I adopted a 3 year old netherland dwarf rabbit at the end of January. He was fixed a couple of weeks before I adopted him. We are having some litter training issues that seem to be getting worse instead of better. So I thought I would come to the experts for advice.
According to his previous owner who left him at the shelter, he was litter trained. When I brought him home we had a few accidents and there was a lot of poo everywhere. The poo issue has been brought under control but the peeing is getting out of hand, and it seems to be an issue only when I’m around.
When I am at work, he does all of his business in his litter or, at least, in his cage. However, when I am at home, either morning or night, he pees right in front of me. It doesn’t seem to matter if I’m paying attention to him or not. I know that this can mean he is claiming me as his own, which is cute in an icky sort of way, but it often seems almost like a power play.
Here are two examples from this morning.
- I was petting him, which he really enjoys at times. Often petting is followed by peeing somewhere he shouldn’t. This morning, I had to hop in the shower after petting him so I immediately left the kitchen we were in. As soon as I closed the door to the bathroom, I heard him jump into his litter. So, yay, no accident after petting.
- A little while later I was cleaning up his cage a bit before I left for work. (He was out of the cage at the time, although he often jumps in while I’m cleaning.) I should note that he also has a litter right outside of his cage, as that seemed to be a place he was having frequent accidents. He came up right next to me, picked up the second litter with his teeth, pushed it out of the way, and peed on the floor. Given his small size moving the litter like that was impressive, but I was incredibly frustrated. I got him into his litter and reminded him he needed to use it, not the floor. He sat there for a few minutes after I shooed him in, eating hay and pooping.
I try to shoo him into one of his litters when I catch him in the act. The few times I’ve let him into the living room (which is fully carpeted so he’s been banished to the kitchen as this problem has escalated) and he’s had an accident, I’ve shooed him back into his cage and given him a time out. I try to praise him when I’m around and he is in his litter and, if I’m fast enough, give him a treat.
I’m not really sure what else I should do at this point. Am I maybe spending too much time with him when I’m home and he’s annoyed with me because of it? I don’t bother him if he’s in his cage or not near me. Are his hormones still a bit out of whack, even though it’s been a month since his surgery? Is this some kind of dominance thing and, if so, how can I assert my dominance here?
Really any suggestions would be appreciated. I hope he will eventually be a free range bunny so would really like to get this problem solved.
Thanks!