# A slippery slope



## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

I am planning to bring home a dog from our rescue to "overnight," because I need to see if my rabbits are okay with a dog in the house and vice versa.
I have a feeling whoever comes home with me will not be going back to the rescue anytime soon... :heh:


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

Can't blame you! We got Bonnie just to test her out but the minute she walked in we knew she wasn't leaving!


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Hope your test works out for the best for you and the gunieas and rabbits and dog! I have one guniea right now and my dogs always want to see her! They go nose to nose with her haha! This is when I am holding the guniea pig. I dont though trust my labs with her haha! But then shes been her for a long time almost 5 years! We also have had a rabbit at one point. The dogs just didn't seem to get her though haha! I wish you very good luck! Should work out fine!!!!!:smile:


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

Well, that did not go well. "Wallaby," a BC/american eskimo mix, didn't even stay the night! We just got home from taking him back to the rescue because one of my rabbits [the one I thought would be fine with a dog] stopped moving completely. She was refusing to eat--which for a rabbit, on its own can turn deadly in a heartbeat, not to mention the presence of a predator adding stress. and Wallaby is NOT crate-trained. He cried and barked and wriggled for the entire time [nearly 3 hours] he was in his crate.

On the bright side, I still have hope that it can be done. When I was holding Wallaby, the girls were going about their business normally. When I put him down, he barked and whined and tried everything in his power to "get" them. 
So the presence of a dog doesn't necessarily make them crazy, It just depends on the dog, which is why from now on I'll be looking at older dogs, and dogs that are much more laid back. 

My rabbits' disapproval aside, Wallaby would not have been happy in our home. I am working--sometimes up to 15 hours a day. My boyfriend would be home to let him out, but did I mention he is a BC? He would need someone with a lot more time/energy than I have. I am moving in March/April and will be working a lot less, so now that I have a better idea of what kind of dog I am looking for [your input appreciated] I will just be keeping an eye out until then.


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## funshine (Jan 21, 2010)

SilverBeat said:


> When I put him down, he barked and whined and tried everything in his power to "get" them.
> So the presence of a dog doesn't necessarily make them crazy, It just depends on the dog, which is why from now on I'll be looking at older dogs, and dogs that are much more laid back.


I have no personal experience, but having a carnivore and pray freely roaming together doesn't sound like a good idea to me. No matter how old and laid back to the dog is, he's still "in the middle of moving buffet".

I've heard that dogs will recognize bunnies etc. as their pack members, but I'm not sure they really can avoid the temptation if all animals live freely in same area without separation and without supervision. Curiosity combined to instincts may take over even under supervision.

If the animals are kept separated that should work.


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## 3Musketeers (Nov 4, 2010)

funshine said:


> I have no personal experience, but having a carnivore and pray freely roaming together doesn't sound like a good idea to me. No matter how old and laid back to the dog is, he's still "in the middle of moving buffet".
> 
> I've heard that dogs will recognize bunnies etc. as their pack members, but I'm not sure they really can avoid the temptation if all animals live freely in same area without separation and without supervision. Curiosity combined to instincts may take over even under supervision.
> 
> If the animals are kept separated that should work.


I personally think it just depends on the dog. Some dogs have a higher prey-drive or are just waay more energetic and don't do well crated, so it could have been that the dog got excited form the bunny or maybe it just hated it's crate and panicked, or both.

I know my dogs wouldn't hurt a fly (maybe scare them to death, yes) and they were left several months once with a bunny, if anything the bunny was aggressive! I couldn't touch it. The 3-pansies were actually a little scared of the bunny.
But it waaas an unwanted rabbit from my neighbors which was more than likely caged and unsocialized it's whole life, till it got free roam of my yard.
Not much, just a bit of personal experience.


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

I didn't clarify but my rabbits were safely in their ex-pens and Wallaby was leashed while this was happening. 
This was pretty much just a test to see if the mere *presence* of a dog is enough to send my rabbits running, which it is not. They didn't even know he was there until he started wagging and whining, and clawing up my floors trying to get to them. 

The reason I felt I needed to test this is because Abbey, my newer rabbit, is so terrified of cats that even if she's inside and there's a cat the next yard over, she will flip out. But many rabbits are much more scared of cats than they are of dogs, and I needed to know if this was true for my lagomorphs.


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## _Trish (Jan 31, 2011)

You have to give it more than 3 hours. I have 3 rabbits and 4 dogs. My dogs were here first. Two of the rabbits were already adults 3+ years old when I acquired them and they had NEVER been around other animals before, the third rabbit I got as a young kit. My dogs wanted to eat the rabbits, for .. oh, I don't know a good 3 weeks.. a month? They got used to the rabbits being there and learned that they were off limits. The youngest rabbit, Sebastian, he plays with my dogs. My dog with the highest pray drive, Kirby - will kind of nibble Sebastian's ears and lick him, but he never breaks the skin or hurts him. I just use positive reinforcement, I reward the dogs for not going after the rabbits, by giving them little pieces of cheese, lunch meat, freeze dried liver, etc. Pretty soon they were ignoring the rabbits and realized it was just better to leave them alone. Now they all co-exist just fine. 

Dogs go through a transition period, and it takes a LOT more than 3 hours, it can take months before a dog settles in, depending on the dog.


