, and probably hurt the rabbit unintentionally.
2007-09-23 09:06:04 · answer #3 · answered by Akatsuki 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Forget it. They will rip it to shreds - dogs automatically see rabbits as food, and will chase them (paricularly Collies)
Even if you were to pen the rabbits in, its not fair as they can smell the dog (i.e danger) and will be frightened regularly.
Maybe you should consider another type of pet?
2007-09-23 08:41:00 · answer #4 · answered by Gem Gem 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dogs can act fairly well take the lassie films for example but
rabbits aren't so good, except in cartoons like Watership down etc
2007-09-24 08:04:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, please don't get a rabbit. Even if the dogs never kill the rabbit (which they will try to do), you are sentencing that rabbit to a life of terror if it has to be around dogs. It isn't fair to the rabbit.
2007-09-23 08:53:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of my five is very adamant about killing them and she killed mine when I first fostered her. I kept her.
The others especially my first two were great and the bunny my kid the dogs and cat could all go out in the yard together.
2007-09-24 08:39:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
they might be fine. they might, however, be playing around and kill the much smaller rabbit. they might outright kill it. I don't think I'd try to see what might happen. instinct is very strong and that's not being vicious.
2007-09-23 08:42:16 · answer #8 · answered by wendy_da_goodlil_witch 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