Dogs eating rabbits

I thought I'd reach out here as I've been smacking over a lot of rabbits lately, and the dog enjoys coming along side me and will happily retrieve them. He normally just rips in to there guts but the other day he ate a whole one (not in one mouthful), it was pretty small but it made me wonder, other than staying on top of worming and fleas is there anything else I should look out for with rabbits? The rabbits at my in laws all seem to be pretty clean and healthy so he normally gets a whole rabbit to each each time. Or is it better to take certain parts off before giving him the rabbit to eat.

How do you guys go about it? Butcher first? or just give them the whole thing.

I always take a rabbit for the farmer's dog. The beast of an animal swallows it whole more or less like a crocodile and it's not dead yet.

My neighbour gives his mutts whole ones, they seem to be ok


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Old man & uncle were well known working dog breeders & trainers & the dogs basically lived off rabbit & wallaby ,both raw & they would cook up a "Dog Rabbit/Roo Stew" full of vegies & cereals they got twice a week with boned out rear Qtrs of rabbit to flavor it so the dogs ate it all. The old mans dogs were renowned for how solid & healthy & long lived they were & their coats were always shining

l have always fed mine the same ,the missus uses any of the veggie plot/larder stuff that is getting long in the tooth (so carrot,pea,beans etc )& cooks up 10ltr pot of it & freeze in meal size portions for our 4 mutts , simply reuse the grocery store veggy bags & half fill ,take out of freezer & place in hot water in sink & then pour out in doggy portions ,all simple no mess at all, dogs like the taste of rabbit so much they eat all the rabbit flavored veggies & cereals as well, although down here they get the off cuts of our home kills not the Wallaby, & have never fed them any canned shit. Around half a bag feeds all 4 when poured over a cup of working dog dry food.

If I ever got another dog or cat after the stupid, obese moggy that shares our homes dies, it's diet will be 100% wild meat/fish. The crap they sell in the supermarket is animal junk food.

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Originally Posted by bunji

Old man & uncle were well known working dog breeders & trainers & the dogs basically lived off rabbit & wallaby ,both raw & they would cook up a "Dog Rabbit/Roo Stew" full of vegies & cereals they got twice a week with boned out rear Qtrs of rabbit to flavor it so the dogs ate it all. The old mans dogs were renowned for how solid & healthy & long lived they were & their coats were always shining

l have always fed mine the same ,the missus uses any of the veggie plot/larder stuff that is getting long in the tooth (so carrot,pea,beans etc )& cooks up 10ltr pot of it & freeze in meal size portions for our 4 mutts , simply reuse the grocery store veggy bags & half fill ,take out of freezer & place in hot water in sink & then pour out in doggy portions ,all simple no mess at all, dogs like the taste of rabbit so much they eat all the rabbit flavored veggies & cereals as well, although down here they get the off cuts of our home kills not the Wallaby, & have never fed them any canned shit. Around half a bag feeds all 4 when poured over a cup of working dog dry food.

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That's a good sounding recipe, almost had me salivating! I'll have to try this on him thanks

It is best to vary there diet a bit, just rabbit all the time isn't the best. Add a few hares or possum and there will be no problem. Possum is probably the best as its more of a red meat and oily so they do well on it.

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Originally Posted by MB

I always take a rabbit for the farmer's dog. The beast of an animal swallows it whole more or less like a crocodile and it's not dead yet.

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Yeah…. Our one Rottweiler used to do that. He was a big dog, even for a Rottweiller, over 60kg in peak form. We would go rough shooting with 20ga and 410s and this dog would hoon after wounded rabbits and catch them. Grab rabbit, shake it, couple of positioning manoeuvres then gulp gulp gone. He loved it and we thought it was funny. Certainly didn’t seem to do him any harm and he was always in very fine condition.

Then one day he damn nearly came a cropper when he got one stuck in his throat. Started making that god awful retching noise and heaving his entire body violently, so I grabbed his collar, stood over his shoulders with his spine pressed up into my bollocks, pulled his head sharply back by the upper jaw and stuffed my right hand into his throat in the hope I could grab a leg. Was a bit touch and go and my hand got a bit mangled, but I managed to pull the rabbit out.

