Rabbit training - where do I even begin?!

[user 18188]

I adopted Jamie at the beginning of December and somehow (miraculously) he is potty trained, will only ever go in his hutch, so that's one less thing on my mind!! Jamie is only six months old and has never had a home before so I'm not sure how much handling he's had previously..

He's not too keen on being picked up, he will almost always kick out and I'm absolutely plastered in scars and open wounds from him and it is a constant struggle to do anything with him. I am trying to sit on the floor with him every day and offer him carrot whilst stroking him and telling him he's a good boy in soothing tones. He always shies away from my hand unless he is being fed and will scurry under his hutch if I approach or attempt to pick him up.

Whenever he is doing something I don't like, or about to, I will shout at him firmly (either his name or just "no!") which will sometimes, not always, stop him. If he persists I lock him in his hutch for fifteen minutes as punishment and let him out again when an alarm sounds.

I have no experience with rabbits and not much knowledge, I just know they are fairly smart creatures and hoped he would pick up on these things but maybe my technique is too advanced for a rabbit to understand?..

My concern is at the moment his hutch is in the living room whilst I try and buy some locks and a cover and I never close the door (the hutch is surrounded by a large run which is closed when we are not at home) but when I put him outside he will have to stay in the locked hutch when we are out (I have read that you should not leave rabbits on wet grass as they can become ill - please correct me if I am wrong) and will bring him inside for playtime. I am worried he will see this being outside in a locked hutch as punishment?

I need a different method of punishing Jamie so he knows when he is in the wrong and will learn to better behave himself. I don't want him to be miserable when he's outside at night.

Any other tips and advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[PaGal]

Rabbits once set on doing something are very hard to dissuade. It seems the less we want them to do something the more they want to. Ha!

You could try distracting him from the unwanted behavior by giving him something to do that is allowed. Anything made of cardboard to chew is a good option juts make sure the cardboard has no shiny print on it. An old phone book with the cover removed. Dried pine cones. A dig box.

 

[missyscove]

I find it very difficult to train a rabbit not to do something. If there's something you don't want him doing, you just have to make it so he can't do it. This means rabbit proofing an area by blocking his access to things. That said, if he likes chewing and digging, give him good things he CAN chew on and dig at. Offering a variety of cardboard and wood will make him want to chew that instead. My rabbits love big cardboard boxes with holes cut in the sides and will go in them and chew and dig to their little hearts' content.

Most rabbits don't like to be picked up. Their instincts tell them the only time they're going to be picked up is when they're about to get eaten; imagine how scary that must be for them. What you're doing petting him and giving him treats is a great start. My rabbits think their pellets are a treat and are willing to do tricks for them. One of their "tricks" is simply climbing into my lap and eating pellets out of my hand. This gets them more used to the idea that I'm really not planning to scoop them up and eat them.
Perhaps your technique for holding him could use some work if you're getting all scratched up. Some bunnies like being swaddled in a blanket as a "bunny burrito" so that's something you might try or perhaps you're just being too light and he doesn't feel secure enough.
Some rabbits are trained to go into their carriers from their cages to be transported to another area; if he doesn't like to be held, maybe that's something that could work for you.

 

[MikeScone]

Rabbits can be trained, and fairly easily (depending on the rabbit), but you have to do it through positive reinforcement. Find a behavior you want the rabbit to repeat, give the command, and give a treat. They very quickly come to associate the command with the action.

Saying "NO" sometimes works, but as has been noted, rabbits can be very stubborn. They may stop whatever they are doing when you say NO, and sometimes if you're consistent, they may stop for quite some time - long enough to exceed their attention span, and they've moved on to other things. That doesn't mean the bunny won't start again if he or she can - NO has an expiration time, at least in bunny minds.

Punishment, as a concept, is foreign to rabbits. Dogs, as pack animals, are hardwired to accept punishment from the alpha dog as part of learning their place in the pack. To a rabbit, punishment is simply an attack by a predator. The rabbit won't understand what is happening beyond that, and will very quickly associate the punishment with the punisher. That can destroy any trust you've built up.

Remember that rabbits are prey animals, and they view the world through that filter. Their first instinct is to avoid anything potentially dangerous. A bunny can be every bit as affectionate and bonded to a human as a dog, but that has to be earned over time. It's not automatically given. However, the process can be one of the most wonderful parts of having a rabbit companion, as you each learn the other's personality and behaviors.

 

[Blue eyes]

Agreed. Punishment is not effective with rabbits. Putting a rabbit in his cage for 'time out,' is counter productive. His cage should be a pleasant place, his sanctuary-- not a place of punishment. I've also found that the shouting 'no' technique, if it works at all, only does so when I'm watching. Far easier to just prevent them from access to whatever it is they shouldn't be doing.

If he's inside now and he's litter trained, I'm curious... why not just keep him inside? I keep mine indoors all the time. They have free reign downstairs. I so enjoy having them nearby all the time. We get to interact throughout the day. I'm sure mine wouldn't get near the attention if they were outside. Just wondering if that was ever a consideration.

Here are mine indoors: