On a more serious note ...

Okay, friends, it's not funny anymore.

My husband wanted to see if maybe the sofa marking incidentwith Sherman on yesterday was just a fluke, so we left him unsupervisedupstairs for a while after he finished visiting with mymother.

Well ... about an hour and a half later my husband went back inthe den ... and you guessed it!!!! HE HAD DONE ITAGAIN!!!! The sofa was covered with "pills", notas many as yesterday, but still a "goodly" amount.

I'm especially hoping that Carolyn, Pam, or Buck will have anexplanation for this. My initial theory was that the scentsof my new nephews and their parents were on the couch and he wasrebelling against that, but we cleaned the sofa and sprayed it withFebreze after he soiled it on yesterday, so I'd think that the scentwould be dissipated by now ... and my expertise in rabbit psychology isnot highly developed at all.

Can anybody give me an explanation for this newbehavior? Sherman's usually so fastidious about his litterboxbehavior and he's only doing this on the sofa.

I'd hate to have to start restricting him back to the cage andjust downstairs, but he's well on his way to this standard ofliving.

Thanks in advance for all responses.

--Hopeless inAtlanta

im sorry dear! i dont klnow what to say! i knowmy opionion isnt that great, but i know they have these things you canput on your couch that keep your dog and or cat off it. i dont know howthey work. but maybe something like that could be used to just keep himoff of there. i hope you figure out a solution! im sure sherman has areasonable explanation for it in that cute little bunny head of his!

Company can be a major threat to a territorialbunn -- the threat continued as you marked the couch as "yours" bycleaning it. Hopefully, he'll get over this -- for now, placea sheet on the couch.

I remember that our little Princess would become extrememly agitatedand angry with me when I would yell at her to stay out of my office(electrical cord heaven). She would take her frustrations outon my personal items and attack and chew things she had never touchedbefore.

She also imagined that my husbands white socks were enemy invaders andwould attach his feet Princess also had no fear of thedog. She'd chase him away and take his "blankey". Ihad her outside and she even went after our horse!!!!

Pam

I think at this point, the incident may also helpto answer the question whether or not another rabbit should beintroduced. I think it would be a disruption to Sherman andyour family to try to add another rabbit to the mix right now.

Pam

Thanks so much for your expertise, Pam.

I totally agree with you that this is a finite indication thatadding another bun would not be a good decision at this time.

I'm on my way upstairs now to find a sheet that we can dowithout.

Hi BunnyMommy,

Well, there's the proof. Give him an inch and he'll take a mile. So like a rabbit!

Couldn't agree more with Pam about the territory. It seems as thoughthe King enjoys the comforts of the couch and decided to claim it ashis own. Umm, think again, Sherman!

This is a time for The Watergun! Keep his little tail off of that couchand the minute he jumps on it, sheet or not, give a warning and if hedidn't take heed, aim and shoot. He thinks that this is his area and ifyou don't stop it sooner rather than later by correcting him while yousee him on the couch, then trouble will most likely persist.

Cher had her rabbits doing that. Jade or Jez was getting into markingher couch. They worked as a team. One would distract Cher while theother would hop on and the couch and do her duty. Through the watergunand correction, she stopped it. I had the same thing happen with yourprecious little Tucker. I noticed that whenever my pocketbook was onthe couch, he'd jump up on the same cushion and poop. The day he left alittle pee, I was as upset as you. It was odd because it was only whenmy purse was on the couch that he did that.

Odd why they do what they do sometimes, but since this is a new areafor Sherman he might be trying to claim that as his corner.

I wouldn't take my eyes off of him when he's upstairs. If you don'tcatch him while he's in the act of lifting his tail, then your hopes atteaching the lesson greatly diminishes.

Don't worry. Now that you know this and will be watching him, he'llstop because he does want to please you. I think it's just a phase thatcan be corrected since you caught it so early on. I certainly wouldn'tlet him on the couch anymore without you being right there to watchhim.

He's just being a rebellious little devil. What a monster! I agree about not getting another rabbit at this point.

Keep us posted. Don't be too upset. This action is certainly fixable, he's just testing to see how far he can go.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

phx_punk_girl,

Don't think that you're input isn't important. It most definitely is.

As you see, I quote from other's experiences. Trust me, yourexperiences and opinions are most valuable here, and We All learn fromthem. I can vouch for myself as being one that's learned from you.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pamnock,

Loved the stories of Princess. Seems the name went to her head, ey? Going after dogs and horses? "You go, GIRL!"

You may have tapped into something that I forgot about. We all knewSherman would get back at Mom for caging him like she did the otherday. (What is that they say about Payback?)

Little bit of this, little bit of that, and we'll find the answer amongthe mixture of reasons why His Majesty has tried to reclaim his Palace.

-Carolyn

ok, i have no suggestions on thematter. But I can certainly relate. Baby is verylitter trained and doesn't give me any problems......EXCEPT.....on thesofa. If she gets on the sofa, you can count on her leavingher markings. I had to clean my sofa last night and she gotput back in her cage. It's really strange to me.:?

babymommy wrote:

ok, i have no suggestions on the matter. But I cancertainly relate. Baby is very litter trained and doesn'tgive me any problems......EXCEPT.....on the sofa. If she getson the sofa, you can count on her leaving her markings. I hadto clean my sofa last night and she got put back in her cage.It's really strange to me.:?