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

Belle, the blind collie mix, was adopted earlier this week.
Wallaby is still at the rescue; Yesterday I was not feeling well and I took him out for a long walk. He must've known I didn't feel good because he was not his crazy bouncy self. He was very calm and great on the leash, and kept stopping, coming back to me and looking up at me. 
I really want to bring this guy home but I have just moved from the house I rent back to my mom's because I broke up with my boyfriend of 1.5 years. 
My mom thinks I have way too many pets already and that a dog would just "add to my burden." I tried explaining to her that a dog is different from a rabbit or a guinea pig, but she is still firmly against the idea... for now.
I've been out of the house for almost three years now and my mom has become pretty set in her ways, so I really don't want to push anything. 

Wallaby has been on two other overnights, and was returned both times because he is excited/crazy, bouncy, jumpy, and doesn't know proper house etiquette [hint: don't climb up on top of the hutch in the dining room and take a nap]. 

Here he is. We have another Wally who was here first, so at the rescue he is referred to as Black Wally, Wally II, Wallaby. He is listed as a lab mix, though he's never retrieved anything I've thrown... I think he is a BC mix. Your thoughts?
Petfinder Adoptable Dog | Labrador Retriever | Manlius, NY | Wally


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

I would definitely guess a BC mix of sorts! And definitely wouldn't recommend one for someone who has small animals to be herded with tons of energy while you have to work (yes, i know you'd be keeping them carefully separated but I just feel it wouldn't be the best situation for Mr. Wallaby. 

I'd still recommend smaller breeds with less of a prey drive like shih tzu, lhasa apso, frenchies, etc.


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

Prior to joining DFC, I mainly spent my forum-time on the Guinea Pig Cages board, where they have more rules than members. One of their biggest rules is do not start multiple threads about the same topic. So that's why I keep posting to this thread, because in my mind it is a thread about my ongoing search for a dog.

Rannmiller, at first I didn't know what to think of your reply. Wallaby may be a little high-energy [okay, a LOT high-energy] but for the most part he listens to me. At least better than he does to any volunteer I've seen handling him. And I really wanted to make my situation work for him, because he deserves a good home.
But then I got to thinking, he really DOES deserve a good home. And my home isn't it. Neither is my personality well-suited to him. While I am attracted to the idea of agility, flyball, and hour-long jogs in the park, I probably won't ever get into it. And while I would be able to pay for and find a trainer that I actually liked, Wallaby needs a lot of training. And then some more. He also needs someone who has a constant nurturing vibe, because he is extremely "needy." While that can be me--when people need me, I can dote on them like nobody's business--I don't think I could do that 24/7. So for now I will do my best to make sure that Wallaby's potential adopters know all of his needs [or as some would see it, "cons"], along with the amazing pros that come with living and working with him--like when you are so exhausted that all you want to do is flop down on the floor like a fish, and he comes over to you and puts his head right in your hand like he's saying "it's okay to relax."

Also I want to update about my living situation. My guinea pigs are all in cages with secure lids. My rabbits live in a room in the cellar called "the bunny room," where no dog would have access to them unless leashed. My pigs live in our dining room and my bedroom has a tall babygate on it to keep my mother's daycare kids at bay. The daycare is on the ground floor of our home, while my mom, the pigs and I all live on the second floor. 
The dog would either be crated [if destructive] or closed in my room while I was away. I probably won't be working more than 6-8 hours a day and certainly not every day. I need to have surgery on my ankle soon so I am trying to take it easy on the working, since I just spent the last 6 months working 60-80 hours a week, some days up to 16-18 hours.
Also, I've found another dog, who seems better suited to my lifestyle. He is "Squire" Fritz, a name I have always loved--ever since I read "Fritz and the Beautiful Horses" as a little girl. I have requested an application for him, because he seems way too perfect to be true.
Petfinder Adoptable Dog | Dalmatian | Cortland, NY | Squire Fritz
He is a deaf Dalmatian/lab mix and I am told, amazingly, that he does not have "dalmatian energy" and is happy with one or two short walks a day. I could and would certainly provide him with more than that but it's good to know that he doesn't NEED to run for hours on end every day in order to be civil.


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

The crow is mine to eat; I think I was wrong about Wallaby. I have been working with him at the rescue doing basic obedience training and his "craziness" is practically gone. He still has the same personality but he is more calm in the crate and on the leash. I think he definitely has some working dog in him because he has an immense desire to do a job, to please people. 
I can actually control him very well now, and I'd feel much more confident bringing him into the same room as the bunnies [caged, of course.]
My home setup has changed a bit and four of my guinea pigs have been adopted... I am allergic to them. I have been for a while but it wasn't a problem because they had their own room. 
My guinea pigs are now all in covered cages and my rabbits in large pens in our basement. 

He is such a stark contrast from the wild pup he was when he came into the rescue, I feel like I've tamed a lion. I also feel like I have bonded with him... two days ago a couple was looking to adopt him and I felt my heart sink. Even though he's been my favorite for a while, I used to be genuinely excited when I heard he'd gone on an overnight or had an application on him, but this time I felt like I'd missed out on a wonderful opportunity.

Their application ended up getting declined and I filled out an app for him today.

We did go to meet Fritz the dalmatian. He is wonderful but the shedding is too much for me, I'm very sensitive to it. Also I would worry with his deafness, him being around my mom's day care children.


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