Our first rabbit and a couple questions

[hoppysammy]

We just brought home a beautiful Dutch rabbit, her name is Sammy, she is very independent but does not mind being held from time to time and she is also very easy-going.

So, we spent 200.00 on supplies so she would have everything she needed now comes the hard part. Training.

She does not seem too interested in the litter box. What is the best way to litter train her. Any related advice on the subject would be great too.

We were told she was between 6 and 12 weeks old. Since this is our first rabbit, my wife and I find we are learning more about her behavior than she is ours.

I would also like to find out more about rabbit training. Everything I have read thus far say s the same thing "rabbits are not as smart as dogs" - this means very little to me, most dogs don't have (or are not expected to) use the the full extend of their intelligence to begin with and just because she may not be able to sniff out bombs and drugs doesn't meant (to me) that she is not smart.

She is very mellow, curious, and easy. Though she is not taking to the litter box very well, we know it is still early.

I also really would like to find more on how to train her in other ways, like perhaps train her to :
- follow my wife and I (i.e. stay by our side when the situation calls for it)
- have the option of leaving her (indoor) cage when she wants and moving around freely without eating furniture or anything else (of course we can easily eliminate electrical cords from her reach)
- have her Want to be close to us, to come to us for love when she wants, just for her to understand that she can.

Of course on the top of our list right now is litter training her. We continue to place her waste in her litter box but that doesn't seem to mean much to her.

We are having a heard time finding any useful info at the library, bookstore, or online. Mostly we just find common sense things that we already read and could have figured out on our own. In the end, we Do Not want a poorly trained and poorly cared for animal.

I guess our biggest unanswered question at this point is: Just what is and isn'y possible with a rabbit?

Here are some pics
http://www.minorkey.net/sammy/P1010102.JPG
http://www.minorkey.net/sammy/P1010103.JPG

Thank You

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

I would take all the bedding out of the cage except for in the litter box. Then i would not put anything down for a while. Like in the way of blankets and such anytime she pees wipe it up and put it in the litter box. The paper towel.

That should be one thing to really help. The other thing would be pick up all poops and put them in the litter box.

More help will come soon but that should get you started.

 

[Fancy77]

Crasins are loved by most buns...just b careful of not over doing it. this is a great way to train IMO

 

[nicolevins]

Your rabbit is so cute!

 

[elrohwen]

Welcome!

For training other than litter box training, there is a recent thread over in the Behavior section: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=55976&forum_id=48
Check out that post and feel free to add any questions there. I love bunny training and you're right to suppose they're smart - some more so than others, but even the dimmest bunny can learn quite a bit (and dutches are typically far from stupid! some of them are a bit too smart for their own good)

There's some good stuff in the library about litter training: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12084&forum_id=17

The basics (in my book) are:
1) Make sure there's no other bedding in the cage - only in the litter box
2) Make sure your litter box is big enough - those corner ones are generally too small for anybunny
3) Clean up any accidents (with a dilute vinegar solution) and put a tissue soaked in pee in the litter box. The more you clean up accidents and put the poop in the box where it should be, the faster your bunny should get the idea.
4) Make sure the box is where your bun likes it. If she's consistently peeing in a different corner, move the litter box there.
5) Put hay in the litter box. It makes it an inviting place that the bunny will want to hang out in. And bunnies like to eat and poop!

I hope this helps I'm very excited to meet someone else interested in training as I find it totally opens up your relationship with your bunny.

 

[elrohwen]

Also, you asked some questions about how to bond with her. This article in the library is great: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=33995&forum_id=17

It can take a long time for a bunny to really trust you and be comfortable (months and months) so patience really pays off. It's so worth it though!