How to encourage more submission during times when picking up is needed?

[BunMommaD]

Cookie really doesn't like to be held... And most of the time he can come and go on his own no problem... How ever occasionally he is out and I need to run out, and need to put him in his house... I have to herd him out Fromm under things and eventually pick him up quickly otherwise he will run away... I've tried holding him til he relaxes... He doesn't... Infect if I hold him to long, he starts to freak out! I've tried to give him a treat while holding him and he won't take it... And then when I put him back he thumps at me this only happens when I have to pick him up! And it only happens at home... When I took him to the vet he sat with me and I held him for the whole visit and he was very content...
He is so cuddly... But on his own terms... Which is fine, but sometimes I need to pick him up and it would be nice to not have to chase him around to do so...
Any suggestions would be helpful...

:?

 

[ZRabbits]

My boys are learning to go to the litter box when I have them out. Once we herd them to their litter box, I can pick up with no problem. But Dobby will always grunt when I pick him up. Dobby and Kreacher are doing well. We've had them from babies so they know us a bit more. Willard is another subject all together. Though I have him going to the litter box in the crate, I have to herd him to his litter box on the ground. I don't use treats. They have to know it's time to go back in. Once they are in, a good pet does them good. No hard feelings when they come out and run around again.

But then again, they don't have the run of the house all the time. And we have been doing this for a few months so they are getting the routine down. But some days I do have to chase them out of hiding places to go to their litter boxes.

Maybe someone with bunnies that have full out of the crate experiences could give you some tips. Hoping you get some good suggestions to help Cookie understand you need to go at that moment and no "catch me" games are appreciated.

K

 

[BunMommaD]

Thanks K... I'd also be happy if he would just go back to his house when it was time too... But we usually have to wait til he goes potty and come behind him and close the door lol

I like the litter box idea, but we don't have an extra litter box... He just goes back to his pen when he needs to go...

Maybe he just needs more time, we have only had him for abt 8 weeks or so... It feels like forever to us, but I'm sure he is still getting used to some things

 

[ZRabbits]

With what you have written about Cookie, I would have thought he was with you from a baby. He's settled in and now is showing his dominance now that he's truly relaxed with all of you.

I would practice with him by saying "It's time". That's the signal that my boys know it's time because they will go hide when they first hear it. I just have to go where they are hiding and say "It's time" again and I can then herd them to their litter box.

If you don't have an extra litter box, maybe use something from his crate that he likes, bring it out and try herding him to that. And then pick him up. So glad he was such a good boy at the Vet, but you need to make him understand that you are the boss in your house and there are times you need to leave and he needs to listen.

Wishing you luck. 8 weeks, can't believe how well he's settled in that short of time.

K

 

[hokankai]

I had one that didn't like being picked up. What I did was scoop her up into a football hold, put my hand cupped over her eyes and quickly put her away. She hated it, but I was swift enough that she didn't mind it as much as me trying to awkwardly pick her up.

 

[BunMommaD]

Awe thanks! I think he has really warmed up quickly... He is definitely grateful for the love... I love the "it's time" cue... He already knows he's getting greens when I say "you hungry?" he gets very excited lol

I just had a thought that I would go and get his "wifey" pinky and bring her out while telling him "it's time" ... He hates when we mess with her and move her and will usually follow us if we are holding her don't know why I didn't think of it before! I will be trying it tonight!

 

[toyabrooke]

We have had Poe about a month and BOY have we been through some trials with him. He is starting to come into his own now though, and we are seeing real progress in his bad aggressive behaviour that he first exhibited before he was neutered (travel stress to get to us seemed to bring it on very suddenly).

Poe doesn't particularly like to be picked up, but he loves to be cuddled. He doesn't carry on anymore when picked up at all, but I'm sure he would still prefer to be in his favourite spot or chewing something he isn't suppose to. When I pick him up now though, I have learnt that he hates things being in his face because he gets an awful fright. I make sure I never bend down from my height to get him and am always crouched down on his level to make sure he knows it is me and it isn't some giant bird coming to eat him. Sometimes though even when he is on the ground and in his favourite corner, he can still get a fright when my hand appears and attack, so in those instances I do pick him up from above because it is less stressful and it is very hard to get to him in those nooks and crannys.

