Rabbit housing safe from dogs

A dog-and-rabbit household needs housing that completely removes the rabbit from ground-level stress — even a well-behaved dog pacing nearby will spike a rabbit's cortisol and cause real harm over time. Before I get to that: most hutches sold in pet shops are far too small. Rabbits need room for at least three full hops, the ability to stand completely upright on their hind legs, and separate zones for sleeping and toileting. Cramped housing on the floor with a dog around is a welfare problem on two fronts. So — is your Smoke Pearl living indoors or outdoors, and what kind of space do you have available?

Good — outdoor on a patio with 2 metres of width gives you plenty to work with. Before I recommend the specific setup, can you tell me what breed and size of dog we're dealing with? A Labrador who can jump or prop themselves up is a very different problem from a Dachshund who can't reach. It affects how high the legs need to be and whether you also need a run situation.

A Cocker Spaniel at 60cm reach is manageable — you need a hutch where the floor sits above that, and ideally one with a solid base so there's no mesh the dog can nose against at rabbit-floor level. My clear recommendation is the Pets Imperial Savoy rabbit hutch. It comes with built-in legs that raise the living area to around 75–80cm from the ground, which puts it comfortably out of Cocker Spaniel reach. The hutch itself is 130cm wide — enough for your Smoke Pearl to do three proper hops — and it has a divided interior with a sleeping section and an open living area. The wood is pressure-treated and it has a heavy-duty felt roof for outdoor durability. It's available on Amazon UK, typically around £120–£140, and it's one of the few hutches at that price that actually meets minimum size guidelines rather than just looking like it does.

The hutch alone isn't enough for daily life — rabbits should have several hours of exercise time outside the hutch each day. The Savoy doesn't have an integrated run, so you'd want to pair it with a secure exercise pen on the patio. Because your dog is out there, I'd go for a metal pop-up rabbit pen rather than a fabric one — something like the Beaphar or Midwest options on Amazon UK. Keep it away from the hutch during exercise time so the dog can be inside, or use it while you're out there to supervise. The key thing is that her sleeping and hiding space — the Savoy — stays dog-free and elevated at all times, which this setup gives you.

Good plan. One last thing worth knowing: even with the hutch elevated, position it so the dog can't stand directly underneath it and stare up — that persistent presence is stressful for rabbits even without physical contact. Against a wall or in a corner of the patio is ideal. Your Smoke Pearl should settle in well once she has that secure, elevated space as her base.