In This Chapter
Although this chapter covers
general training tactics, it focuses on positive behaviors (“tricks,” if you
consider sitting up a trick). Chapter Reckoning
with a Bad Bunny describes how to use training
techniques to tackle common behavioral problems.
Training Your Bunny the Right Way
No matter how bright your bunny
is, though, he isn’t going to get very far training himself. This is where you
come in. As with many other companion animals, real training success depends on
a great trainer.
Following these general rules is
important when training a rabbit to respond to a command:
- Take the time to bond. Know that your rabbit trusts you before you attempt any kind of training. In other words, your rabbit must trust you before she’ll be able to listen to you.
- Train your rabbit in a quiet safe place. Your bunny needs to be able to concentrate on you.
- Be consistent. Always use the same command; don’t change or add words. If you want to teach your rabbit to jump up on the couch and want “hop up” to be your command, always use that phrase when you ask him to come up.
- Use rewards. Give your rabbit his reward immediately after he executes the command. The best rewards for rabbits are food treats. (See Chapter Stocking Up on Carrots for details on healthy food treats for rabbits.)
- Be firm. Don’t give your bunny the treat if he doesn’t follow the command. Doing so only encourages him to ignore you. Be firm, but not harsh.
- Be kind. Never use physical discipline with a rabbit. They’re too fragile, and it only destroys the trust you’ve worked so hard to build.
- Be patient. If your bunny is having trouble catching on, figure out another way to teach him. Never use harsh words or punishment of any kind.
- Go back to square one if you need to. If you’re having success with your rabbit’s training but then hit an impasse, your rabbit needs a refresher course. Go back to square one and start the training process all over again.
- Keep training sessions short. Take no more than ten minutes at a time and always end on a positive note. In other words, stop right after your rabbit does it right, not after he does it wrong or gets tired or frustrated.
Remember
Training a rabbit can take as little as a few days or as long as several weeks, depending on the rabbit and what you’re trying to teach him. Any rabbit that is old enough to interact with you is old enough to train. Even senior bunnies can learn new tricks.
Giving a Command Performance
Training a rabbit is not like
training a dog. Dogs are socialized to humans and are anxious to be accepted.
Rabbits, on the other hand, hop to a different drummer. Even though rabbits are
creatures that like company as well, they aren’t as closely bonded to humans as
dogs are, and obeying your every command is down low on their list of
priorities. (When that fact of life becomes a real problem, refer to Chapter Reckoning
with a Bad Bunny for more behavioral information.)
Remember
When training, use short sessions of no more than five to ten minutes at a time; rabbits have short attention spans. Save one trick for each training session. In fact, it’s a good idea to teach your rabbit one thing at a time so that he doesn’t get confused. For example, once your rabbit knows to come on command, you can move on to jumping on command.
Using treats and praise, you can
convince a rabbit to follow a few select commands and even perform a few cute
behaviors to impress your friends.
Training with treats
To inspire your rabbit during
training, you need to understand what motivates her. Unlike dogs, these
long-eared companions aren’t naturally motivated to please their humans.
Rabbits do, however, respond to particular incentives — food treats, mostly —
and tasty treats typically play an important role in training. Keep the
following in mind when using treats as a tactic in training:
- Figure out your rabbit’s favorite treats. Chapter Stocking Up on Carrots talks in detail about smart food choices for rabbits, but remember that fresh greens and veggies, with occasional fruits, are the best options. Packaged gourmet rabbit treats have too many calories to offer in any quality or frequency. Check with your vet if you’re not sure about a particular food.
- Treats should be given immediately after your rabbit performs the requested action. The goal is to associate the action with the reward.
- Reward your bunny with treats until he consistently and correctly responds to the command. Once your rabbit has mastered a skill, you can begin to wean him off the treats. The idea is to be able to give the command without having to use treats at all. Consider, too, the role of petting and toys as rewards.
Tip
Wean your rabbit away from the treat gradually — one time, she gets the treat, the next time, she doesn’t. Soon, all you’ll have to do is say the command.
- Never withhold food from your rabbit to make him hungry for training. Fresh hay and clean water should always be available.
