It seems my bunny is hard-of-hearing. How to train him?

[RumiTheBunny]

I suspected for a while that Rumi, my Holland Lop, has hearing issues. From the get-go, he was largely unfazed by most noises I was always certain would scare him (loud TV, vacuum, blender, etc.), but at first I thought this was because I adopted him from a big family - around 5 youngish kids, mostly rambunctious boys, that I could see when I went to pick him up. Rumi was raised from birth in this house (he was the son of their two bunnies, and they gave him up at 5 months, when he was getting hormonal), so I figured he was just really used to a lot of noise/was just a relaxed bunny naturally.

Over the last few weeks I realized this probably wasn't the case. If he's not looking directly at me, he doesn't realize I'm approaching him. Sometimes I'll come into the bathroom (his room) and he won't realize I've come in until I go to him and he actually sees me (if he's facing the door when I come in, he will run over to me). Yesterday I tried yelling at top volume when he wasn't facing me. He didn't even flinch. Whenever my dog barks loudly at random (which startles even me), he just sits there.

I'm not so concerned about his quality of life with this - he seems very happy. In fact, for a prey animal, it might be a tiny blessing, in that he just gets scared less by the constant noise of life. My issue is with training. Overall, he's quite well-behaved. He seems to have no interest in chewing on everything (knock on wood), not much of a digger (likes digging towels I put on the floor for him to sit on, but not his litter box). I only have 2 issues with him at present:

-His litter training. He JUST got fixed, so I'm hoping this will improve naturally. He nearly always uses his box to pee, but poops everywhere (probably marking). But if this doesn't improve as his hormones quiet down, how can I train him without verbal commands?
-His desire to jump on my bed. I'm currently trying to switch his room from the bathroom to my own room. Every time I've tried, he's jumped right onto my bed (it's low to the ground to accommodate my dog, who sleeps with me) I usually will transfer him elsewhere when he does (his usual room or his hutch) but today I was not quick enough, and he peed on my bed. :cry1: Once again, without verbal commands/his hearing, how can I train him to stay off my bed?

Thanks in advance, everyone.

 

[Aki]

You can't train a rabbit. It's not a dog. Hearing wouldn't change anything. His litter habits will probably improve in a few weeks but chances are you'll still have poops outside of the box. In my experience males are a lot less clean than females (maybe it was a coincidence, but it seems to me that this assumption is proven to be generally true in every species on this earth so I'm not overly surprised). None of the one I've owned mastered the litterbox 100%. Females did, and they did it on their own, no command given. Aki was 100% clean on day 1 and she still is now that she's getting close to 9 years and blind.
- I had the bed problem when my rabbits lived in my room. They never peed on it but they chewed on it quite a bit. They never did it in front of me, as they knew perfectly well they weren't allowed to do it, but when they were alone there was no stopping them. In the end, I had to put a treillis in front of my bed to deter them. My friends used to joke I was the one in a cage and it wasn't that great to look at but it worked and after like one pillow, three pillowcases and as many duvet covers chewed it was all that mattered to me. You have to find a way to secure everything, you can't rely on a rabbit not doing something because he knows he can't. He doesn't care what you think and couldn't give half a carrot about pleasing you ^^

 

[Hermelin]

Have dreched towels of vinegar and use them as a shield to the bed many rabbit’s want to be able to smell where they pee. Have used vinegar to my rabbits litter training the last it’s the bed but everything else he will run to his cage.

Your rabbit dosen’t have to have bad hearing, my rabbit never react when I shout at him, he will just look at me and he have been startled many times when I’ve been walking towards him. He’s used with the most sounds but when he’s eating or sleeping when he truly feel safe I’ve noticed he’s not fully aware during those times.

Also my rabbit does know his commands but sometimes he will just take his lazy time to listen.

 

[lavendertealatte]

Aki, but what about clicker training to train rabbits?

 

[Hermelin]

Your rabbit is still young and it’s easier to train an older rabbit in my opinion, because during some period they stop listening and just do what ever he want. So was it with my rabbit I have now, as a kit he listened great but now he’s a little like should I listen or just ignore her :3

I’m hoping his attitude will change again at least he still listen to spin and up xD