Trained my rabbit

[FrankieFlash]

Not going to lie, I’m about about to brag…

I’ve successfully trained Bunjamin to “wait”.

Backstory: We have not yet Bunny proofed our whole place nor can we so we gave him our bedroom and now its his too. He gets free-roam of it and the walk-in closet pretty much all day. Well of course being a curious Bun he wanted to know what was beyond the mysterious door we disappeared too. I made the mistake of one day letting him explore the rest of the house while I followed around. Since then, we’d been struggling to keep him in the bedroom as he would mad dash for the door before we even go to it.

The Lesson: So today when he learned to open the door if it was not fully latched. I said enough was enough and started a reward system for “waiting” where he would get a smidgit of a treat everytime he successfully waited. By the end of the day, no more attempts to leave the room have occured. We also have in place a squirt bottle right outside the door if he does try, but thankfully we haven’t had to use that yet because the reward is worth it to him.

 

I feel like a very successful bunny parent today. Yay!

[emkvet]

That’s awesome! Also a really useful trick, I’m sure. Sneaky buns…

[FrankieFlash]

thank you. I’m just hoping he remembers it tomorrow

[RabbitPam]

Excellent! Positive reinforcement is the way to train bunnies.
He’ll remember it if you keep doing it, so give him the command and the treat again every day this week and it should stick. Also, eventually you cut back the treat to only random rewards, so he never can be sure if he is going to get one or not. That way, he will always obey the command just in case this is the one that gets him a treat, but you won’t need a treat on you all the time and he won’t get fat.

[RabbitPam]

P.S. You can also substitute treats with pets, so he is rewarded by praise and being petted, too.

[FrankieFlash]

Thanks Rabbit Pam! I did worry about how many treats so I usually give him one not even quarter or raisin but last night I switched some of them to willow leaves, praise, and a little piece of shredded carrot trying to use some healthier options.

[Elrohwen]

That’s awesome! Bunnies are really so smart when you find the right motivation for them and have patience.

[bunnyfriend]

That’s really nice!! Smart bun

[Huckleberry]

WOW! That is impressive!!!!

[FrankieFlash]

Thank you. Although now he’s figured it out. He runs over to the door and sits and expects us to leave the room so he can get treat/grooms. I think he might’ve trained the slave. And he’s too smart with this opening the door thing if its not completely latched. The other day he got his condo door open too. I feel silly being outsmarted by a bunny :/

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