- Don’t overfeed your rabbit by using treats during training sessions! The overuse of treats during training can lead to an overfed, perhaps overweight, bunny.
Here, Fluffy: Coming when called
If you let your rabbit run in a
large area of the house, you may want her to come when you call her name.
Coming when called allows you to find your rabbit if she’s hiding, and you’re
concerned for her welfare.
You can train rabbits to come
when you call them, provided that you always give them a good reward when they
do what you ask.
Tip
The best way to get a rabbit to come when you call him is to find out what his favorite treat is. Whether it’s a piece of tomato or a chunk of melon, use this as your lure. (Chapter Stocking Up on Carrots gives you more ideas on what a good treat entails.)
To train your rabbit to come when
called:
1. Get down on the floor close to your rabbit.
2. Offer the treat.
3. Using your rabbit’s name, say, “Come!”
Your rabbit will see or smell the treat and will come toward you to get it. She doesn’t know that you called her because she hasn’t figured out this part yet. However, if you repeat this routine over and over, she’ll start to associate hearing you call her name and “Come!” with getting her favorite treat.
4. After your bunny consistently comes to you from this close distance, start to work from farther away.
Instead of being so close, squat several feet away from your pet. Offer out the food and call your rabbit’s name and “Come!”
Some rabbits catch on more
quickly than others, but within a few weeks, your rabbit should come to you
just about every time that you call her. You may even be able to get her to
come to you from another room.
Making like Van Halen: Jumping
Warning!
Another fun behavior that you can drill is jumping up on a piece of upholstered furniture on command. (Unupholstered furniture can be too slippery!) Of course, that’s if you want your rabbit on the couch. If you’d rather bunny keep all four paws on the floor, you may want to skip this one.
To train your bunny to jump up on
the couch on command:
1. Hold the treat on the couch when your rabbit is having her free time in the house and is hopping around on the floor.
2. When she approaches the couch, make sure that she sees the treat.
You can hold the treat in a spot where she can reach it just by standing on her hind legs with her front paws on the couch cushions.
3. Using your rabbit’s name, say, “Hop up!”
Or if you prefer, just pat the top of the couch with your other hand as a signal.
4. Even though she’s on her hind legs at the edge of the couch and hasn’t jumped up on the couch, give her the treat so that she associates a treat with the couch.
5. When Fluffy responds to you without fail, hold the treat farther back onto the couch.
That way, your rabbit has to really reach to get the morsel.
6. Repeat Steps 1 through 5.
Eventually, your rabbit will jump up on the couch to get the treat, provided it’s not too high for her. If it is, you may want to skip this trick or provide a small stool for your rabbit to hop up on to make her way to the couch.
Remember
Make sure that you’ve given the command just before your rabbit makes her attempt to get the morsel. You want her to associate hearing her name and “Hop up!” or a hand patting the couch with the action of coming on the couch and getting the treat.
7. When your rabbit finally jumps up on the couch, gently praise her and scratch her on her favorite spot while letting her dine on her reward.
Eventually, you can eliminate the
treat because the command or a pat on the cushion should be enough to get your
rabbit to join you on the couch.
Warning!
Your rabbit can jump down alone. Helping her might be more detrimental!
Working on the abs: Sitting up
Another good trick (and one that
will impress visitors) is sitting up on command. This trick is pretty easy
because rabbits naturally sit up on their hind legs all the time.
To teach your rabbit to sit up on
command:
1. When your rabbit has all four feet on the floor, put your hand above her head with the treat in your fingers.
2. Using your rabbit’s name, say,“Sit up!”
3. When your rabbit rises up on her hind legs to get the treat, give her the treat along with some verbal praise.
After your rabbit rises up
consistently in response to your command, start eliminating the treats.
Depending on your rabbit, it can
take anywhere from just a few training sessions to a couple of weeks before
she’s trained to sit up on command.
Cozying up in his cage: Go in
You can train your rabbit to go
into his cage or into his travel carrier on command. (If you want to train your
rabbit to go into his travel carrier, make sure that he’s already comfortable
with being inside it. See Chapter Hitting
the Road with Your Rabbit for details on how to make your rabbit
feel okay about being in his travel carrier.) This trick can be handy because
it will spare you the trouble of pursuing your bunny when you want to put him
away for the night or in his carrier for a trip to the vet.
