Rabbit Training

[jfinner1]

I'd like to try to do trick training with my bun, teaching him to stand on his hind legs, jump on command, that sort of thing. My question is, has anyone else done it, should I use a clicker, or some other marker, and what kind of treats would be ok to feed as treat? He loves apples more then anything, so I'm thinking very small pieces of apples would work. I've clicker trained a ton of dogs, but I've never tried it with a rabbit!

 

[GoneToTheBuns]

I've clicker trained with my rabbits - they're very good at it, love it in fact! If you go to youtube there are a few videos including some of mine in the earlier days. What treats will depend on the rabbit, just as is true with any species the reward and it's value is defined by the one being rewarded. *G* Tiny bits of apple, nibbles of carrot, pellets, nibbles of various herbs etc are all popular goodies here. Mix and match as too much sugar (if you've got a high rate of reinforcement and are slicing your behaviour successions finely) would mean they potentially could get more apple than is good for tummy and risks the same things using a single/same treat does with other species as far as predictability. LOL For things that aren't easily chopped and handled in such small sizes I simply have it whole or in larger sizes and they get one bite.

 

[jfinner1]

lol Xenos has a really hard time with "one bite". He'll eat food out of my hand, but he'll grab as much as he can and try to rip the whole thing away from me... Usually with success, because his teeth grip better then my fingers. As for treats that he likes, I've been having a hard time with that. He loves loves loves his apples, but he's not big on much else. He likes green leafy stuff (lettuces, veggi tops, etc), though I've never tried herbs, and it's too late in the year here to get fresh herbs at anywhere near a decent price. He hates carrots (what rabbit hates carrots???), and only likes most other veggies, but there's not really anything else that he loves to eat. But I don't want to feed him too much and give him a tummy ache. I'll have to try some other veggies, see if I can find one that he'll beg for...

 

[GoneToTheBuns]

Teaching a polite take might be a first trick then... they CAN be gentle and dainty with those toofers!

My Romeo had an issue with grabbing (behaviour 1) and not being careful of fingers (behaviour 2) when he first came here. Cinna learned as a baby that mum doesn't reward rudeness and will take even tiny little pieces as delicate as you please. Romeo was a year old when I adopted him and I doubt he'd had much in the way of treats before because he'd practically fling himself at the food and wasn't careful if his teeth were touching treat only or also got the surrounding fingers. (OUCH!) For the first problem, You said you've trained dogs - are you familiar with Sue Eh's Levels work? The "Zen" work there might adapt well to teaching him to take treats without grabbing.

If there's a concern about your grip or him accidentally hitting your fingers with teeth (2nd behaviour), maybe start with a gardening glove or similar for a bit of grip and extra protection. Start by holding a big treat he doesn't have to be super precise about and scale back to one he's got to be more precise about. Then move up to things there's multiple bites of and hold it in such a way that most of it's enclosed in your palm and mugging is unlikely to succeed. Again go back to gloves if you need better grip or are worried he might get too excited and forget to be delicate.

If apples rate a 10 for him, then you'd maybe reserve those for super awesome rewards instead of every day things - they're like giving out a box of Godiva chocolates.

You could try to build up the value of other treats/rewards by pairing them with the apples as well, as a positive association. (Veggies first and THEN desert!)

 

[jfinner1]

Hm, great advice! I'd never heard of Sue [font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Ailsby, (I'm assuming that's the same as Sue Eh?, it was what I found when I googled), but I've found and started reading her level's material, and I like it. Some of it is review, and some of it I wish I would have known a few years ago. I already see a few techniques that could have helped with some of my trickier clients... I really like the idea of veggies for dinner, apples for desert. I've done similar things with his Yogies, by burying at the bottom of his food bowl or hiding them in his hay. Hrm, here's a thought... Maybe I could spritz some of his veggies with apple juice? Just enough to give it the smell and a bit of flavor... I did something similar when my lizard didn't want to eat his veggies, because he also loves apples. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this. I hope my clickers aren't to loud/scary. I have a handful left over from training, just the cheap .50 cent deals you can get at any pet store. Used to hand them out on the first day, lol. But I remember them being a little loud... I'll see how he does with them. Get ready bunny! Training starts tomorrow! Work for your Christmas presents! :biggrin::biggrin:
[/font]

 

[GoneToTheBuns]

Yep, Sue Ailsby... she's from Canada from memory, hence the "Eh?" LOL Her levels is all basic manners stuff but it's useful as a quick reference because it demonstrates breaking a behaviour up for those who may not be familiar and it's free so it's great to refer people to who mightn't take a recomendation on books etc.

