Spray Bottles

[daisy406]

Hello, Just a quick question here. Do Spray bottles really work to train a bunny to not do something. IF so, would this also work if she is pooping everywhere to spray her or is that just the repetition of putting her poop in the litter box. Also, if it does work, mist or jet?

[Deleted User]

She’s pooping everywhere because she isn’t spayed. Spraying her with a mister isn’t going to do anything. The poops aren’t likely to get better until a month or so after a spay.

[Bam]

I agree with A&B. Bunnies mark territory with poop. It’s a strong instinct. Spaying is the only thing that can help.

[sarahthegemini]

Personally I think spraying a rabbit with water to try and ‘train’ them is similar to those electric collar things that dogs have – cruel and unnecessary.

[daisy406]

Okay, but in general do spray bottles work. From many bunny owners I hear that if their bunny is doing something they shouldn’t or continuously going into something they shouldn’t they spray them with a little water and they stop doing what they aren’t supposed to be doing.

[Deleted User]

I would never spray my bunny with water, so I don’t know. If they’re doing something I don’t want them to do, I usually either block the area with something, or I move them myself. It takes two seconds for me to stop what I’m doing to stop them. If a bunny doesn’t like water, spraying them will only make them afraid of me. Some bunnies could very well keep doing whatever they aren’t supposed to, even if you keep spraying them, so I just don’t see the point. 

[Bam]

If timed perfectly, ie if the spraying hits the bun within a split sec of the mischievous act, it can work. It has to be timed perfectly though, or the bun will only learn to refrain from doing whatever it’s doing when you’re around. The spraying should be associated with the bun’s action, not with you, because you don’t want your bun to associate you with bad things. This can be hard to achieve, because the time window is narrow, to say the least.

A spray bottle can help as an “emergency intervention-measure” when you’re bonding two bunnies and they are are being too aggressive towards each other.

But it’s still not a method you can rely on, especially not when it’s about not biting electrical cords. A bun can go for years without chewing an electrical cord, then one day the cord-chewing idea pops up in the bunny’s head – and snip. I got sloppy with my Bam, I have wire covers on all cords except my mobile phone cord and he didn’t pay any attention to it for about 5 years. Then – snip. That’s a low voltage cord so there’s no danger in chewing it, but chewing bigger cords can lead to the bun getting a burned mouth or worse, or it could cause a house fire.

[Mikey]

Tried spray bottle training with all thee of my bunnies, all of them reacted negatively. Blue would attack the nearest living thing (me, my partner, or Bombur). Bombur would attack the nearest thing (pillows, toys, blankets, litter box, me, my boyfriend, Blue, etc). Badger would become depressed/stop eating. So personally, I really dont recommenced it.

Punishing a rabbit in any form because the rabbit is acting like a rabbit, is not going to end well. As in, any “punishment” you try while she is hormonal acting like a hormonal bun is only going to make her behavior worse, make her depressed, or otherwise cause a problem.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By daisy406 on 3/09/2018 1:33 PM
Okay, but in general do spray bottles work. From many bunny owners I hear that if their bunny is doing something they shouldn’t or continuously going into something they shouldn’t they spray them with a little water and they stop doing what they aren’t supposed to be doing.

Well possibly, just like electric collars ‘work’ on dogs. But it’s still cruel. I’d only ever use them in extreme circumstances like if buns were fighting during bonding like Bam said.

[Cocoa]

So you shouldn’t use the spay bottle except for fighting during bonding? I’m trying to be prepared for bonding my bunnies

[Millie]

Posted By daisy406 on 3/09/2018 10:01 AM

Hello, Just a quick question here. Do Spray bottles really work to train a bunny to not do something. IF so, would this also work if she is pooping everywhere to spray her or is that just the repetition of putting her poop in the litter box. Also, if it does work, mist or jet?

SPAY don’t SPRAY

[Mikey]

I wouldnt even use them during fights, based on how 2/3rds of my bun’s reacted to the spraying by acting out even more aggressively. In my experience, spraying would make a fight worse. Separating them with mittens on your hands to avoid being hurt helped much more in my bonding experiences.

[Cocoa]

Thank you

[Bam]

Yes, the risk is that the buns become more aggressive. But it can help as a desperate measure if you have to separate two fighting bunnies. Buns can fight so they’re roll around on the floor like a ball of rage and can be difficult to pry apart without hurting one or both. Wear gloves for bonding.

It’s very difficult to use punishment effectively and constructively with animals. As Sarah says, using a spray bottle is a bit like using an electric collar on a dog. If it’s done right f ex when you’re training a hunting dog that needs to not hunt reindeers, only game, you should only need to use the collar once, two times tops. If the point hasn’t gotten across by then, the dog won’t get the point, probably because the trainer hasn’t got the timing exactly right. In my country electric collars for dogs are illegal. I’d never use one myself, obviously.

If you like to read a really good book on training animals, I recommend Don’t Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor. It’s all about positive reinforcement and shaping. It used to be available as a pdf. but I don’t know if it still is, I can’t find it right now anyway. karen Pryor has also written about clicker training. Clicker training is not just for dogs.

[Author]

Messages