Tip
You should train for this behavior at times when you don’t need to have your rabbit in his cage for a trip or bedtime, which allows for more flexibility in the training process.
To train your rabbit to go into
his cage or carrier:
1. Put your bunny close to the opening of his cage or travel carrier.
2. Say “Go in!” and lure your rabbit into the opening by placing his favorite treat inside the cage.
Make sure that your rabbit sees that you have put the treat inside.
3. After your rabbit is inside the cage or carrier, give him the treat.
After your rabbit gets the idea,
you can place the treat in the carrier and then say “Go in!”
Remember
If your rabbit doesn’t go in and retrieve the treat after you give the command, don’t put him inside or give him a treat anyway. He needs to associate getting the treat with actually going into the cage or carrier.
2 Taking a walk on the wild side
Do you have a bold bunny who
likes to explore new places? Take your rabbit to a safe place, such as a
friend’s fenced backyard. You can walk your rabbit on a leash that’s attached
to a harness. A harness restrains the pet around the chest and
shoulders, instead of by the neck, as a collar would. (Chapter Thinking
Like a Rabbit shows an
example of such a harness..) A harness is a good way to take your rabbit
outside while still having control over him.
When taking your bunny on a walk,
keep these pointers in mind:
Warning!
- Don’t use a collar on a rabbit because your rabbit’s neck can be seriously injured if your pet resists.
Warning!
- Be careful about where you walk your rabbit. Dogs and disease are two serious dangers that rabbits can encounter in unprotected areas.
- Most rabbits are uncomfortable in strange surroundings and may not enjoy outings to new places.
Adjusting to the harness
Before going for a walk, your
rabbit first must get used to having his harness on.
Warning!
Don’t leave the harness on for long periods of time because a rabbit can chew it off, ingesting the pieces of leather, plastic, or metal belt buckle and causing intestinal obstructions.
To adjust your rabbit’s harness:
1. Buy a harness.
You can get a cat harness at your local pet-supply store or one especially made for a rabbit from a catalog or Internet retailer.
2. Put the harness on the floor near your rabbit when he’s hopping around.
Let your rabbit get used to seeing the harness.
3. Place some treats around the harness to encourage him to get close to it.
This step helps him associate the harness with treats and to realize that the harness is harmless.
4. Lay the harness gently on your rabbit’s back to get him used to the feel of it.
You don’t want to actually put it on him or buckle it at this point. The idea is to let him adjust to the weight of it on his back before you put it on him.
5. When your rabbit seems comfortable having the harness on his body, buckle it on him and let him hop around the house under supervision.
6. After your rabbit seems at ease wearing the harness, snap a leash on to it and walk around the house with him.
Tip
If your rabbit panics when wearing the harness, go back to square one and start getting him used to it all over again. Don’t leave the harness on when not using it, as the rabbit will probably chew it off.
On the walkabout
When your rabbit is comfortably
walking in his harness indoors, try taking him outside. Although you can let
him explore your backyard or take him to a friend’s house on lead, don’t walk
your rabbit around the neighborhood or anywhere unprotected by a fence.
Remember
After you have the leash on the harness, it’s important to remember that
- Rabbits can’t be taught to heel or do most of what leash-trained dogs do. Instead, your rabbit will hop around, and you’ll basically follow.
- Be gentle with your rabbit while walking him. If you need to get from one place to another while he’s on the leash, pick him up and carry him.
- Take care not to allow him to eat any unknown plants or walk through areas that may have been sprayed with pesticides or visited by dogs.
Warning!
- Your pet is vulnerable when he’s outside of his home. You need to keep a close watch for loose dogs who can attack your pet. (If you see a dog approaching your rabbit, pick your rabbit up and hope the dog doesn’t try to snatch him out of your arms. Consider carrying pepper spray to protect your rabbit from an attacking dog.) Also, never leave your rabbit unattended or tied up because he could become tangled in his leash and might panic.
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