I have a shark on my floor!

[KytKattin]

Nova is starting to get really aggressive towards me. When I walk across the floor she goes and attacks my feet. Mostly just lunges, but she is starting to use teeth. I understand she doesn’t want me walking around her turf, but I really don’t have any other options! When she lunges at me and I have clothes on it is no biggie, but I spend most of my time in my room unclothed to prevent skin problems (and hey, it works, don’t judge!). I think she realizes this, because she is able to move me around because I am afriad of getting bit! So, short of using leg warmers and socks, what is the best way to prevent my rabbit from herding me like a sheep?

[Stickerbunny]

Have you tried squealing when she does it? Sometimes if Stickers is being a total brat and lightly shooing her away, or letting her know she hurt me doesn’t work, I give a very, very light thump (hey, she does the same thing to me all the time ) and she’ll back off and leave me alone, then come over and beg for pets. But it might also start some buns on a thump war so that is a maybe-it-will-maybe-it-won’t solution. lol

[Hazel]

What Stickerbunny said could work. Or, you could try to toss her a treat as you are coming into “her” territory, so she’ll associate it with something positive and will be busy chowing down while you walk through. Of course you will have to make sure she gets that treat BEFORE she turns aggressive, or you’ll just be treating her for being bad!

[peppypoo]

Does she usually have free roam of your room?

[Sarita]

I usually just reach down and pet. That will get them running if they think they are getting petted or that you are going to try to catch them.

Bobby runs around my feet or ahead of me sometimes like he’s herding me.

[Elrohwen]

I think what we can deduce is that rabbits with herding ability are much more common than we thought. lol

I like Sarita’s technique of trying to pet her, or the throw a treat on the floor trick (it works with dogs, not sure if a bunny would notice is and go for it – mine don’t seem to notice when I drop or throw things)

[KytKattin]

I think part of the problem is that she thinks she is going to get a treat! I always give her one right before bed, but I think I have to stop that because the light is on the other side of my room, and she knows when it goes off she gets a treat and starts really going at me! Yes, she is out all the time now as she is not doing any damage to anything. She has three tunnels and that box that I posted before that I painted. She spends most of her day in that box, and then she loves her tunnels, so I know she feels like she has her own space that I don’t intrude. Plus she has her cage and litterboxes that I only clean once a day right before she gets dinner (the cage, the litterboxes are every 3-4 days). I yell “ouch”, but all she does is run through a tunnel and charge again! I can reach down and pet her, but after I stop she charges again. I have started holding a towel in front of my legs as I move around my room. Mind you this is only when she is awake in the early morning/evening. Like right now, in the middle of the day, I can move about the room free of worry. I will try stomping when she charges me.

[Elrohwen]

Is she just charging because she thinks you have food? Or does she actually bite when she does it? Mine charge at me for food all the time, and lunch if I stick my hand in their maze haven, but it’s all for treats and they don’t bite or box.

[Hokankai]

What I have found very successful with all of my animals is to speak in their language. If she’s charging you, charge her back. If she goes to try and nip you, grunt and thump the floor. My last foster was very mouthy and loved chewing on my clothes but one grunt/thump stopped her in her tracks. It sounds like she’s just being demanding, but I don’t tolerate dominance battles and if it were me I’d squirt her with a squirt bottle if she tried any funny business like that.

[KytKattin]

No, she is charging just because she can. Sometimes it might be because of food, but the majority of the time it seems that she really just doesn’t want me around. I mean, I understand we are living in a VERY small area, but she needs to learn to share with me. I know she can’t understand it like I do, but it doesn’t mean she can’t just leave me alone. I was just kneeling on the floor, getting ready to do some exercise (something I have never done in my room), and she kept coming up to my legs and nipping them before running away. No matter what I did she just kept getting more and more aggressive. I think it is time to pull out some of my natural horsemanship stuff and make it work for a rabbit… I don’t want to use a squirt bottle because I don’t want her only behaving when I have the bottle in my hand.

[Stickerbunny]

Rabbits come to associate the behavior with being squirted, with or without a bottle in your hand. I use it sometimes for chewing and it works. But, as for exercise, Powder NEVER nips me really… not for attention or anything, but when I first went to do Yoga he ran up to me and nipped me because it was just so odd for him, after a couple of days he didn’t do it anymore. So, her doing that when you exercise when it’s something she’s not used to isn’t abnormal.

