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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Which breed for Service Animal?

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    • Jenna
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        First off, I am considering a companion bunny to be my ESA (Emotional Support Animal). I am disabled and have many issues with anxiety in public and animals always help calm me down. 

        So I would like to know from everyone who has owned bunnies: Would a rabbit be a good or bad idea? What breed is my best fit? I’ve looked into several of the breeds and it seems the larger, calmer breeds would be best for my situation. HOWEVER, the problem arises of how would I carry such a big lug around with me through public places? My most favored breeds are the Flemish Giant, and the New Zealand, possibly Rex or Dutch. Are there ANY breeds of bunny that truly become “leash trained” so I wouldn’t have to carry him? And would a busy, loud public place be too much for a rabbit to handle? I prefer the rabbits with the standing ears over the lops and really like the fawn colored the best. Are there any smaller breeds that would be easier to either carry or put in a carrier that are a very calm and lazy “lap bunny”? So far I have yet to find a smaller breed like that, it’s always the giant breeds. Something large enough to hug/cuddle is best when I’m having an anxiety attack, so wouldn’t want him to be TOO small. 

        In other aspects I’ve already done all my research, I know what size habitat is appropriate, he/she WILL be a house bunny, I know what foods they need, I already have an exotic vet lined up for a spay/neuter ect. I fully know what to expect when owning a bunny, just not which breed fits my situation best. I currently own two lazy cats, a 50lbs elderly dog, two large fish tanks, and a parrot. I’ve also got experience with many small animals, guinea pigs, hamsters, but mostly with rats. So obviously adding a bunny into the mix won’t be a chore for me! I really appreciate the help and opinions!


      • Mikey
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          Me too! I have aspergers, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and the list goes on… And last year i was able to trains and register my rabbit to become my [colder seasons] ESA. I am in the process of training and registering one of my other bunnies to be my second [warmer seasons] ESA

          Im not entirely sure if breed matters as im more interested in personality. Youll need to find a bunny who wants to learn, is friendly towards strangers, and doesnt get nervous in public areas where there will sometimes be loud and obnoxious noises and sounds. For some rabbits (such as my nethie), thats too stressful and they would not make very good ESAs at all. The size of the bun would depend on what you want your bun to be trained for. If feeling the softness while petting the bun calms you down, then a smaller breed would be better as they make small dog (in this case, rabbit) bags that your bun can chill in like a purse. If you feel comfortable having something walk around with you so you dont feel alone, and dont care so much for touch, then a larger or giant breed would probly be best for you. Leash training on its own can be a hassle and youll have to be careful that the bun doesnt get too scared or the harness might cause pain to the buns spine

          My current ESA bun is my mini rex named Blue. He weighs about 3lbs, give or take. He does very well in crowds, unless he is ignored then he pouts and gives everyone bunny butt. He overheats easily so for now were only taking him out in fall and winter. He has a bunny bag that he likes to nest in that has a little pouch we put hay in while we are out. It took about a month or two to harness train him, although walking outside on a harness makes him a little nervous (he prefers to be held, in his bunny bag, or in the crate). When my hear beat starts to speed up or if it skips, he will nose poke me until i pet him. If i ignore him, he will push his head into my hands until i pet and talk to him to let him know im ok. If i pass out, he will dig and scratch at me until i wake up (he taught himself this). There is more that he does for me, but that leans more into my autism and isnt needed for an anxiety ESA. Overall, teaching him was very easy as hes very curious and loves to learn. It took maybe four to six months to have him fully trained then certified as my ESA

          My second ESA is going to be my mini dutch named Badger. He is barely 2lbs. I cant really train him until he is neutered as his hormones have him going wild, but he does let me train with him every once in a while. It took about a week to have him harness trained, and his only problem with the harness is that he loves to binky while walking around with me, and it worries me that he might pull then binky and hurt his back one day, so we are still semi training on that. He is very social with people and animals, and doesnt care at all about busy places so training him with that took a week at max for me to feel comfortable with. His current training is calmly sitting in my lap. Its taking a while (about a month at this point), but im blaming his hormones for now. When i pass out, he just sits on me. We will work on that eventually, lol

          If you have any more questions on bunny ESAs, i will be very happy to answer to the best of my ability


