Pet rabbit and bird dog

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Atgw
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Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by Atgw » Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:52 am

Hello this my first post on here. I am on a list for an English Setter puppy. The female went into heat this week and is being bred in the next week or so. I have no experience in training a hunting dog but have some in house dogs. This setter will be both a house and hunting dog. I have a concern that I haven't been able to find any good articles on. How do I handle my bird dog around our outside rabbit. I don't want to disapine the puppy on the rabbit and damage it's drive for birds but I also don't want the puppy to harass the rabbit or think that rabbits are the game he should be hunting

shags
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Re: Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by shags » Sun Jan 22, 2017 11:26 am

My kids had various rabbits as pets along with my bird dogs, and all we did was reprimand the dogs for messing around the hutch. Like, Aghhh, get outta there! or Leave it! Same thing when the kids were holding and playing with the rabbits. The dogs were also socialized to our cats and beyond the occasional chase up the stairs, no problems. I would never trust the unsupervised dogs with the bunnies hopping around loose, though.

My current dogs weren't brought up with other fuzzy animals, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be nice to any. So I believe training and socializing are the difference.

Congrats on the new pup, and best of luck to you.

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greg jacobs
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Re: Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by greg jacobs » Sun Jan 22, 2017 2:36 pm

My brothers neighbor had a hound and a lop eared rabbit that played, unsupervised. The rabbit didn't make it in the end.

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CDN_Cocker
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Re: Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by CDN_Cocker » Sun Jan 22, 2017 6:34 pm

Our dog isn't allowed around the rabbit. He's bred to hunt. You can't take that out and expect a productive hunting dog in the field.
Cass
"If you train a young dog for momentum, precision will arrive. If you train for precision, demanding perfection, momentum will depart." - Rex Carr

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crackerd
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Re: Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by crackerd » Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:03 am

CDN_Cocker wrote:Our dog isn't allowed around the rabbit. He's bred to hunt. You can't take that out and expect a productive hunting dog in the field.
Cass, got to ask before Bill T. and Robert get their dirks in: So you've got a spaniel and a not-open-for-training indoor rabbit pen? My, my. And what about the forthcoming Lab - will it be allowed in the company of Bugs Bunny?

MG

polmaise
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Re: Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by polmaise » Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:20 pm

'Farmyard stock' :lol:
I wouldn't even 'worry' about the pet rabbit and the dog !!
We have Chickens and Pigeons and Rabbits and Ferrets and Ducks .
....
If I shot one and asked the dog to retrieve it, it would :wink:
Same as ..If I asked the dog to Hunt and any one of them flushed the pets' ..they would stop ! ..Likelihood however would be they just ignored them...............In search for the real deal :mrgreen:

RayGubernat
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Re: Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by RayGubernat » Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:26 am

I think that unless your rabbit is caged, things are not going to end well for the rabbit.

If you have children, a graphic illustration of a predator/prey interaction might not be what you want them to witness. Dogs are predators, rabbits are prey. Predators kill and eat prey.

My thoughts are that you may need to choose which pet you wish to have, going forward.

Yes dogs can be trained to ignore, but sooner or later, instinct will overwhelm training, especially if unsupervised.

RayG

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CDN_Cocker
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Re: Pet rabbit and bird dog

Post by CDN_Cocker » Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:26 am

crackerd wrote:
CDN_Cocker wrote:Our dog isn't allowed around the rabbit. He's bred to hunt. You can't take that out and expect a productive hunting dog in the field.
Cass, got to ask before Bill T. and Robert get their dirks in: So you've got a spaniel and a not-open-for-training indoor rabbit pen? My, my. And what about the forthcoming Lab - will it be allowed in the company of Bugs Bunny?

MG
Lol its my daughter's rabbit. I wouldn't want to deal with the heart ache a dead bunny would cause. As for the lab I had a real nice pup lined up from Georgia but the wife put the kaibosh on that at the last minute. Looks like I'm waiting another year. She wasn't keen on the idea of a puppy and a newborn at the same time (my son is 3 months old tomorrow). Wish she would've thought that through before I found the one I wanted lol.
Cass
"If you train a young dog for momentum, precision will arrive. If you train for precision, demanding perfection, momentum will depart." - Rex Carr

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