How to teach Fetch? (She did it!)

[skysblue]

So i’ve been training my 4 months since she was 12 weeks. Right now she runs to me when called/signaled, she can also do spin, jump over hoop with various height, give high-five, walking on hind legs, climb stair and jump onto sofa and laps when called etc….

However, I just can’t get her to fetch … she doesn’t like to pick things up with her month, so is hard to have her pick up anything…I would throw the object boxed with her favorite food, but she would just follows my hand, and ignore the object, maybe chew on it a bit. 

How do i teach her to fetch?! Anyone has any success? 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I think it’s easier to teach fetch to dogs, because chase and grab is natural to predators. For prey animals-not so much.

Karen Pryor says you can teach any animal anything they are physically and mentally capable of-and it sounds like you know what you are doing!

So my only suggestion is persist-and you gotta find something your bunny likes to pick up! Then you’ll work on getting her to pick up and hold, then pick up hold carry etc. Once that’s ingrained I think you could start tossing.

For what she likes to pick up-you’ll probably have to expriment-maybe small wooden toys or grass toys or baskets?

[skysblue]

I finally found something shes willing to put her mouth in : pizza stix wrapper. Shes associating picking up and dropping gets a treat, and sometimes she gets lucky and actually drops it infront of me. Hahaha omg it was sooo cute to see when she actually did some decent fetch. Right now i’d say about 30% there.

[skysblue]

I finally found something shes willing to put her mouth in : pizza stix wrapper. Shes associating picking up and dropping gets a treat, and sometimes she gets lucky and actually drops it infront of me. Hahaha omg it was sooo cute to see when she actually did some decent fetch. Right now i’d say about 30% there.

[MissMary]

That is SO cute! I don’t have advice but I was wondering how you teach these things? Do you have any links to how-to’s? I have a super smart and energetic 2 year old bun and I think he would LOVE to learn tricks

[skysblue]

oh yes. You just need to find something they are dying to eat. In my case, I use timothy pellets. I don’t leave it in a bowl because she is on a limited pellet diet (about 1/8 cup a day- depending on the weight). This way i have a lot of bonding time with her because i am feeding her by hand. Most importantly, I can reiterate training MANY times in a day; whereas large quantity sweet treat is unhealthy. Each time she does it right, i give her one pellet.

SPIN: The easiest to start is the spin. Start off by luring her to follow your hand to do a full body circle. If she does one full circle (good, bad, slow, and or broken), she gets one pellet. The more you iterate, the faster and better she will get. (I make my bunny do two circles before giving treat).

HOOP: Second trick you can try is jumping through a hoop. I started off by just placing the hoop without any height, each time she cross over, I give a pellet. This way she associates crossing over the hoop with rewards. I gradually increase height each time. The maximum my rabbit is doing now is about a foot, if higher than that she gets lazy….

The bunny will eventually see you as one giant food, and the calling trick becomes really easy.

Training burns energy real quick, keeps rabbit out of boredom, and is all about reiteration: do it everyday, many times a day! Let me know how yours turn out!! I have more great training ideas

[Reeem]

I just cant get my bunny to learn anything , she cant sit in one area for too long and i dont wanna force her. Do you use a clicker?

[skysblue]

i don’t use clicker. Not sure what you mean by sit in one area for too long? What do you want her to learn?

[Mr Jingles]

It is so cute to watch them do tricks. It just takes a ton of repetition. I would love to teach high 5. How do you do that? Mr Jingles is 2 years old and he has mastered spin, hula jumping, walk on hind legs, comes when called and gives a kiss when asked. He doesn’t throw the ball but he will push it with his nose. I say push the ball and he will do move it for a pellet. I now have another bunny but haven’t attempted any tricks with him yet. He just looks at me when I call his name that’s it.

[skysblue]

Yes. For high-five, i first start with a horizontal palm and have her rest her paws on it, then reward. Then gradually moved to a vertical position. So now when I do a vertical palm, she either puts one paw or two paws against it just like a high five.

