Dealing with a people-aggressive mini lop?

[Alissa]

 I adopted Bella, my tricolor minilop about six months ago. Though we bonded very well, and she is gentle and sweet with me, she’s extremely aggressive with others. I’ve dealt with aggressive dogs before, but an aggressive bunny? An example: today, my father went into my room to say goodbye to me before leaving on a business trip. As he came over to me, she lunged at him, growling and ears pinned. She has done this with basically everyone I’ve introduced to her, male and female. Someone please help, I don’t want an attack rabbit!

Thanks 

Alissa 

 

[she’s spayed as well.] 

[Chronicambitions]

Hmm maybe try bringing her out of her normal areas when there are other people around and have her meet them this way. It sounds like territorial behavior but maybe she’ll better if she learns to like other people outside of her territory first.

[BB Administrator]

oops sorry — this is BB in Admin mode.

Do you know what happened in her past? 

I have a bunny just like this. However, she will warm up to anyone if they can take the time like I did to earn her trust.  Though she will still huff and growl when I put her food down, and if she doesn’t like what my hand is doing, she will literally move it with her mouth by gently grabbing a finger with her teeth and putting it out of the way.  I actually find that very cute because she is showing me what she wants or doesn’t want but is not hurting me — she could bite me hard if she really wanted to, so I just feel her little teeth gently taking my finger and pushing my hand elsewhere.   But the moment Steve feels teeth, he flips out (of course, he has a nasty scar to prove why) 

My husband  limits his interaction because she has thoroughly intimidated him.  See this video — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6vqV8KdtfQ   We were trying to get her used to him walking back in forth, and we got to the point where she would allow him to pet her, but if we don’t keep up on it, she reverts back to trying to terrorize him. Normally if I have to leave to go out of town where he has to care for her, I have to do a whole prepping the week before to get her used to him. (and it’s terrifying for my husband and he’s over 6 ft tall. LOL!)

My understanding is Viv was infamous at the rabbit rescue for having quite the bunnitude (and the humane society before that), so she had been at the shelter for 2 years before I adopted her.  I had been told she was a feisty gal, but she wasn’t that way with me at the shelter, and then when I got her home she showed some of that to me, but I had dealt with previous bunnies (Jack & Rucy) who were also people aggressive, though Jack turned into a big teddy bear. 

Not all bunnies will change this behavior, but there are some things you can try.   They worked well for my bunny Jack. as he let anyone pet him after I worked with him (and the shelter once originally thought he would have to go to a sanctuary because he was so aggressive). Rucy never became a fully cuddle bun with everyone, but she learned not to bite and that she could get what she wanted with less scary behaviors.

So what helps for family friends is to make sure they are armed with a treat.   You also don’t want someone to pull away when aggressive moves are made as that reinforces that behavior.  But you also don’t want someone to get bit or scratched, so you can have them offer her a treat and pets with a glove on.  IF she bites or scratches, just don’t react. She may even nip, scratch and run away. That’s okay too.  Just let her do that.  And each time your dad or whoever comes in, have the glove and healthy treat ready for them to give to her.  You also want to be careful not to give a treat the moment she huffs or bites, but the moment she settles down with your dad, then reward her. 

This takes persistance and patience.  Jack became a teddy bear after a month or so, while Rucy just became less aggressive.  Vivian will always be a feisty gal that I do have to watch with strangers, but it could be that her behavior was ingrained by the time I got her (she was 6 years old), but even so, she hasn’t bit anyone in three years, so I think that’s great. 

Helloworld!!

[Alissa]

Thank you so much! The patience-training with her is working fabulously so far. She’s made progress already. (:

[Author]

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