many dogs will chase wild rabbits but not domestic ones--because they smell different. most dogs are quite confused by domestic rabbits, as are cats.
now, how are rabbits a lot of hard work?
people outlined a lot about their special care needs (vet care, etc) and the general process of their personalities as prey animals. but, i'll touch on a few others.
first, my own opinion of their care means letting them be free roamers. most people let their cats and dogs be free roamers, and IMO, rabbits shouldn't be treated differently. in various intellegence tests, rabbits actually "score" higher than most breeds of dogs and cats. they are highly intellegent creatures. keeping them in a cage is essentially keeping a vibrant, adaptive, highly intellegent being in prison. (i also disagree with birds being caged as a matter of course. i believe in a cage being a 'rest spot' for a rabbit or bird--as in their own "room" where they can be safe, but i feel that these rooms should have an open door policy at all times, so that the rabbit/bird can get in or out at will).
Keeping a rabbit as a free roamer developes that rabbit's intellegence and personality. people say that my October J was the most extraordinary rabbit they've met--and that's even coming from rabbit experts such as vets and house rabbit society types as well as other rabbit companions such as myself. the free roamer developes a strong sense of self and place and then asserts this in the outter world (whether in it's own home or out).
but having a free roamer also has pitfalls. Rabbits have very vibrant personalities, and some perosnalities and behaviors can be destructive to the human lifestyle. Some are diggers and will dig up and rip apart your carpets--this is why we ultimately went with laminate floors in our home. all rabbits are chewers, and some are mega-chewers and will chew furniture, floor boards, and wahtever else it can sink teeth into, so you have to find ways to discourage this behavior while still meeting their chewing needs (and it is a need, it keeps their teeth from over growing).
rabbits are also major poopers. they poop constantly and this is healthy. living with a caged rabbit, there may be less poop around, but even so there will lbe poop around. in our case, we decided to clean up after the rabbit twice a day--AM and PM because otherwise, you're doing nothing but sweeping up poop. and if you live with small children, poop on the floor may not be the greatest thing--you know?
spraying and humping is an issue whether or not the animal is spayed/nuetered. it is a dominating behavior, it is also a sexual/sensual behavior, and the rabbits (female or male) may continue to hump even after spay/neuter. male rabbits may continue to spray. my guy did. it was a way of showing dominance and affection (honestly).
that's another thing, btw, rabbits do show affection by bathing each other, sitting close together, and sometimes that means not getting up to use the litter box. if your clothing is absorbant, or the rabbit realizes that s/he will not be 'sitting in urine' if it pees on you, then it will pee on you because it doen't want to leave the fun of being cuddled. so, sometimes you have to clean a lot of clothing/towels etc--and rabbit urine can stain.
rabbits love to chew wires, and so all wires and anything that is remotely chew-able looking needs to be out of the rabbit's line of sight. If you come into our home, for instance, you will notice that the two lower shelves of all of our book cases are empty OR have file boxes (metal) to store things. The reason is that the rabbit's motto is "if i can see it, smell it, hear it, feel it, or think about it, it belongs to me."
so, if it's out of sight, smell, sound, feeling, or thinking, then it's probably safe. You want books to maintain nice covers, keep them off the floor. clothing without chew holes in it, keep it off the floor. Dog ate your homework? NO! the rabbit did--and yes, this did actually happen to me, he chewed the edges off of a number of pages of one of my college papers, and i just turned it in that way with a note "sorry, the rabbit ate my homework!" (it got a chuckle out of the teacher--but it's serious business. a rabbit can tear through paper faster than most shredders.)
The truth is, just as you would adapt a home for a new baby, if you have a free roaming rabbit, you have to adapt your home to them. For us, all wires were wrapped in pipe cleaners, and hidden behind things that the rabbit couldn't get to or above his line of sight/accessability (from tip toe). books, papers, magazines, CDs, boxes (paper/cardboard)--if they were important--were put above his line of sight. all furniture, floor boards, etc, were routinely polished with olive oil infused with habenaro pepper (they don't take too kindly to spicy) to prevent chewing. we chose laminate flooring because it's easier to pick up the occassional "runny poo" or wet poo AND it's easier to clean urine from affection, spraying, or just deciding not to use a litter box.
If you're willing to learn about how to care for a rabbit--how to adapt your home for a rabbit if you have a free roamer (which in my opinion gives you the healthiest, most fun, most intellgent, and most engaged rabbit)--then you will have a phenominal time with your rabbit.
you will discover a being that is greatly in tune with the cycles of the earth and moon. you'll discover a being who teaches you about nonattachement, the beauty of simply being, and the wonder of quietness and listening. you'll discover a being who understands family life (they live in warrens), teamwork, and having a sense of value in your 'place' in the family in a way that cats and dogs don't (as non prey animals, they have different perspectives--cats being independent entirely, dogs being pack animals with strict rules--rabbits are more fluid in their roles, switching up, sharing, and teaching and guiding each other so that everyone has roughly the same skills to aid the warren should one pass). you find a creature who walks in two worlds, who whispers the secrets of the world below and above, and who generously offers you all of itself in every moment, with deep presence, compassion, and grace.
in short, you see another face of God.