I also pick up him under his shoulder blades and then support his legs. Depending on where he is getting picked up from he may need to dangle for a second or two before he gets that second lot of support, but this way of holding him I have also found shows a fair bit of dominance because if they do kick and carry on, you can hold them out from your body and not get scratches on your arms because your hands are behind the force of their feet. After he gets picked up though, he goes straight into my arms and he snuggles up to me shoulder and grinds his teeth.

When it is time to go into his cage, I will pick him up, snuggle him and then put him on the ground near his cage and rattle some of his toys. He usually goes in instantly because he HATES me messing with his precious cage.

Hope that helps!

T

 

[BunMommaD]

Thanks toyabrooke! Poe is so cute how old is he? Cookie is like about 18 months old, and is not yet nuetered... He has no other bad habits or aggrerssion, he's never bitten or spray marked anything... We are still thinking about whether to fix him or not... But if his dominance gets worse we definitely will...

Thanks for sharing your experience

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Most of ours had to get used to handling--time and patience.

 

[qtipthebun]

We had one who did the same thing. She'd purposefully run everywhere BUT the cage when you wanted her to go in. Eventually she learned that she was going to have to cooperate or get picked up. We started with a newspaper, and would shoo her back into her cage with a newpaper and say "go to your cage". After about a month of so, she learned to equate the newspaper with "go to your cage", and all we had to do was pick up the newspaper, hold it next to the ground, and say "go to your cage". Any time of the day or night, held a newspaper and told her to go, and she'd go.

 

[toyabrooke]

Poe is only 5 months old and we have had him for a month. He got neutered about 10 days ago and gets his stitches out today!

In regards to neutering, we didn't really have a choice. He was so stressed from the move and everything was new and scary that he just felt he had to be aggressive to survive. He is much calmer now - Still goes for me a little bit when I come too close when he is on his favourite things like the desk and on top of his cage, but when that happens I just hold him behind the shoulders and push him very gently to the ground to submit and then give him cuddles. Some of that I still assume is being a bit scared of a giant hand coming towards him though, and a bit of territorial behaviour. The dominant submissive technique seems to be helping a little bit, but in the end we just need to be patient and wait until there is no Testosterone left in him.

I have heard that fixing your animals is good for their health in general because the cycles of sexual and aggressive stress can be quite a big strain on the animal. On the other hand, if there are no issues and you don't want to put the animal through the stress of surgery, that probably isn't a big deal either. I would always choose to fix a get personally safety and their wellbeing.

I hope it all goes well with your Cookie. Can't wait to see photos! I have some photos of Poe in my introduction thread - My Second Bunny

T

 

[tamsin]

If you look at from his point of view, he doesn't like being picked up and bunnies (being pretty smart at reading your body language) can tell when you're planning on making a grab... if it was you won't you take the opportunity to run in the opposite direction

There is a bit here on picking up buns that are nervous you might find helpful: http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/handling.asp you basically need to introduce the idea of being picked up really slowly in stages with lots of treats so he gets over his fear of it.

For bedtime, try making it so he can get back to the pen/cage himself and get into a routine where he gets dinner just after going back in. Soon he'll be putting himself to bed like clockwork waiting for dinner to arrive

 

[BunMommaD]

Toyabrooke - thanks for all the advice and I have posted lots of pictures in his blog, the adventures of mr. Cookie

Tamsin- yes I agree! I prefer him to be able to come and go as he pleases... It would be nice to be able to pick him up when needed... I'll check out the link! Thanks!

 

[BunMommaD]

Update: we used his "wifey" to coax him back into his house, and he went right in... don't know if it'll work every night but it worked last night

 

[Nancy McClelland]

When it's time to go "up", we have a litter box full of shredded paper inside an apple box with a top and bottom. Cut holes in both ends--we herd them toward the box and then pick it up and put the hole toward their hutch door. Works great--Hutch, Lilli, and Bambi go right in when we go in the room.

 

[ZRabbits]

BunMommaD wrote:

Update: we used his "wifey" to coax him back into his house, and he went right in... don't know if it'll work every night but it worked last night

Excellent! One day at a time.

K

 

[BunMommaD]

So we have gotten together a collection of toys that he really loves and he only gets them at night! Last night we went and started putting his toys in and he came running I guess during the day I could just get one and give it to him if I need to get him out away quickly

All the while he will continue to work on holding... His nails are due to be clipped again soon... So I'll have to hold him lol