A common question that a lot of beagle owners wonder is: can beagles get along with rabbits at all? And it’s a perfectly fair question, beagles of course were bred to hunt small rabbits and hares, so there’s some at least instinctual concern to be had.
In this article, I’m going to break down exactly how well pet beagles and rabbits tend to get along, and what precautions you can take to ensure that both of your furry friends lead a peaceful life together in your home.
How Do Beagles Get Along With Rabbits?
Some people may be a bit more cynical with the idea that beagles could get along with rabbits, due to beagles being predators and rabbits being prey. After all, all dogs descend from wolves that traditionally hunt rabbits and other small herbivores like them. There’s been a long history of humans training beagles to hunt down rabbits since the 1800s. Beagles are highly acclaimed acclaimed for their strong sense of smell, high amounts of energy, and determination to keep up with their prey. But all of this doesn’t mean that a symbiotic relationship with pet rabbits is impossible.
If your personal beagle isn’t used for hunting regularly, you’ll be in a much better position for it to exist in solidarity with your pet bunny too. A lot of early training from a young age can help teach your beagle to be playful with your rabbit, and in some cases even protective of its housemate.
If you don’t want your beagle constantly harassing your pet rabbit, it’s vital to properly train and gradually socialize them together. Once your beagle takes notice and curiosity around your rabbit, you should praise and encourage all of their careful and gentle behaviors by giving treats and encouraging them by saying “good dog!”.
This positive reinforcement allows the beagle to associate praise and treats with remaining calm around the rabbits. It will also help remind them that the rabbit is not a threat to the house, and is part of their pack that they will stride to exist with peacefully and even protect.
It’s important to establish these associations in a neutral area of your house, where the beagle nor the rabbit won’t have any preexisting concept of territory. If you try to introduce your rabbit to your beagle in a place where the beagle tends to hang out, it could be seen as an act of aggression, which could result in barking, growling, and even physical altercation between the two animals.
You should start making these associations slowly, and always keep your beagle on a leash just in case things go haywire while the two are getting to know each other. If you’re unsure of how your beagle will first interact with your rabbit, always be sure to keep them supervised and never leave the two alone in a room together.
I recommend starting out by bringing both of their cages to the neutral area, and putting them back into their cages abruptly if your beagle gets too aggressive, so that they know they aren’t supposed to be displaying this kind of behavior when around your rabbit.
Once you’ve established a safe relationship for the two animals, you can be amazed at how much care your beagle will provide for your rabbit when it views it as just another member of the family pack.
How to Keep Your Rabbit Safe From Your Beagle?
Even if your beagle is fully trained and friendly with your rabbit, you’ll still want to have some sense of caution when letting the two interact together, and I wouldn’t recommend leaving them out of their cages or crates unsupervised ever.
Naturally, beagles still have their bred instincts and you can never be sure that they won’t ever act on them. If the rabbit makes any sudden movements or encroaches on your beagle’s territory, this could be taken as a threat, which will could really heighten tensions between the two and even lead to a fight, which we all know your beagle would likely win.
You also want to mitigate the amount of stress that your rabbit goes through. After all, this animal is prey in the wild, and they have their own set of instincts to be fearful of dogs. If they’re constantly in a state of fear, all of that stress can lead to some serious emotional and physical problems down the road.
Always be sure to have their respective cages near by, in case you need to crate one or the other, or even both in certain situations. If your beagle is misbehaving and won’t stop barking or trying to get into your rabbits cage, you may need to keep them completely separate in your household to save your rabbit from all of that extra stress and torment.
Additionally, the outdoor environment that you consider for both of your pets is just as important for the indoor. Your beagle is going to need some wide open spaces to run around in, and your rabbit is going to need some time outside in the sun and in the grass as well. These two can still perfectly get along when outside together, but depending on your training, outdoor time may require even more thorough supervision so that your beagle doesn’t bother your rabbit too much.
My beagle and rabbit got along just fine in the house when I had both of them, but for whatever reason outside was a completely different story. I personally ended up giving each pet their outdoor time in shifts, but I’m confident that with the right training and association at an early age, there’s a real possibility that beagles and rabbits can be backyard buddies.
You can check out some extra professional opinions by the AKC for more insight.
Still not convinced? You can check out this video and others like it of beagles and rabbits getting along perfectly below!
Mistakes to Avoid Regarding Rabbits and Beagles
There are quite a few mistakes that you’ll want to look out for regarding owning rabbits and beagles.
When training your dog to behave appropriately around rabbits, you should spend the majority of your time on positive reinforcement, over negative reinforcement.
Beagles can be extremely friendly pets, and they take much better to rewards and praise in a happy nature. And if you give them this praise when introducing them to a rabbit, they’ll see the rabbit less so as prey, and more so as a family member that they need to get along with to keep the peace within the entire house.
During these early training days, you should try to conduct training both inside and outside, so that your beagle doesn’t get too fixated on one domain or the other, and doesn’t get super territorial if the rabbit enters either of them by surprise.
It’s a good idea to avoid training your beagle to act aggressively toward strangers and strange dogs (such as in a guard dog scenario) if you know they’ll need to coexist with prey like animals as well. Keeping your beagle docile and happy is vital to maintaining this symbiotic relationship between the two as well.
Final Thoughts
The image of a beagle and rabbit curling up together is incredibly appealing and cute. An adorable, floppy eared beagle playing with a curious, cotton tailed bunny warms the heart of those that love both. While some people completely advise against this by stating beagle and other hunting dogs will only attack rabbits that live in same house hold and vice versa, you absolutely should give it a try with obedience training and positive association from an early age.
Remaining patient during the training phases of this relationship is the most important thing you can do in order to ensure that your beagle understands your role in the house, and comes to respect the furry friends that you keep under your roof.
Do you have any stories of beagles and rabbits getting along together? Drop them below in the comments!