Give a Netherland Dwarf distance before contact
A Netherland Dwarf rabbit should meet a resident pet first from a protected distance, because this breed is tiny, fast and quick to startle. A dwarf that feels exposed will bolt, and a bolting rabbit switches many dogs and cats into chase mode in a heartbeat. Set the dwarf's pen in a neutral room with a hide it can vanish into completely, a litter tray and hay, then bring the resident pet into the room far from the pen, leashed if it is a dog. The first sessions may be only a few minutes long. That brevity is the method, not a failure: the dwarf learns the resident's sight and smell predict nothing bad happening, at a distance it can tolerate while still eating.
Scent work suits a wary dwarf rabbit
Scent swapping does heavy lifting in a Netherland Dwarf introduction because it asks nothing of the rabbit's nerves. Rub a soft cloth on the dwarf's cheeks and another on the resident pet, swap them into each other's areas with food, and repeat daily. You can also swap the room itself: let the resident pet explore the empty introduction room after the dwarf has been there, and let the dwarf explore it after the resident has left, so each investigates scent without an audience. Watch the dwarf's response to the cloth. A rabbit that sniffs, chins the cloth or ignores it while eating is processing well. One that thumps repeatedly, hides for the rest of the day or stops eating needs the steps slowed and the vet consulted if appetite does not return promptly.
Floor time needs a still resident and an open pen
Shared floor time for a Netherland Dwarf begins only when pen sessions look uneventful from both sides. Leave the pen open inside the rabbit-proofed neutral room so the dwarf can dart home, position hides along the walls rather than in open middle ground, and have the resident dog lying down, leashed, with a handler feeding it for staying settled. A resident cat should be free to leave the room entirely rather than shut in. Do not carry the dwarf toward the resident for a closer look; every approach must be the dwarf's own choice, and many dwarfs will circle wide, pause, and retreat several times before a first close pass. Finish the session by guiding the resident out first, so the rabbit's space empties rather than the rabbit being grabbed.
Why one chase restarts the whole plan
A single chase is the event a Netherland Dwarf introduction must be built to prevent. Dwarfs injure legs and backs scrambling on smooth floors, and a rabbit that has been chased by the household dog files that animal as a predator for a long time afterwards. Prevent it structurally: barriers checked for gaps a small rabbit can squeeze through, doors latched, the resident never loose with the dwarf when people are out, and feeding kept fully separate so neither animal guards food near the other. Progress is measured in calm repetition over weeks. Log who handled each session and how the dwarf responded in KinsLe with Care Teams, assigning the next short session as a named duty, so your Netherland Dwarf gets the same unhurried sequence from every person in the house.