Negative attention seeking??

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 8sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 1 month ago by Littlemouse93.

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- 09/17/2020 at 5:38 AM
  Littlemouse93
  Participant
  36 posts
  Has anyone experienced negative attention seeking behaviors from your rabbit(s)?
  
  2 of the 3 rabbits I have are pretty laid back and are perfectly content to busy themselves with their toys and munching on hay. They’ll occasionally chew on something I don’t want them to, but they respond well when I say “no” and go on about their business doing something else.
  
  Then there’s Hazel. She’s very intelligent and she’s very determined. And I feel like she’s always bored no matter how many toys I offer her – even when I rotate them. While the other rabbits are busy with toys, she’s sneaking around the room investigating everything just trying as hard as she can to see what she can get into to – and it s always something she doesn’t need to get into. It’s like she’s trying to get me to get up and go fuss at her to stop. She completely ignores me when I tell her “no” and does whatever she’s doing 100% more intensely until I have to go shoo her away from what she’s doing. Then she binkies off like “hehe I made you mad!” like it’s a fun little game for her.
  
  I try to give her lots of positive attention like pets and sitting on the floor with her and making her space “fun”. But she will not really let me pet her, so I just don’t know what to do to give her the attention she’s craving.
  
  Any ideas on how I can keep her from being bored and stop this negative attention seeking behavior? I feel like the only attention I give her lately is fussing at her… and I don’t want our relationship to be like that. 🙁
- 09/17/2020 at 9:59 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  She sounds like she might be a good candidate for clicker training! Once you have the basics down, you could then use her training to redirect her to more appropriate activities. Then you are rewarding her for the good activity, not the bad one.
  
  That combined with enrichment type toys and food puzzles could be very good for her.
  
  Also, rather than going over and shooing her away, you might try a light spritz from a spray bottle, so she doesn’t know where it’s coming from. I would also say just try to improve your bunny proofing even more to try to avoid having to redirect her. What types of things does she tend to get into? For my carpet diggers, I would use heavy ceramic tiles in the problem areas, and then provide cardboard cat scratchers and phone books for them to shred up.
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 09/17/2020 at 10:24 AM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5813 posts
  Binkies can also be an expression of frustration, so it can also be like a “Fine! I’ll stop, ugh.”. My Wick does those binkies exclusively.
  
  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 09/17/2020 at 10:46 AM
  Littlemouse93
  Participant
  36 posts
  @DanaNM – That’s a great idea! She would take to that really well, I think – super quick mind. I’m just not sure how to go about it without having to close her mate (Lola) up while I work with her. I’m sure I can figure something out.
  
  Hazel is extremely food motivated and I already have a couple of puzzle toys and she figures them out super fast – it’s not even funny. She’ll have the treats out in seconds. And I always feel bad for Lola because (bless her) she’s a little slower and she’s always several steps behind Hazel and hardly ever gets any food from the puzzle toys… They don’t squabble over them or anything. It’s mostly just Lola following Hazel around trying to catch anything that gets left behind.
  
  Would it be bad for me to give them each some individual time (separate from each other) for training/puzzle toys?
- 09/17/2020 at 10:46 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  16964 posts
  Most human-oriented pets will seek attention by doing stuff that gets them attention, good or bad. I agree with Dana, she does sound like a good candidate for clicker training. High activity level, an adventurous mind and a wish for attention from her human are traits that make it likely that she’d respond well to clicker training.
  
  A side effect of clicker training is that a bun (or dog or whatever animal) who gets to work with its brain gets tired. Making new synapses (which is one of the things that happen when we learn new stuff) costs energy, more energy than is spent by “just” running around. (Physical exercise is invaluable too of course, for both buns and hooms!)
- 09/17/2020 at 10:57 AM
  Littlemouse93
  Participant
  36 posts
  @Bam, yeah I’m really excited to see how she likes it. I hope it does tire her out, haha. They have plenty of opportunities to exercise, but Hazel rarely does zoomies compared to Lola. She does love to climb and dig, though.
- 09/17/2020 at 11:01 AM
  Littlemouse93
  Participant
  36 posts
  @Wick, I did not know that! I’m learning that binkies can mean many different things. That’s also very likely the meaning behind it, then. Hazel is very communicative of her displeasure/frustration/impatience. She’ll click her teeth and stomp at me when I don’t put their food/treat down fast enough. So rude….
- 09/17/2020 at 2:04 PM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  I think it would be OK (and prob necessary) to separate her during training time. You could just use an x-pen in the same room, so she is still in sight of Lola. You might want to do some basic commands with Lola too, just so she isn’t left out. 🙂 You could use a dif sound for each bun so they don’t get too confused. 🙂
  
  For harder food puzzles, there are some really complicated ones for dogs that I think would be compatible with bunnies, as long as you don’t leave it there for her to chew on.
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 09/18/2020 at 5:28 AM
  Littlemouse93
  Participant
  36 posts
  Yeah, I have an ex pen I can use. Using different sounds is a cool idea!
  
  I will definitely have to see what other puzzles I can find for her. I looked at some that are designed for cats, but I didn’t think about ones for dogs!
  
  Thank you for these suggestions! 🙂
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