After that he wasn’t so keen on gulping bunnies, and would drop them on command. Good dog.

My Staffies regularly eat rabbits and hares with great glee. Usual method is each dog grabs an end each, then a violent tug or war until the rabbit is pulled apart. If the male eats the guts, its a safe bet he will vomit it up on the carpet about an hour later, so that is banned. His sister disregards the guts and concentrates on eating the head.

After the Rottweiller nearly choked to death all those years ago I’ve always been very careful to stay around the dogs while they scoff rabbits - the little bitch has choked a couple of times but luckily dealt with it herself. (Her party trick is catching rats in the flaxes, and gulping them down whole.)

Nothing wrong with dogs eating rabbits, but I never let any of my dogs eat stuff I shot since I couldn't check the critters didn't have any nasties. Always let them have a chew on them though. Plus I couldn't handle the stinky farts and the chunder pile on the carpet. I taught my mutts not to eat anything they found, as if they are a little way away from you and come across something dodgy, I didn't want them eating a poisoned critter. Ironically I would buy possy yum for them with possum in it :)

We have a rabbit problem here mostly around our hill paddocks near the house at the moment. I counted 12 last night while heading up the driveway. Our dog will often head out and catch her own dinner and we find the skin on the lawn the next day. Saves a lot in dog food haha. No issues with her but we have fairly good worm plan in place. We have had the odd slow rabbit and if she kills it she won’t eat it like she knows somethings not right with it, maybe natural instinct?

my last dog loved rabbit, chomp chomp swallow

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Originally Posted by Pest

That's a good sounding recipe, almost had me salivating! I'll have to try this on him thanks

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@Pest Yeh it is quick & easy & very good for them ,people always rave about even our farm dog coats & muscle condition ,the daughter is a Vet & recommends it to her clients , you do not have to worry about peeling veg's etc as a lot of the nutrients are in the skins & it gives a solid texture for them to bite in to & just roughly chop in to decent bite size pieces ,we add a couple of cups of brown rice as it is very good for their intestines .I just quickly bone out 4-6 rabbit back quarters & cut into good solid bite size bits & it all goes into the slow cooker for a few hours while you do other shit, literally set & forget .

I always make sure my Visla & Lab have this before heading off for a hunt as it keeps them going & full of energy, also really good when poured over dried food if the numb nuts are prone to leaving a handful in the bowl each time to attract flies & piss you off,the "gravy" from it soaks into the dried food & they snaffle up every last bit. They go crazy every time they see the bags come out of the freezer & it keeps everything from getting messy .:thumbsup:

Have shot 61 rabbits in 3 months on/around our 1/4 acre and feed them to the dog(45+kg) black lab he gets 100gram possyum morning and night with rabbit pieces best condition ive ever seen him in no issues

My malamutes used to prefer their rabbits whole, and preferably still running when they got them. The only "bad" bit was pulling the half-digested skin out of their arses the next day. Just wormed them with Drontal All-wormer every 3 months or so. But they also got a fair bit of roo sometimes as a stew, with vege's , rice bran, egg yolks, and beef and roo ribs, for their teeth. Beef shins halved lengthwise through the bandsaw, so they could suck all the marrow off them were a special treat and they'd chew them for hours. Maybe you can tell I was quite fond of my dogs.

Cheers for the replies lads all sounds good! Think I'll mix in some rabbit stew into the boys diet he gets dry food and possyum too so this should make a good balance! I recently learnt they used to give dogs rabbit ears as a natural deworming agent aparently the fur helps with worms too. I'll keep up with the tablets still though.

When I've been able to get onto a few rabbits and the dog has been with me I would give her the liver and kidneys as quick as I could get them out. She likes that little treat. She's been given the meat in portions.

I wouldn't feed a dog cooked rabbit bones just in case it splinters and causes some nasty choking or internal problems. Raw is safer bone-wise.

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Originally Posted by CBH Australia

When I've been able to get onto a few rabbits and the dog has been with me I would give her the liver and kidneys as quick as I could get them out. She likes that little treat. She's been given the meat in portions.

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The liver and kidneys are valuable treats. If i had a dog id probably not share the liver and kidneys because Im greedy and I want them (well, maybe sometimes). :) Best part of the rabbit in my opinion.