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22 Posts
Hello! :wavey:
First I'll start with a little background, since this is my first post.
My boyfriend (of 3 yrs) and I will be picking up our 8-week old Golden Retriever puppy in two weeks. We'll both be attending engineering graduate school (getting paid a hefty annual stipend to do so, comparable to entry-level-degreed-job), starting in the fall. Because of this, we're financially stable and prepared for the monetary responsibilities that come with a pup. We decided that our first year of graduate school would be the optimal time to get our new little guy because our uni starts us at 9 credit hours (3 classes) a week - research is gradually introduced in the second year - leaving ample scheduling flexibility and time for us to be home with our puppy. Since we're getting him in the summer, when we have even more time off, we'll be able to train him before we have to leave him for spaced-out 1-4 hour, max, intervals in the fall - when he'll be older and better able to handle longer periods in the crate - although, usually someone will always be home. We use our second bedroom as an office, so we'll be doing most of our work from home and can play with our pup. We figured this was better than if we were working 40-hour week, FT jobs - he'll get abundant attention in the puppy years.
We're currently living in a spacious 2-bedroom, dog-friendly apartment - with direct stair access to the outside, and a deck. The place is great - they even provide us with poopy bags - and there are dogs everywhere! There are a bunch of nature trails on property, a creek for playtime, and we live close to my parents (yard for zoomies!) and a beach (for more water fun). We're very active, and we'll be taking him on longgggg walks and hikes once he's older and equipped to handle them. We're also aware that, since we DO live in a dog-heavy apartment without our own yard, we'll have to indoor pee-pad train him (to avoid Parvo) and transition to outdoor potty training once he's fully vaccinated and the vet clears us. Of course, we'll be carrying him everywhere to start with some socializing.
Basically, we've done our research and think we're pretty well-prepared.
The one area that we're less read-up on is bunny/puppy introductions.
We have a 1.5 year old, spunky dwarf rabbit. He typically stays in his cage throughout the day, and comes out to play for 1.5-2 hours at the end of every evening. (He likes to lounge and nap during the day, so even if we leave the cage open, he just ends up lounging around.) He's refined to our bedroom - door open when in the cage, door closed when he's romping. He lived with me in a relatively rowdy college-apartment setting before I ditched the party-hardy roommates (not my scene) and we got our own place, so he's used to loud/atypical settings. Also, when I stayed with my parents for a few weeks, he got along relatively well with their two cats. Never out of the cage, mind you, but not scared and often sniffing each other through the wire without aggression/fear. However, I'm not sure how he'd handle a new dog - as they're drastically bigger than cats. We're really not looking to have them romp together (seems risky), but get along well enough so that the bunny doesn't panic if we leave the door open and the dog sniffs him through the cage.
Looking online, there are some guides for introducing bunnies to dogs - but most of them address older dogs, who have completed obedience training. Does anyone have experience bonding a bunny with a new GR puppy?
We know the socialization period between 8-12 weeks could be critical for exposing the puppy to the bunny, and accepting him in the pack. But we're wondering how the bunny might take his puppy rambunctiousness. Bunnies can get sick from stress easily, so we're looking for some good puppy-bunny gradual intro tips from people with firsthand experience!
Also, any other general tips/anecdotal advice for the new puppy weeks in general are welcome too!
First I'll start with a little background, since this is my first post.
My boyfriend (of 3 yrs) and I will be picking up our 8-week old Golden Retriever puppy in two weeks. We'll both be attending engineering graduate school (getting paid a hefty annual stipend to do so, comparable to entry-level-degreed-job), starting in the fall. Because of this, we're financially stable and prepared for the monetary responsibilities that come with a pup. We decided that our first year of graduate school would be the optimal time to get our new little guy because our uni starts us at 9 credit hours (3 classes) a week - research is gradually introduced in the second year - leaving ample scheduling flexibility and time for us to be home with our puppy. Since we're getting him in the summer, when we have even more time off, we'll be able to train him before we have to leave him for spaced-out 1-4 hour, max, intervals in the fall - when he'll be older and better able to handle longer periods in the crate - although, usually someone will always be home. We use our second bedroom as an office, so we'll be doing most of our work from home and can play with our pup. We figured this was better than if we were working 40-hour week, FT jobs - he'll get abundant attention in the puppy years.
We're currently living in a spacious 2-bedroom, dog-friendly apartment - with direct stair access to the outside, and a deck. The place is great - they even provide us with poopy bags - and there are dogs everywhere! There are a bunch of nature trails on property, a creek for playtime, and we live close to my parents (yard for zoomies!) and a beach (for more water fun). We're very active, and we'll be taking him on longgggg walks and hikes once he's older and equipped to handle them. We're also aware that, since we DO live in a dog-heavy apartment without our own yard, we'll have to indoor pee-pad train him (to avoid Parvo) and transition to outdoor potty training once he's fully vaccinated and the vet clears us. Of course, we'll be carrying him everywhere to start with some socializing.
Basically, we've done our research and think we're pretty well-prepared.
The one area that we're less read-up on is bunny/puppy introductions.
We have a 1.5 year old, spunky dwarf rabbit. He typically stays in his cage throughout the day, and comes out to play for 1.5-2 hours at the end of every evening. (He likes to lounge and nap during the day, so even if we leave the cage open, he just ends up lounging around.) He's refined to our bedroom - door open when in the cage, door closed when he's romping. He lived with me in a relatively rowdy college-apartment setting before I ditched the party-hardy roommates (not my scene) and we got our own place, so he's used to loud/atypical settings. Also, when I stayed with my parents for a few weeks, he got along relatively well with their two cats. Never out of the cage, mind you, but not scared and often sniffing each other through the wire without aggression/fear. However, I'm not sure how he'd handle a new dog - as they're drastically bigger than cats. We're really not looking to have them romp together (seems risky), but get along well enough so that the bunny doesn't panic if we leave the door open and the dog sniffs him through the cage.
Looking online, there are some guides for introducing bunnies to dogs - but most of them address older dogs, who have completed obedience training. Does anyone have experience bonding a bunny with a new GR puppy?
We know the socialization period between 8-12 weeks could be critical for exposing the puppy to the bunny, and accepting him in the pack. But we're wondering how the bunny might take his puppy rambunctiousness. Bunnies can get sick from stress easily, so we're looking for some good puppy-bunny gradual intro tips from people with firsthand experience!
Also, any other general tips/anecdotal advice for the new puppy weeks in general are welcome too!
