Are Harnesses Safe?

[SaisyDaisy]

So lately Iv’e been looking into bunny harnesses, but I’m concerned about potential harm to my bun.. Any advice? Could I try to harness her? Or would that potentially harm her if I walk her outside, like breaking/fracturing bones… Just want to know

[Wick & Fable]

Don’t use a harness. There’s definitely spine cracking bone breaking risks, especially if your rabbit isn’t 10000000% comfortable with the environment and random noises, which all rabbits are pretty uncomfortable with. A sudden jolt while on a harness can lead to serious injury.

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.

[Azerane]

This is a tricky one, yes and no. If properly trained with positive reinforcement rabbits can be comfortable wearing a harness, you should never force it on or put it on them when it is scaring them. It has to be trained properly so that they don’t freak out with it on. The other most important part is having a very long lead or a lead with elastic so that if your bunny suddenly bolts when scared that she’s not going to run to the end of the leash and be snapped back, potentially breaking her back or other bones. A longer leash gives plenty of slack and elastic helps cushion sudden jolts. That being said, even with a bunny comfortable wearing a harness, not all rabbits do well outdoors on walks in parks etc. Some take to it really well, others don’t. You also need to consider people out walking their dogs (sometimes off leash), cats and of course birds of prey. Yes it can be done relatively safely, but of course there are risks as with anything.

[Q8bunny]

Like Az said, yes and no. I’ve heard loads of horror stories regarding escapes or injuries and/or death. Having said that, my boy loves going out on a leash (except that we must switch to a vest harness soon, since he figured out how to Houdini out of his current shoulder harness, and I’m simply not keen on trying an H one due to the neck collar).

[Fluffykins]

It’s like asking are cars safe. Yes – as much as they can be but you can still have an accident and die whilst using one.

It’s a calculated riak you take, but if you do everything you can to minimise the risks then personally its safe (enough) for me.

Let me clarify I don’t take my bunny outside for walks with his lead and harness, we only do indoor walks. I Hoover, put away anything that might be on the floor or close to it (you’d be surprised with kids in the house) and I also introduced the concept of wearing a harness and lead incredibly slowly. We are at the point where I can say to him walkies, let him smell the harness and he stays still because he knows what’s coming next. However, the odd time he *doesn’t* stay fully still (or my hands are a bit sweaty and I keep fiddling with trying to get it on and he looses his patience) I will give him a dry herb treat to bribe him.

I am also still learning every single day, our personal limits with inside walkies. My point is this isn’t a relaxing, fun cute little walk I do with him – for me its highly intense! I am on super heightened alert mode (basically I need to be ready to sprint behind him at the drop of a hat – heck faster!). I have ZERO distractions, I have literally told my husband and kids to not talk to me haha when I am doing walkies. For me it’s still a massive type of learning / bonding / socialization session so it’s fully attentive and my brain is always always ticking, learning, observing and watching out for the smallest new signs.

Our walkies start of very calm, no running, and progressively work up to a very excitable (And happy – think binky – yes whilst being in the harness – every 3 steps). So currently I’m trying to work out exactly how long I can have calm walkies for until I need to stop – just before the super excitable stage.

Once he gets there I swiftly take off the lead, block off the rest of the house he only has access to during walkies, and let him do a lap or two then put him back to the playpen. Ending with that freedom to run anywhere in a harness but not a lead, I found really cemented the positivity of walkies. That and also the fact I only give access to the whole house whilst on walkies, purposefully, so he associated that excitement only with walkies time.

He had to learn how to properly walk whilst being restrained, which he did over the course of doing this (maybe I’ve been doing this for around 5 weeks now) and I also had to learn how to hold the harness. That’s NOT as simple as it sounds!

[Fluffykins]

I’d also like to suggest you watch “harness training and leash etiquette” by Animal Wonders Montana on YouTube.

They do fantastic work rehabilitating abused and neglected exotic pets and then these same animals go on to be ambassadors for their species and get taken to large audiences as part of educational presentations.

These people are so great, they use behavioural training to turn around these poor animals, so imagine what we can do with healthy ones!

I love the fact that although the presenter always says any certain animal group has general characteristics, all animals are individual. I learnt this *so well* with my fluffykins – he’s just the opp of what I read on “normal” bunny behaviour! I’ve learnt to learn there is no normal just individuals.

(Some examples: he’s hay is fully on the opp side to his litter box. When I put any hay in his litter box – he uses the whole cage as a litter box. Go figure. He loves snuggles. He stretches his head up to tell me floor pettings aren’t enough and he wants me to pick him up. Again – go figure! The best one – I take him outside with me (to my mum’s, to the cafe, supermarket etc) in a carry on tote (especially made for animals) and the other day I peaked in to have a look at him, he was flopped. Yes FLOPPED on his side, both legs out, whilst I’m walking around with him in my bag).

God I love everyday with this bunny, every single day brings new challenges and new joys… unbeatable for me. I hope I can make his whole life just 1/10th as happy as he makes me – he’ll be the happiest bunny in the world!

[SaisyDaisy]

Great! Thanks for all the useful info! If it’s okay, I’m just going to opt out of harnesses! While Charloette is really friendly, she loves to SPRINT and that would lead to issues!

[Fluffykins]

Haha yes sprinting is a absolute no no when using the harness! Good on you for being able to see all the sides and still choosing the best side for your bun!

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