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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BEHAVIOR Train to jump

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    • WildRabbitsRock
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        I wanna teach my rabbit (about 3 months old, female) to jump hurdles. So, can someone give me the basics. How to introduce her to jumping hurdles, how to get her to jump over them, how long do I train her to do this everyday, ect. Thanks!


      • Mocha
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          Is there a reason you want to train her?

          First thing I would do, is put a broom or something across her pen, and see if she keeps jumping over it. If she likes to jump, she should have fun with it, but please don’t force her to jump.

          I use household items to make jumps, brooms, mops, books, etc. I don’t really like using a harness, but if you do, get the h-style cat one and put it on loosely.

          You can start with low jumps and lure her over with fresh fruit.


        • Sarita
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            Moving to behavior.


          • WildRabbitsRock
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              Sorry I out topic in the wrong place and I just wanna train her so she could do something new and so we could have fun together


            • Flopsie
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                Disclaimer: i’ve never trained so take with a grain of salt.

                i would assume you need some materials first. All the jumping bunnies i’ve seen wear a harness/vest with leash. Mine can’t wear it, physiologically, her head is too small and she can slip out. Also she hates it and all she does it bite at it. Lol so jumping is out of the books for me.

                Second, you need something to jump. I’m sure you can use random things, but also PetCo is selling jumping bar set. I think its 30 bucks in the US, don’t quote me on that.

                Now that you have it or if you go with your own stuff. You would need to “teach” how to jump. Well specifically, the bunny can jump, but you want the bunny to jump when presented with the stimulus or cue (e.g., the bar).

                So the basic premise is that you will use operant conditioning. In lay man’s terms means that you will have her perform a behavior and then you want to reinforce that behavior with a treat. so that means have treats handy.

                I would assume this is a breakdown of the proces

                1. expose bunny to bar. Allow bun to check it out and make sure it is safe. bunnies are curious creatures and their curiosity always kills me

                2. now that she is exposed, the jumping part must be taught. have the treat on hand and let her approach it. if she jumps immediately give the treat. deliver the praise as well but treat first, within 3 seconds.

                3. repeat

                Trouble shooting

                A) Assuming that the bunny doesn’t jump, you’ll need to prompt. You can use several prompt such as hand gestures. or physically prompt the bunny. but if she doesnt like it don’t force her.

                B) you can also try to use the treat to lure her over the bar. See if she will jump over the bar while chasing the treat and then increase the distance that the treat is in her face.

                C) you also may want to use a technique called reduced response effort. This means make it easy for her to do the task and increase it when she learns it.

                obviously use the lowest bar. But if she won’t jump the lower bar, you can make it easier by raising the platform she is standing on so that she doesn’t have to jump up over the bar but rather jump down. then decrease the height of the platform.

                or you can start at ground level withthe bar and then slowly raise it up.

                But again, if the bunny isn’t interested, don’t force! good luck!

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            Forum BEHAVIOR Train to jump