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Comment by Julia on February 28, 2013 at 9:17pm

I'm glad Gregory's doing better. Bunnies are tricky animals, healthwise. It sounds like JJ is fine with the bunny, but the real question is how Greg is taking it. He may not be quite ready for having a puppy bark at his hutch, even if it is an invitation to play. That should be the rabbit's safe spot, and the dog is invading that feeling of safety with his barking. Gregory needs to be able to get completely away if he needs to. I would separate them when you're not around, by crating the pup and/or closing the door to the room where the hutch is. Closing that door might be good even if you are home, if Greg is in his hutch. If JJ is barking cuz he wants to play, but they usually leave each other alone, Greg is probably not quite ready for these invitations. But if they do run around together, they'll get to be friends. Just move slowly, and allow Gregory to get a break from that crazy puppy.

Comment by Krista J Curtiss on February 26, 2013 at 6:25pm

Neither of them have full run of the house. Gregory has his hutch that he stays in when we aren't at home or when we can't keep an eye on him... he likes to chew on things he shouldn't. The pup runs around in the living room when we are home and occasionally they run around together. JJ does bark at Gregory at times when he is in his hutch because he wants to play, I know it's friendly because his little nub of a tail is always wagging and he is bouncing around while he barks. When they are out together they usually leave one another alone, but after Greg giving us that scare (he's doing much better BTW) I just want to make sure we're doing what we can to make him comfortable.

Comment by Julia on February 25, 2013 at 10:57pm

I'm sorry to hear about Gregory. Rabbits are, indeed, sensitive creatures, and you're right to act quickly with them. I don't know why his temperature would be raised, but you're covering that as well.

I see you haven't had the puppy long. (BTW: Congrats!) Does the rabbit have free run of the house? Does the pup? I counsel people bringing home a new bunny to keep it in a separate room from dogs and cats at first, but in your case the bunny was there first. If the rabbit does have run of the house, you may want to curtail that, and keep him in an area where the puppy can't go. Wait until the rabbit is calm again. Maybe he'll get used to the presence of the dog outside the door, and you can move on to another step, such as letting the dog in the rabbit's room while Gregory is in his cage up high, out of puppy's reach.

I've never actually done this, but one thing I know for sure about animal introductions. Go slow. If things go badly it's much harder to fix it than to go slowly in the first place.

Another thing: my own sweet corgi catches and eats wild rabbits. Right now I assume Gregory is bigger than the dog, and it hasn't even occurred to the pup that rabbits could be prey. So as he grows, watch their relationship, watch the corgi's prey drive develop just in case you need to intervene someday.

Good luck.