Carpet Chewing....

[The BUNFATHER]

Hi everyone. For those who don't know me - I'm "Tiny" aka "The BunFather" and I'm a moderator on the forum for the bunny chat area.

Mom and I have started having issues lately and she says I have "poor behavior" and I say she just doesn't understand me. I decided to appeal to all of you NICE moms and dads to help mom understand me.

Mom moved into my room a few weeks ago and renamed it "the office". I can live with that. I still call it "Tiny's Den" and that's ok with me. I sorta like sharing my den with her 'cause it makes it less lonely.

But sometimes I get bored - or I want a snack. I've learned that if I chew on the carpet mom will try to distract me with craisins or some hay. It was working fine till yesterday when dad was watching a movie with mom on her computer and I did this and she started giving me craisins and dad said, "Boy...does Tiny have YOU trained...you need to break him of chewing on the carpet without rewarding him for it..".

I don't think that was nice of dad. Now all mom does is say "shoo" and push me away from the carpet or give me a piece of paper to shred. She says she's going to consider having a spray bottle handy to spray me if I keep it up - that dad was right and she has been spoiling me too much.

I don't think its spoiling me - I think I finally had her trained.

So to keep us from having to go on "Jerry Springer - Bunny Version" - can y'all help mom and me come to some way that I still get treats but don't get sprayed if I chew on the carpet? I mean - let's face it - chewing on the carpet is sorta tasty and fun.

Mom was gonna get on here this morning and post about this - but I beat her to it. Pretty smart bunny...aren't I? Now she'll have to listen to y'all hopefully defend me to her.

I thought the whole craisin reward idea was pretty cool....

The BunFather

 

[Flashy]

Ha ha, Tiny, you're so great.

I now you think you have her trained, but does it feel good to have her trained doing something she doesn't like? Maybe you could strike a deal with her in that if you do something she likes, like maybe lying quietly, or sitting with her, or making her laugh, she gives you treats. But if you do something she doesn't like she does something you don't like (like a spray bottle, or shooing you away, or a quiet blow on the whistle). That sounds fair doesn't it? so if you do something nice, you get something nice back.

It might take you a while to adjust to that though because I know you are stubborn and will keep trying to retrain your Mom.

Give it a chance to work because if you behave even better, maybe you'll get even MORE craisins.

 

[TinysMom]

This is Tiny's mom - I changed the title of his post for him (which I know will send him off on another carpet-chewing adventure).

I suspect Tiny chews carpet because he's bored. But he has toys and he has magazines to shred and throw around. He really seems to prefer the carpet over other things.

I'm thinking about spraying it with some vinegar or something but I'm just not sure what to do...

HELP?

Peg

 

[Flashy]

Could you get him carpet square that he was allowed to chew? Provided he doesn't eat it. My buns seem to be far more interested if something has the scent of another bunny on it, so could you try rotating toys and things very frequently with different rabbits?

Or if he has particular places he chews, couldnyou cover them with something he was allowed to chew, like wood? that's whatI do with my chewing bunnies.

Ido think that some buns are chewers and you could easily be on a hiding to nothing.