[KytKattin]

I hadn’t even started exercising yet, but I do often kneel on the floor, and she always nips me. I just locked her up so I could finish, and then let her out when I was done. It still doesn’t fix the problem of her regularly charging and nipping when I am just walking around the room. That is my main concern. She doesn’t need to be my exercise buddy.

[kinggoblin]

Mine use to charge at me but I just sat down in his area and after giving me dirty looks for awhile he decided it would be better to be nice because he gets ear rubs and treats if he does. He lets me sit in his x-pen area now and will flop down next to me so he will get pet.

He still charges and tries to corner my fiance but when he does my fiance reaches down to pet him and Goblin shakes his hand off and runs away from him.

[Hokankai]

She won’t know the squirt bottle is in your hand or not…she won’t know where the water is coming from. It is one of the best ways to instantly redirect bad behavior in these guys. It worked when my first fosters dug/bit the carpet, when my last foster chewed on her cage, and when my current fosters started digging under the door. All successfully redirected. They’re not dumb, they’ll associate the behavior with an uncomfortable feeling. But they’re also not smart enough to notice when you do or don’t have a water bottle in your hand. The key is to squirt EVERY time she exhibits the behavior at first until she gets it, which is when you stop seeing the behavior. That, or taking control and putting her away with a “NO” every time she does it. She’ll learn that nipping=cage time and will learn her lesson.

Either way, you have to do something to nip the behavior in the bud before it gets worse. She’s testing you and asserting her dominance over you, trying to take over your room. Don’t let her do it, it’s as simple as that.

[KytKattin]

Rabbits and dogs really are just so different! lol. My dog can totally tell if I have the squirt bottle or not! Though thinking back to when I had a horse, and I used a “carrot stick”, she would understand my energy behind what I wanted her to do, stick or no (after the initial battle that raged). Nova is already better about my just walking. I have just been stomping (sorry neighbors below me!), and she knows not to charge. It would help if she didn’t choose to sleep right in the middle of the floor! When she does charge, I just put my (socked) foot right next to her. Depending on the offense (did she actually nip or just charge?) I will either just have my foot there or then stomp if she did nip. When I stomp close to her she runs off and goes back into her cage for like 5 seconds before coming back out and behaving.

[KytKattin]

And major relapse. She full on charged me from across the room and very sharply nipped me on the heel! Good thing I was actually wearing pants that time! Ouch! I immediately stomped and chased her back into her cage and shut her in. Where she will remain until I get done in the shower. She probably already forgot considering she is munching on veggies. I just don’t understand this rabbit…

[KytKattin]

Looks like we are making some progress. My boyfriend visited this weekend, and she is 10x worse with him. Probably because he has giant feet and isn’t as graceful as I am (not that I am exactly light on my feet!). Basically he stomps around, so she tries to get at him a lot more. I told him to stomp at her when she charged him. Mind you, he is so much better with consistency and timing than I am. Two days later, and I can get off my bed and walk around my room without her charging me. I can tell she wants to still do it, but she doesn’t. Of course she still likes to sleep in the middle of my floor, making my movement around the room awkward anyways, but whatever. At least it is improving.

[RabbitPam]

Communicating in their language can often be effective. I would first squeal in a high pitched voice every time she actually bites. then, (especially if you’re alreadly sitting on the floor) immediately turn your back to her, preferably with your legs and feet tucked under you. You’re giving her the butt. When a bunny is done with you, or another bunny, they turn their back. Do that. Ignore her. Let her come around to see your side or front. Nicely. If she nips again, squeal and turn again so she is seeing your back.

As soon as she comes to you nicely, either with licks, rubs, or nudges for pets, you can then pet her and tell her in a soft voice that she’s better. The minute she starts to nip again, squeal, say a firm No, and give her your back. It may not work, but it’s worth a try.

[RabbitPam]

P.S. I love your subject line! *theme from Jaws playing in my head*

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Sam has to have her own designated area otherwise she does the same thing. Only to me, though, she leaves the kids and my hubby alone, little booger. Maybe get one of those small pet pens that are only like, 2 feet high, or use some nic cubes single high to section off a small area for her, even though she can leave it at any time, it’ll give her *her* territory.

[KytKattin]

I think the thumping works. I don’t spend a lot of time on the floor. When I do exercise, I just throw a treat into her cage and lock her in until I am done. It is safer for her anyways.

She has plenty of her “own spaces”. The cage, the litterbox, the box, the three tunnels. And my room is pathetically cramped as it is. She already took over enough spaces! Plus the space she wants is floor space that I have to be able to use/walk through, so if she wants to use it, she needs to share.

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