Click training your rabbit.

[MosesIsABunny]

Hey I saw this book on binky bunny “Getting started: clicking with your rabbit”

Has anyone click trained thier rabbit friends? Has anyone used this book to train thier rabbits? Moses is a 4 year old lop ear, we just adopted him about 6 months ago and I think it would be awesome to train him to do some tricks. He was a caged rabbit for most of his life and now he has full roam of our house and is 98% perfect with the litter box. Has anyone had any luck with this? Anyone have any tips? Do you think he is to old to train?

 

-Paul

 

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I don’t think he is too old to train! You should go for it!
I don’t use the book, I just trained my rabbit like a dog with a very short attention span (Fern does have a short attention span because she is still a baby)
The trick is to train constantly, don’t get impatient if your bunny does not get the trick right away. Fern took about 3 or 4 days to learn how to spin. Bunny’s are surprisingly bright. It is just getting them to pay attention and getting them to WANT to do a trick that is hard.
I use Romane lettuce as a treat, I do tricks with her right before I give her a bowl of romane (she gets romane as part of her diet) so I also use romane as a food she has to do tricks for. It works well.
Go for it! Train him! If he has been neutered it will be even easier!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Clicker training is very very good and you can train your bunnies to do great things. Check out some more internet sites, as you really want to get the basics for it down before you start

Command, bunny does it, click immediately, then offer treat.

It helps because if the reward (treat) comes to far after the behavior it confuses the animal about what was the correct behavior (standing up or reaching for the treat, or putting their paw forward, or wiggling their nose). Click at the exact second they do what you want. Then the treat can come a few seconds later without confusing them!

To get you excited here are some vids of clicker trained bunnies!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE9OXATfF0o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgDHWLyztCI&feature=related

[Beka27]

i do have the book and i like it a lot. it makes very subtle points that you might not realize if you didn’t read it. since buns are very different in mentality than cats or dogs, i found it helpful to read something that pertains directly to them. rabbits are very smart and they like to put their minds to use for a purpose…

i did a sad attempt at clicker training before i got my second bunny, then i was bonding, then i became a Forum Leader on BB, then i was getting my son ready for kindergarten, then i forgot i wanted to clicker train… it’s neverending… lol! the issue i face is that the only time they would be alert enough to be interested is when my son is home before school starts (he’s in afternoon kindergarten). he always wants to “help”, which is more distracting to the bunnies than anything. i appreciate his interest, but it’s very important to have no distractions when you’re doing this, at least at first. so i still plan on doing it… just don’t know when…

(i was cleaning in my room the other day, found the clicker and literally had to blow off a layer of dust… LMAO!)

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