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Teach Your Rabbit 3 Simple Tricks

A Step-by-Step Guide to Teaching 'Come Here,' 'Stand Up,' And 'Spin.'

By HazelPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Photo by Daniel Watson on Unsplash

You might be surprised to learn that rabbits can be trained as easily as many dogs. Obviously, their natural behaviours and capabilities are different, affecting what they can be trained to do. However, many rabbit owners find training a rewarding activity that keeps their pet from becoming bored. Read on to learn how to teach your rabbit to come to you when called, stand on their hind legs and turn in a circle.

'Come here.'

  1. Join your rabbit in their usual play area and bring some of their favourite treats, cut into small pieces.
  2. Sit near your rabbit and tap the floor in front of them repeatedly whilst saying "come here." When they show interest in the area, place a treat where you were tapping and praise them. Repeat until they are consistently reacting.
  3. Move further away from your rabbit, whilst remaining in sight. (If they immediately follow you, wait until they have lost interest and moved away.) As before, tap the floor next to you and say "come here." Reward them when they come over to where you tapped. Again, repeat the process until they are almost always responding.
  4. Finally, you may wish to try extending the distance you can call your bunny from. As long as your rabbit can see and hear you, they should understand the command and come to you.

'Stand up.'

  1. Sit near your rabbit and call them to you using the "Come here" command. Make sure you have treats on hand.
  2. Let your bunny see and sniff one of the treats, then close your fist around it. Your bunny should keep sniffing at your hand, trying to find the food. After a few moments, open your hand, and feed them the treat.
  3. Repeat step 2, instead raising your closed fist above your rabbit's head and say "stand up." Wait until they stand up and touch your hand with their nose. Immediately praise them and offer the treat. Repeat this a few times to ensure they've got the hang of it.
  4. This time, without a treat inside, hold your closed fist above your rabbit's head and say "stand up." As before, when they nudge your fist, praise them and provide a treat.
  5. Eventually, your rabbit may learn to obey the voice command without needing the hand gestures but the visual cue tends to be most reliable.

'Spin.'

  1. Sit down and call your rabbit to you. As always, have treats ready.
  2. The same as for "stand up," show your rabbit a treat, then close your hand around it. Whilst they're still sniffing your fist, slowly lead your bunny in a small circle by holding your hand just in front of their nose, saying "spin." After a full circle, give them praise and the treat from your hand. Repeat until they are used to this motion and consistently follow in a neat circle.
  3. Repeat step 2 without a treat inside your hand. After each spin, provide the treat and praise them.
  4. You can improve this trick by teaching your rabbit to follow your hand at faster speeds, with your hand further away, or by training them to respond to the spoken command alone.

Tips

  • Lop-eared rabbits have somewhat poor hearing, so they may respond better to the physical part of the command. If you discover this, make sure you're in sight before calling them.
  • Training for one trick can require hours and days of practice. Don't lose hope!
  • If using a clicker to train your rabbit, click it at the moment your rabbit eats their treat. They'll learn to associate the click with being rewarded.
  • Be careful not to overdo the treats. If you're lucky, your rabbit will respond to being fed healthy food like pellets as though they are being treated, allowing you to extend training sessions without affecting their health.
  • Rabbits are most responsive to food in the morning and evening due to their natural sleep cycles.
  • Avoid rewarding self-prompted tricks (where you didn't tell your rabbit to perform a trick but they did it spontaneously). Otherwise, they can become confused about what the objective is.
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About the Creator

Hazel

Loving owner of a bunny called Timothy: https://www.facebook.com/timmythebun/ :) I hope you'll enjoy my pet-keeping tutorials and more!

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