Click to expand...

The "sleeping chambers" (bed, couch) seem to be a bone of contentionfor those who want to rule. That may be seen as the primaryroom (throne room) of the warren, where the alpha animal resides. --And obviously the "Alpha" animal is *not* us :?

Pam

Thanks so much for your input, phx_punk_girl! It's greatly appreciated!

Carolyn, I'm so disappointed in him, but a lot of thisis my fault. My husband kept saying that I was spoiling himtoo much .. and now the proof is in the pudding! He shows absolutely no remorse for spreading those "pills"either! You can bet your bottom boogie I'm filling a waterspray bottle even as we speak! I've got to draw the linesomewhere or my husband and I will be living in the cage and Shermanwill be living in the rest of the house!

I'm encouraged though to know that my sweet babies Tucker,Jade, and Jez have shown some signs of territorialism. Ifthey've turned out to be the angels that they are, then there's hopefor my Sherman.

My husband says that it's like we have a naughty child and we have to get him in hand.

P.S. I'm just rolling laughing at the image of Tuckergetting indignant because your purse was on hiscouch! bol!

WOW, babymommy! It's good to know that I havecompany in my suffering! Do you think that it could be theposition of the moon or something? lol!

pamnockwrote:

-- And obviously the "Alpha"animal is *not* us :?

Pam

Click to expand...

Stop, Pam! You've got me laughing again! Mytummy is going to be so bruised from laughing when all is said and donethat I'm going to have to go to the hospital!

BOL!

Whilst we're on the topic of 'woopsies' in thewrong places... Henry, in the past 2 days, has taken to urinating andpooing downstairs near his food. It used to be that he'dalways go upstairs into the covered part of the hutch and do it in theback corner.

It was beginning to smell a bit last week, even though I'd cleaned itout twice that week, so I've begun to do it daily. He seemsto be drinking less but urinating more and it isn't just littlesplashes here and there, it's puddles of the stuff! I thinkthat could be due to the cabbage or carrots he gets every few daysthough.

Do you think the cleaning out is making him confused as to where heshould 'go'? He's just past 3 months now, so could it be hispuberty setting in? He also made his first grunting noise theother day, and also has started thumping which he's never donebefore. :? I'm confuggled!

My problem with Maggie is, is that she poops andpees all over the one corner of the room we let her run in, and shekeeps chewing and eating the recliner, like, there's big holes in itnow. I tried the water gun thing, but she doesn't mind getting wet, shestill does it, I tried swatting her little puff tail but she justgrunts and still does it...so I'm all out of ideas

batbunnywrote:

then he liftedhis tail & PEED on my foot!! :Xthink he was mad @ me?lol.

Click to expand...

:shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:

BunnyMommy, the ONLY place outside the cage andlitter box that Missy poops/pees copiously on, is my bed!Probably for the exact reasons our Mrs.Nock points out. I putan old blanket on top of the bed, which helped curb the peeing, but Iwas still treated to a substantial number of poops.

As soon as she started pooping, it was off to her cage quick-step!

Buck

"...quick-step!"

LAUGHING -> -> LAUGHING -> ->

L A U G H I N G !!!!!!!!!

-Carolyn

Carolyn wrote:

"...quick-step!"

LAUGHING -> -> LAUGHING -> ->

L A U G H I N G !!!!!!!!!

-Carolyn

Click to expand...

Yep, Carolyn, you beat me to it!

I love it!!!! A new addition to my list ... " ... quick step!"

You go, Buck!!!

Sweet Babies? ANGELS????? OH MY!!!

Jezebel and Jade? oh BunnyMommy, you must have those 2 confused withsomebody elses bun's! LOL teasing of course...on a more serious notethough-thank you for your kind words about my little girls! And to addto this thread...

When I had company stay with me from Canada, the girls lost their"couch privileges" since they were pretty upset with someone new inTHEIR house. Then slowly but surely we worked on training themback on. And Carolyn hit the nail right on the head, when she said theyworked in unison against me when I first had them~devious little girlsthey were I tellya! + =mygirls at the time...

Delphinum: I would have to go with puberty being part of it, until theyare fixed/spayed it is a small miracle we have litter box trainedthem....due to their fluctuating hormones they are even moreterritorial (in my experience)

Sorry though BunnyMommy seems the King is trying to defile his throneliterally....poor guy, if only they could speak-but I wish you the bestin getting him back to his old ways...I have pure faith in both of YOU!!

Cher

Oooh cheers Cher! I'll need to phonethe vet's and get him booked in soon then! :? PoorHenry! He peed in a suitcase last night!! Dan lefthis suitcase on the hall outside the bathroom (coz he's lazy and neverputs anything away - typical man!) and I was in the bath with Henryhappily hopping around, then Dan saw him stop inside the suitcase forabout 30 seconds, next thing I hear is "Nooo, bad Henry!", a big poolof yellow stuff in the bottom of the case! LOL Serves Danright for leaving it there!