Must…read…O.P. :smack:
Stop siccing the dog on them. 
BiblioCat, you are doing the best possible thing for them - leaving them be until they get big enough to go on their way. The mother rabbit will feed her babies when it starts to get dark, so it can seem like she’s abandoned the nest when in fact she has not. They grow very, very quickly too, as you have seen. They have to.
We had this same problem three times in one summer. Rabbits would put nests in the garden right next to the house, in the back yard. I have two greyhounds. We found out we had baby bunnies the first time around when one Saturday morning Roman (our honorary scenthound) started nosing around in the garden and three of them shot out of the nest, running in all directions. He got one, which I took to the local vet who does wild animal rehab, and I called a friend of ours who is a rehabber about the others. Their chances of surviving were going to be fat, slim and none with the dogs around, so I asked her what the best thing to do would be. She told me that it is OK to move the nest as long as you don’t move it too far. So I went to the nest, grabbed the other two bunnies and pulled all the nest material out. I then went around the corner and put the nest in the side garden on the other side of the fence where the dogs couldn’t get at it. We also did this with the second nest, and with the third one, it was close enough to the house that we took our picnic table, tipped it on its side and pushed it so the legs were against the wall of the house and the top facing outward. Mama bunny could get in between the legs, but the dogs were too big to get in there and left it alone.
We had a lot of bunnies that year.
Oh, my! But do I get to see the torture chamber, too??
BiblioCat, did mama bunny come back last night? And is the nest close enough to the trees to do what romanperson did, and move it a bit so it’s off the yard?
Oh. You’re that kind of girl.
My Evil Mother, in her Evil Advice to me, said I should watch out for girls like you.
And carry them off as frequently as possible. 
I wasn’t really siccing the dog on them. Whenever there’s a rabbit in the yard, I tell the dog to “Get the bunny!”, but since the dog regularly eats her food, plus the cat’s food for dessert, she’s a little fat and slow.
That first night, I had no idea the mommy bunny was checking on her babies, or even possibly giving birth. From the door, it just looked like another rabbit having a grass-and-clover snack.
I am leaving them alone, but I can’t resist peeking at them. We looked at them this morning, and then again just about an hour ago. They’re getting bigger, and one has it’s eyes open. They’re really active. When I picked the matting off the top, they all perked up and nudged up to the top and made little squeaky noises.
I haven’t seen the Mommy Bunny, but I’m not standing there at the back door watching for her all day, either. I’m not going to try moving the nest. I’d be afraid Mommy Bunny wouldn’t be able to find it. I’m just amazed that she’d put it where it is, right out in an open space, in a yard that smells of “dog.”
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Use them to scare vengence demons.
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Throw the Holy Handgernade of Antioch NOW! Before they have time to attack!
Here’s something interesting about that from this site:
http://wildliferehabber.com/bunnybrochure.htm
“These nests are frequently constructed in the middle of a lawn, in the open, to the amazement of homeowners. Cottontails were accustomed to prairie life before the advent of man and the tall grasses protected the nest. They do not realize that the kind of grass has changed and that humans consider short, mowed grass aesthetically pleasing. Nor do cottontails recognize pet dogs and cats as predators because they have no genetic memory of such animals. They recognize the scent of coyotes and foxes and bobcats as predators because these are native animals who have lived with cottontails for many hundreds of years.”
And yes, if you have a choice, leave the nest where it is. Moving it only works if you don’t need to move it very far (like 6 feet or so). The ones we had would surely have been killed if we left them where they were. We didn’t have an alternative place to let the dogs out.
This might work if you have a small dog who will leave the basket/tub alone:
"If neighborhood dogs or cats are a threat to the bunnies, it can often be equipped to keep them out. A laundry basket, tub, or large bucket can be inverted over the nest, with holes about the size of softballs, cut in the sides, to allow the mother rabbit access. The container should be weighted down with a heavy object. " (site: http://www.orie.cornell.edu/~davidr/hrs/RehabilitationCottontailRabbits.doc)
If you have a push type lawn mower, disconnect the spark plug and park it over the bunny den. Mommy bunny will be able to get under it with no problem and your pup can go back to the back yard without having to worry about the babies.
Have an affair with Glenn Close?
Back in her younger and non-arthritic days, “Get the bunny!” was a favorite game for our now ancient Boxer. Only caught one once, and even dropped it on command. However, we had some mighty strange bunnies in the yard. Flying bunnies, hopping bunnies with cotton tails, long tailed tree climbing bunnies, and even a couple that liked to play dead in the garden.
Hey-whatever happened to the bunnies?
[QUOTE]
That’s one mighty brave dog you got there. I’d say in a couple more days he’s gonna be fetching water for the little monsters.
Stew?
They eventually all left.
There were five of them, and one day one was gone, then two more left a day or two later and then the last two finally left. It was funny to see how big they’d gotten. All five of them had fit just fine in the hole at first, and at the end, the last two were quite crowded.
Whenever we see bunnies around, my son insists they’re “his” bunnies.
Cool.
You should have held them for ransom.
:eek: !!
Aiiieeee!
Isn’t that—I dunno-illegal somehow?
When I was 3 1/2 years old there was a nest of bunnies in the front yard and one of the family cats found it.
At that point, my mother decided it would be a good time to explain to me about death.