Click-training

[Zap]

Hey, I was watching this video on click-training for stress-free nail clipping and was led to this book on click training.  I was wondering if any of you had read this book, or had some tips on click-training.  Remmy hasn’t been click-trained but I am giving it thought, even if only to make nail-clipping less stressful for him.

Also, do older bunnies have more resistance to click-training?  Remmy is 1 year old, but I’m wondering if it gets the harder the longer you wait for any type of training?  (He is trained for basic things like using the litterbox already, I’m just thinking about more difficult things like nail-clipping).

Also, what is a gentle clicker that won’t hurt his ears?  I see a lot of them for dogs, but I worry that it might be too loud.

[Freyja]

i was just going to make a post asking nearly the same thing so il nosy in here does anyone have any recommendations for a good beginners clicker training book?

[Freyja]

p.s, Zap, i think your profile bun is a bun twin for my Parsley 

[Elrohwen]

BinkyBunny sells the same clicker book and I also really like the iClick that’s also for sale. Regular clickers won’t hurt their ears, but the iClick is softer if you’re worried about that. I just like it because you can click with any finger, so it’s easier to hold in your palm and click with the middle finger, for example, while holding something with your thumb and index fingers. Traditional box clickers can only be clicked with your thumb so it limits what you can do with that hand.

Clickerbunny.com is a great site with lots of info.

Age doesn’t matter one bit when doing clicker training. The click is just a form of information telling the animal “yes, that was right, now you’ll get a reward”. You can train only using the reward, but the click allows you to precisely indicate what the rabbit did right to get the treat. It can take a while for any bunny to get the hang of what the strange clicking thing actually means, but once they get it learning speeds up noticeably.

To use it for nail trimming you’ll have to go very slow. When something is scary for them, it does require a lot of counter conditioning and they probably won’t turn around as quickly as you hope. Definitely start by teaching a couple of tricks so the bunny can learn what the clicker means in a fun way. If you jump right into uncomfortable things, like touching feet, before your bunny understands the training, it will just make him dislike the clicker because seeing the clicker means you’re going to touch his feet. Seeing the clicker needs to mean that he can control when you click and treat by figuring out what you want, but he wont’ get to that point right away.

[Usagi5]

I just got the book and the iClick to try and start clicker training Usagi. I also got the pelletized oat hay from binkybunny because it said that it would be a good treat for them to learn the concept of clicker training. Happy Clicking!

[Freyja]

that book does look good hopefully i can find somewhere that sells it here in Aus

[Zap]

They look very similar!

[Zap]

Awesome!  Thank you

[Zap]

Posted By Elrohwen on 06/15/2012 08:59 AM

BinkyBunny sells the same clicker book and I also really like the iClick that’s also for sale. Regular clickers won’t hurt their ears, but the iClick is softer if you’re worried about that. I just like it because you can click with any finger, so it’s easier to hold in your palm and click with the middle finger, for example, while holding something with your thumb and index fingers. Traditional box clickers can only be clicked with your thumb so it limits what you can do with that hand.

Clickerbunny.com is a great site with lots of info.

Age doesn’t matter one bit when doing clicker training. The click is just a form of information telling the animal “yes, that was right, now you’ll get a reward”. You can train only using the reward, but the click allows you to precisely indicate what the rabbit did right to get the treat. It can take a while for any bunny to get the hang of what the strange clicking thing actually means, but once they get it learning speeds up noticeably.

To use it for nail trimming you’ll have to go very slow. When something is scary for them, it does require a lot of counter conditioning and they probably won’t turn around as quickly as you hope. Definitely start by teaching a couple of tricks so the bunny can learn what the clicker means in a fun way. If you jump right into uncomfortable things, like touching feet, before your bunny understands the training, it will just make him dislike the clicker because seeing the clicker means you’re going to touch his feet. Seeing the clicker needs to mean that he can control when you click and treat by figuring out what you want, but he wont’ get to that point right away.

Awesome!  Thanks!

[RabbitPam]

I tried a bit of clicker training with Sammy and she took to it easily, though I only did it for easy things like coming and going at first. I have the book and the clicker BB carries in the store and like both a lot.

An older bunny can definitely be clicker trained. In fact, an older bunny needs new stimulation, and is intelligent, so often will take to it very well and really enjoy the new games.

[WhitneyElyse]

I am sure this has been answered somewhere else, but I can’t seem to find it. Does anyone have a great bunny treat for clicker training? I have a non-food motivated Holland lop and she is a real moody bunny too. She loves apples one day and the next day she will turn up her nose thump and run away. I feel like I haven’t found anything she consistently likes that can be used for training. She does seem to like the oxbow simple rewards veggie treats pretty well, but they are really hard and too big to use as a quick treat. She just pulls it out of my hand runs off with it and eats it under her cage. They are really difficult to break up and even if I do the fact that they are so hard means it takes her awhile to get it chewed up. I need something small, quick to eat, and something that will make her go nuts. Any suggestions? I am finally purchasing the fur buster comb today so I was hoping I could add something too my order to start clicker training. I was even looking at the oat hay pellets, but how big of pieces are they, and are they super hard? She is only about 4 lbs so it has to be small.

[RexEnabler]

I just started my little guy with clicker-training last night. I used his favorite treats–dried roses from my garden. Happily, they break apart nicely into petals so, by the time he gets tired of the little game of “treat-click”, he has only gone through one rose.

He seems to be enjoying things so far, but of course, we are still doing the basic associating of the click with a treat part. He likes that a lot

[Author]

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