Yorkipoo & housebunnies....is there a chance?

[Obie]

On Thurs. I brought home a yorkipoo mix from our local animal shelter. He was a stray so zero on his background except that he's approx. 1 y/o. He was just neutered the day before I picked him up and he had already met my dogs hence the adoption. He has zero interest in my dogs since he's been here but that is understandable since he's been thru quite a bit of change in the last week.

Do I have ANY chance of making it work with him and the housebunnies? He listens when I say "leave them" but his body language is something that I've not encountered. I have all the patience in the world but if it is going to be impossible I need to not get too attached to him as my bunnies have been here for years.

Thanks for any advice.

[flyndog]

Well, you know Yorkshire Terriers were developed to kill rats? They love to kill anything that moves quickly...rats, butterflies, birds, pieces of grass, leaves, motorcycles, bunnies... The behavior is just hardwired. You might train him to leave bunnies alone, but it could be a long, slow process. Bunnies only live a few years. A Yorkiepoo could live 15. Decide who you want devote your time and care to.

[JackLover]

It depends on the dog, JRT's are bred to kill rats too look at my boy's

[calgal]

You must give yourself and the puppy time to adjust to each other. He is after all a Terrier, and will go after anything that moves, for play and socializing. Just distract him if he gets too roudy with the bunnies. Don't punish him. Don't hold your love back from this precious baby! He needs to be loved and made to feel he finally has a loving family and a stable home. If you can't give him that then you should really consider finding him a home you know that would give him what he needs.

[Barrett]

If you try and they just can't get along you could simply keep them seperate. I have two dachshunds, two cats, and a chinchilla. The chinchilla has never seen the dogs or cats. I won't even try to let them get along. My Chinchilla has his own bedroom. The bedroom is completely chin proofed with only his cage and jungle gym inside. We let him out every night to run and play and climb on his jungle gym. He gets plenty of exercise and we take turns lying on the floor in there and letting him crawl all over us and sit on our heads. I would be too scared to give him full run of the house anyway. I would always worry about him chewing wires or getting stuck somewhere. It is much easier to chin proof one room than the whole house. These little guys can get into the tiniest spaces!

[Obie]

Thanks so much for your posts. Obie is a sweet dog and is working very hard to try to live with the bunnies. My other dogs are wonderful examples for him.

JackLover, thanks so much for that picture! It gives me hope!

[JackLover]

good luck I hope all goes well, my bun does get fed up with Barney licking his ears, LOL then Barney sneezes because of Shawns fur.

[theGOOCH]

I don't know about the bunnies, but my family had a yorkipoo when I was a kid and she was a great dog. She lived 16 years too!

[flyndog]

Jack, what a great picture!

[scarlett]

yorkiepoos are great----I had one again ( from a shelter) but he was a one person dog......he would NOT let my husband even get in the bed......al 9 pounds of him so you will have to wait and see....

[Crys]

It's so funny that you say that about your yorkipoo, mine does the same thing with my husband, he loves me!