Nope, I don’t think they’re ever too old

No, I certainly don’t think so… and since bunnies tend to “mellow” as they get older, you might even have better luck with him than you would with, say… a 6 month old with a short attention span…

In the past when I tried clicker training, I would use pellets as a treat (make sure to deduct these from your rabbit’s daily portion so as to not overfeed.)

Another option is matchstick carrots cut into 4 or 5 pieces, single parsley leaves, or even a raisin/craisin cut into a few small pieces with scissors.

The treat has to be “one bite”. If the bunny has to stop to eat the treat, it’s too much.

And of course, with carrots/raisins/craisins, these amounts are it for the day.

Nope, they’re never too old to learn new things! I think ease of training depends far more on the bunny’s personality and intelligence (and ability to focus) than it does on age.

Oh, and I use pellets for clicker training. It’s pretty easy to give 20 treats while barely making a dent in their daily pellet ration. Like Beka said, smaller pieces are better because they mean less chewing. When Otto chews, his brain totally shuts down, so I have to wait for him to finish before asking for another trick. lol

I am grateful to Beka for the matchstick carrot tip. It’s perfect for clicker training.

And I would expect it would be a great thing to try with an older bunny, because they are more easily bored (they’ve seen and done it all, right?) and would find it a new stimulation that they would enjoy.

Just be prepared for it to take time. Is Hatter a “busy” rabbit? Does he like to get into trouble? In my experience, the ones who get into trouble are actually the smartest ones who learn the fastest. They’re just waiting for some mental stimulation. Pam’s Sammy is a good example of a smart bunny who picked it up quickly.

Otto is very quiet and never ever gets into trouble – it took at least 2 weeks of sessions before he really understood the point of the clicker. Even now, he’s slow to learn, but he does still enjoy it 😉 Sometimes the more laid back buns are a little more “dim”, but they can still get it with patience.

Even tho my clicker training never went too far, a few things I learned (the hard way) and thru threads on BB…

Obviously, you want to do this at a time of day where he’s attentive, but not super rambunctious. Don’t interrupt nap time. (This was my big downfall b/c I ONLY had free time during the bunny afternoon nap… mornings were too hectic, and evenings there were too many things going on with the human family.)

Since he’s free roam, you may need to pen off a smaller area, probably no bigger than about 6 or 8 feet square. If you’re working in too big of a space, you’ll end up by yourself b/c he’ll be out exploring something else.

Keep the sessions very short. You’ll probably spend more time setting up a pen and cutting up treats than you will training. Buns are not like dogs: 5 minutes to a bunny is like 5 hours to us.

Those two things don’t sound very difficult, but in my experience, training a bunny to be handled more can be an extremely slow process. You’re better off teaching him easy things to start with – fun things that he will enjoy doing. Then limit the handling training to very short moments within your regular training. If I try to touch Otto during training, he can only go for a few seconds before becoming uncomfortable – then I go back to fun tricks to get him re-focused. If you do too much too fast, you might turn him off the training.

Also, make sure he totally understands the clicker before moving on to anything that makes him uncomfortable. If you start too soon, he’ll associate the clicker with feeling uncomfortable.

Haha. Either way, handling training is much more difficult than it seems. If your bunny is skittish enough to not enjoy being touched, it’s not going to be that easy to convince him.

Glad you’re going to try it.
E. said “In my experience, the ones who get into trouble are actually the smartest ones who learn the fastest. They’re just waiting for some mental stimulation. Pam’s Sammy is a good example of a smart bunny who picked it up quickly.” E, are you suggesting that my darling, sweet, charming little Diva liked to get into trouble? LOL!!! I can see her as a gangster’s Moll, she was so good at being bad. 

She did really well this morning coming out of the bedroom. It was cute, when she came out and heard the clicker, she got excited. I moved around the room so she’d come when I called and clicked in different places, and one time she binkied on her way to our next location – she loved it. Then we did “Up.” I find that since she learned up first, the way yours has, Hatter, I am trying to get her more advanced. So now that she knows commands mean do it and hear a click, I do not feed her when she just stands up, but when she lowers herself again (not finding a treat) and I say “Up”, then she stands up again, she hears the click and gets a treat. It reinforces the command, rather than the begging behavior.

I think I need to spend some time moving on to teaching her something new. I’m wondering if touching an object is a good next trick. Though I, too, would like to figure out a way to have her let me handle her more.

I love the touch trick. It seems really easy to train (at least for Otto, who is not that bright) and you can use it to do other things. Otto won’t follow a moving target (which I’ve heard is normal, since bunnies don’t have to chase their food, they’re not good chasers), but he will go wherever the target is. And mostly he thinks it’s the most fun game ever! Haha