Doggie Easter Eggs! (a.k.a. Rabbit Poo)

Here’s a silly story about two dogs who organized their own Easter Egg Hunt… complete with real-life bunnies and chocolate Easter eggs hidden in the grass.

(In other words… how two dogs terrorized — but didn’t hurt — a family of rabbits in our backyard and munched on rabbit poo for a week!)

Easter Sunday was this past weekend, right?

No?

Well, the fact of the matter is, my dogs chose to celebrate Easter a bit early this year — complete with their very own Easter Egg Hunt last Sunday morning! (Don’t miss the links to dog-safe chocolates at the end of this article.)

It all started when both dogs went on “full alert” the first time I’d let them out in our (fenced-in) backyard that day.

Turns out, they were onto a scent that was more powerful than the yummy Bil-Jac treats I was using to divert their attention. It was even stronger than their urge to try out some new toys I’d just purchased the night before for backyard play.

Yes, the hunt was on…
Not only were the dogs picking up the scent of rabbits (a family of bunnies who decided to call our backyard Home overnight), but they also caught wind of the scent of all the tiny little presents they had left behind — rabbit pellets by the thousands!

Overnight, the lawn had been blanketed with tiny little hidden treasures, and I quickly realized that this had turned into a doggie Easter Egg Hunt! (…they do look like chocolates.)

Hunting For Easter Eggs

The dogs were sniffing in all corners, through tall blades of grass, under the fence, in the garden… you get the idea. There was no stopping them on their hunt for the Great White Easter Bunny!

Eventually, one rabbit got spooked and scampered out from his hiding place.

He dashed across the yard like… well, quick like a bunny! Only he found himself now trapped in the yard — with two dogs — by this 6-foot fence. (Turns out, there were only a select few places in which the bunnies could actually fit under the fence and make their escape.)

Of the two dogs, 4-month-old Tenor (Black Lab/Great Pyrenees) was the only one who saw the whole thing go down. And to tell you the truth, he wasn’t quite sure WHAT he should do next!

He looked at me. I looked at him. I know, I know. For a Lab, this is quite unusual behavior. But he’s young. (Oh, and did I mention that he doesn’t like water either?… as in swimming!?) Geesh…

Mimicking the bunny who was now dashing from corner to corner of our fence, Tenor started hopping through the grass toward the rabbit. He appeared quite tentative, yet eager to get to know his new-found friend. (I’m fairly certain that a 4-month-old pup doesn’t have that killer instinct yet when it comes to live prey. At least this pup didn’t.)

Thankfully, 3-year-old Destin didn’t see a thing, or he’d have chased and then killed the prey in a heartbeat… Cute rabbit ears or no cute rabbit ears!

Eventually, the bunny squeezed through a small opening under the fence and got away.

What’s A Dog To Do?

Tenor resorted to tracking down the “presents” the bunny left behind instead. Mmmmm tasty!

He started munching every little brown morsel he came across. Then, Destin saw someone had a snack, and he wasn’t offered any, so he got in on the action too.

So now I’ve got two dogs grazing on rabbit poo… lovely.

Again, my attempts to dissuade them with their favorite dog treats, and even new toys didn’t work. They were enjoying their Easter Egg Hunt, and there was no stopping them!

The challenge of the hunt was increased by the fact that we hadn’t yet mowed the lawn this Spring. And parts of the yard were starting to get quite thick and bushy — perfect for hiding Easter eggs (ahem, rabbit poo).

This actually went on for days. Turns out, a bunny’s scent is not easily removed from a backyard. Nor, are its “presents”.

Since the rabbit pellets themselves — while obviously quite tasty — are not an ideal snack for a dog, the next day I attempted to play along with their Hunt by diverting their attention away from the tiny brown “eggs” and onto some REAL Easter eggs.

To make the hunt easier for the dogs, I placed brightly colored Easter eggs (filled with tasty dog treats, of course) in the tall grass in our backyard.

This game was not fun for the dogs.

It’s obviously much more fun to search for a needle in the haystack than to hunt for an eyesore amongst the hay. Dog treat or no dog treat, they wanted to order off the menu. And the only thing on the menu at this point: Rabbit poo!

I offered this:

But they wanted this:  Such is the story of my dogs enjoying their first Easter Egg Hunt.

And, The Point Is…

The moral of the story?… If you happen to have bunnies in your area,
you might want to think about what you would do if:

a) your fenced-in backyard became inhabited by bunny rabbits;

or

b) you had a yard full of rabbit poo that was unhealthy for your dogs to eat.

I immediately called the vet for their guidance, and they advised me NOT to let the dogs eat the rabbit pellets. The primary reason: it could result in tapeworms, which would require treatment. Yuk.

It is during my attempt to pick up (yes, pick up!) the multitude of rabbit pellets in our yard that I staged the above photo with colored Easter eggs. Because, other than physically removing the rabbit pellets myself, I’m not quite sure how to prevent two active dogs with good sniffers from finding the rabbit poo and eating it — day in and day out.

Perhaps I should just let them eat it, then treat for tapeworms afterwards? I must say, it sounds easier at this point.

The Humor Of It All

In addition to the helpful backyard bunny tips, hopefully, you’ve managed to see some humor in all this.

Here are some other dog-related Easter things that many would consider humorous:

• My dogs are obviously not alone when it comes to celebrating Easter and going on Easter Egg Hunts! Here’s a multi-picture slideshow of puppies participating in an Easter Egg Hunt for dogs.
• Now, if my dogs were girly dogs, perhaps I’d have purchased this lovely little get-up for them. (Not.) Or, maybe even this fashionable Spring Easter bunny ears for dogs!

Dog-Safe Chocolates

Here are some chocolates your dogs can actually eat:

• A Chocolate Easter Egg For Dogs

• Nylabone Chocolate Flavored Dog Bone

And, here’s what to do when your dog eats a chocolate Easter egg… or any other chocolates found in Easter baskets.