I have heard of spritzing applejuice on the hay, haven't had to try it with my greedy guts but may be worth a go!

If your clickers are loud and your bun is sensitive the i-clicks (Karen Pryor's) are very nice and a bit quieter than the older style box clickers. (From memory KP also has a few rabbit articles on her site as well. Can't recall they were anything I'd not run into/thought of before but may be interesting anyway.) Alternatively you can mouth click (harder to misplace or fumble and you can make it as soft as you like - just practice to get consistency in sound) or if you've got *very* sound sensitive buns I've desensitized very sound sensitive dogs using a ballpoint pen. You can further muffle it by putting it in your pocket or sewing a little sleeve over it if that's still too loud.

There is a rabbit clicker book but

 

[itsazoo]

Jenny is trained to jump in succession, singles or distance, run up and down a ramp, spin each way, place her paws on a "mark", target with her nose, weave between my legs, a run around me jumping over my arms, give me kisses, hop in my lap, come when called, lay down, stand on hind legs, put her front paws on my hand etc.. its really easy, I do similer principal as with dogs, I lure and I freeshape. I dont use a clicker myself just a cue word. how and what treats really depend on the rabbit though..I have seem lots of rabbit hopping vids that have the handlers physicaly guiding the rabbits...Jenny will leave and not come back if I do such a thing lol everything I teach her, everything has to be HER doing. treats are just whatever tiny one bite tidbit your rabbit wants to work for lol

 

[elrohwen]

I use a clicker with pellets. Occasionally I'll use papaya if they really need to be motivated, but I prefer pellets because they're small and I can feed a lot. Training sessions couldn't last very long if I was limited to only a few pieces of fruit. I also find that they remain more calm and composed with pellets, while papaya is so exciting that they end up climbing all over me to get it instead of focusing. Haha

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I've trained my rabbit Magic in the sport of rabbit hopping. He won't take treats/food outside of his cage, so this was all done without treats, just with a lot of patience and time. He's been jumping for I think 3 or 4 years? I can't remember anymore, lol.

He does know the command spin, which was taught with a clicker. Sometimes he'll do it, but sometimes he won't. He needs a refresher on this. I will ask him to spin before I give him his breakfast and/or dinner, and sometimes he'll get so excited that he spins without the command, because he knows that that's what gets him his food.

I'm going to teach Dallas some tricks, as he's VERY food oriented, and I think he'd learn very quickly. I think it will also help with rehoming him. He's already a very sweet boy, but knowing tricks will just add to it.

Emily

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I haven't had much luck with treat training. I once tried to train Korr using pellets and I think I insulted him. Basically, if he doesn't want to do something I can't make him. He does do agility, but becasue he loves to do it, if he is having an off day he won't do it or will not do it very well. The only thing he goes bonkers for is popcorn and he doesn't focus so training with that would not work so well.

One thing I do find with treat training is that the animal is more concerned with getting the treat than with doing the correct behaviour and listening to you. Once the treat is gone the animal stops listening and won't do what you want. I no longer use treats for my dogs and they actually listen better and behave better than when I did use treats.

 

[elrohwen]

Kate, I think using treats can be a great training method, but if the animal isn't weaned away from treats you can end up with the situation you described. For a dog, at least, treats are good for training the behavior but eventually the dog should do it without food or, like you said, they only perform good behaviors if you have food around. For my rabbits, I don't really care as much if they only perform for food, because they're just bunnies and their training is only for fun ;-)