Bunny agility training

[Kristyn]

Hi!

I adopted a bunny named martha..or bunny wailer as we call her. Lol.

Been with us almost a month now.

Shes been warming up pretty nicely..but at the same time is still skittish.

I was thinking about doing some bunny agility training with her. Do any of you have experience with this?

I guess the first step would be getting her used to being picked up and put her leash on right?

Which I've been apprehensive about..just because she is new still... is adopted.. and still trying to adjust.

My daughter was playing with her yesterday and she was chasing her down the hall and back as she was pulling this hat with strings down the hall way. Lol.

But she seems to like to play...just still shy. So I think she may like it..

Shes under a year old from what we were told.

Curious on how any of you may have started this? Or tips?

Btw the picture is her and I. I'm 30 weeks prego. LO

 

[Kristyn]

n

 

[Blue eyes]

I believe @SableSteel does this and may have resources for you.

If your rabbit is over 6 months of age, she is considered an adult. Just be aware that there are many rabbit harnesses for sale that should never be used on a rabbit. There are only a few that are considered safe - but only if fitted properly.

 

[Kristyn]

Thankyou! I do have one....

Not sure if it's a great one or not??
being that shes so small... I had to get a really small one lol. I'm sure theres better..

 

[Hermelin]

Do your harness have a chest band, they are often better than without because when she pull. The harness will get a y-shape around the neck, making the pressure on the neck decrease.



My bunny having the harness on. You can see how the harness shapes around the neck and how it pulls down.

 

[SableSteel]

For rabbit hopping and agility you cannot have a strap going under the chest. You need an H-style harness. Rabbit hopping (which is similar to agility, except only the jumps) is much more popular than agility itself. You can find more information about it here: https://sites.google.com/site/americanhoppingassociation/
With some rabbits, training is very easy and they simply enjoy it, with some training is almost impossible and they don't like it as much, and with those I don't use them for hopping. Once they're used to the harness, and you can get them running in a straight line put the jumps in front of them, but just put the bars on the ground and see if they can walk over it. Then slowly increase the height of the jumps until they're actually having to jump

 

[Niomi]

I have a rabbit that I take to agility. We use a H cat harness. I can't find them in the pet stores, but they sell them on amazon and at the Humane Society. We have to have adopted our rabbit at least 3 months before starting class, because they want us to have a good bond with our rabbit. My rabbit has been in agility for over a year. Leash training, the rabbit goes in front of you. Your rabbit needs to learn commands "go" or "hop," "right," "left," "stop" or "sit" and "jump." When your rabbit moves forward, if you want your rabbit to go right, give the command, "Herbie, right" or whatever the name is. Then step forward with your left leg on the left side of you rabbit and he will turn right.