By kiss, is it like a nose nudge? or lick? Is it on your cheek?

I haven’t thought about the ball trick, but I did something like a plastic cup and she just pushes it around with it, it is sooo funny to watch. Because she end up pushing it under the shelves or sofa, then run back to me thinking she did something great. hahah

Right now she is 85% with the fetch!! i am so proud of her!! When she masters it I think i will do a ring-bell trick.

[MissMary]

Thanks! I’m gonna save your tips to my phone I don’t think Juniper, my lop would have any interest in them (though she does loooove treats) but Goji is a little ball of energy, I think he will love it. I’m so excited to start!

[Reeem]

Like she wont pay attention to me for more than 5 minutes. I want to teach her high five. She knows how to give me a kiss (like bop her nose on my mouth). I didnt really teach her that she kinda learnt it on her own. How did you teach high 5?!

[Mr Jingles]

Mr jingles isn’t a licker so it’s just a dry kiss lol. Since he was a baby, I have kissed him in the bridge of his nose. So now when you say give me a kiss, he comes over and puts his nose or lips right on your lips. He just puts them up to you. Now my other bunny is a licker and when you say give me a kiss, he licks your face. Its cute. Thanks for the high 5 trick. I will work on that next.

[Mr Jingles]

Mr jingles isn’t a licker so it’s just a dry kiss lol. Since he was a baby, I have kissed him in the bridge of his nose. So now when you say give me a kiss, he comes over and puts his nose or lips right on your lips. He just puts them up to you. Now my other bunny is a licker and when you say give me a kiss, he licks your face. Its cute. Thanks for the high 5 trick. I will work on that next.

[skysblue]

MissMary- Most people use treat for rewards, so it is fine also! It is just that I happened to use pellet as a healthier option, and it works well because I started when she was very young.

Reeem- Rabbit has some short attention span. What does your rabbit like to do daily? What does she like to eat? Maybe you can start feeding by hand, so she will like to come near you more often. Or whenever she is paying attention to you, you can reward her. I did a little how-to on high-five in the earlier reply.

Mr.Jingles- Boy, my bunny loves to lick everything, my hand, my toes, my feet, my arm, my fingers, my neck– you name it. She even likes to lick the floor and sofa, which led me to believe she probably doesn’t lick me cause of love (sad face). Maybe I can try to do the “licks the face” trick. This would be cute.

[Reeem]

My bun gives licks me everywhere except face !! She would die for pellets she loves them. Ill try high five and see if she would learn that.

[skysblue]

Check out the fetch!! http://sendvid.com/6g1fx1b9

[Reeem]

Wow. What a cute little smart girl. I need your bunny to have a talk with my bun ?!

[Bunny Hugger]

So cute! Do you use hand signals or verbal cues for all your tricks? I’ve had my bun for about a month now (he is over a year old from the humane society) and he is extremely food motivated. I use pellets or small pieces of his greens or teensy pieces of carrot (half the size of a pellet) to train him. I was originally using a clicker but that didn’t really seem to make a difference. I use hand gestures as I think my guy is hard of hearing. He knows come and stand (up in hind legs), and we were working on kiss (nose to nose); however he’s recently become a whole house bunny and is still learning and distracted by his new environment and only follows commands if he can actually smell the food lol. I love the high five and will have to do that next!

[skysblue]

I use both verbal and hand signals. Double reinforcement. Verbal works great when she is upstairs or i have no idea where she is, so she can come to me running. I think these work just as fine, though i never tried a clicker. The bunny recognizes you pitch/sound better that way i think. Lots of love and patient and practice do the trick!

[Pablo]

I’m trying to teach my rabbit tricks but it never works 😢. They don’t follow when I do the spin trick the just turn their head. I also can’t find good treats for the two of my bunnies

[Pablo]

Sorry this was a few years ago but I need help 🤣

[DanaNM]

Since this is a very old thread I will lock this one, but please start a new thread on this as I’m sure you will get some helpful tips. 🙂

. . . 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.  

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