        • Jenna
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            Yes, I absolutely would love a rabbit that could either leash walk with me and/or I could carry in either my arms or in a carrier. I really think the giant breeds might be a bit too much for me to handle and would be difficult to have around in public areas because of their size. I’m now leaning more towards the Rex(standard) or Dutch. Anything that’s around the size of a cat seems like a great size. My old ESA was a cat that very much loved going places with me. Unfortunately she fell ill to a congenital health issue and only lived to be five years old. I haven’t been able to find another such unique kitty like her, she was truly one of a kind. My current ESA is my Jenday Conure but he is so young still that he can’t really learn too much at a time. He also has a bit of aggression towards others and most people that see him are kinda put off. My mother has a co-worker who breeds show rabbits, if I’m lucky she’ll have one of the breeds I like. I’ll have to contact her after the holiday, very excited!
            Since you own both the mini versions of the breeds I am thinking of picking do you think the standards would be about the same personality wise? If not maybe a little more chill and lazy compared to the minis? The rule I’ve heard is the larger the rabbit, the more relaxed and lazier they are. Not thinking entirely for ESA purposes I’d love a lazy bunny who’d sit with me most of the day while he’s at home.
            Do you know if there are differences in the sexes as far as personality goes? For rats the males were always the lazy chilled out ones and the females were always the “go go go go never stop moving” ones. I’ve already been thinking I’d rather have a male anyway.
            Would a regular Rex overheat easily? I hadn’t really read that anywhere, it was usually the long hairs and the lops. But then again, I’d only skimmed the info for the Rex and Dutch since I was more interested in the Flemish and NZ.
            My last question is what type or brand of harness would you recommend? I’ve been looking all over Amazon but I haven’t found any ones with great reviews OR that were a good size for anything larger than 4lbs. Maybe a cat/small dog harness? Those little vests look so great but I’m not sure if they would be a better idea over a typical nylon harness. It would be easier to get any ESA badges on a vest!


          • BunnyFriends
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              With spayed and neutered rabbits, there’s not too much of a difference, but I’ve found my boys would rather be pet and cuddled then moving around.

              Cat harnesses are fine.


            • LittlePuffyTail
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                While I have no experience with ESA’s, I strongly agree with Mikey about the breeds. Check out the bunnies personality, rather than the breed. It’s true that most of the larger breeds tend to be more quiet and docile but that’s not always the case. I have a 10lb Flemmie/NZ cross and while he is very gentle with my 2 year old daughter, he frightens easily and is incredibly difficult to handle and grooming him is a nightmare. So he’s not true to the “big bunny” type of easy going personality and would make a very poor ESA I suspect.


              • Mikey
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                  Ive heard that mini rexes and normal sized rexes all have a very similar personality, but personality isnt usually universal. If possible, i would meet with a few minis of the breeds you like and a few regular sized buns of the breeds you like and see which of the bunch has a personality that would best match a personality youd need for an ESA. My Badger, although incredibly hyper on and off throughout the day, really enjoys a good cuddle and petting after hes tired out. He was the first of my three to sprawl on me to relax even though he was our third bunny we got. Blue loves to sit next to or under me whenever he is relaxing. My Bombur (a nethie) wants nothing to do with cuddling unless he is also being brushed, but will lay out in his bed in their cage thats near the couch. Theyre all small, but they all have very lazy tendencies when at home  

                  Im not completely sure on spayed female vs neutered male personalities as ive only had males, but usually buns mellow out a bunch a few months after getting fixed. I dont know if my Badger will calm down very much, but i think he will as he gets older. Blue’s personality didnt change at all from getting neutered. He was quiet and curious before his neuter, and hes quiet and curious now, and hes still bossy but instead of peeing on my stuff because i dont have a second to pet him, i will just get bunny butt now until i praise him lol. Bombur liked to cuddle a heck of a lot more before being neutered, and now hes more of a bunnys bun, which isnt a bother at all. If possible, going to a bunny shelter might be easier so you dont risk getting a bun, neutering/spaying it, then having its personality change a bit. Most shelters spay and neuter before adopting them out

                  Im not sure if overheating is common for rexes. Our mini rex prefers the cold and in the warmer seasons although we have it set to 70 max in the apartment, he will often sprawl in front of the fan with our nethie. Anything above 70 and Blue will start to breath very fast and in one case at a temp of 74f, he started drooling (sign of overheating) so we had to kick the temp down. Im not entirely sure if thats normal for all mini rexes or standard rexes. Or mini dutch on the other had was the runt. We bought him as a normal sized dutch but all of his brothers and sisters were a bit bigger than him. Little did we know, he wouldnt really grow past his baby height. He only recently got to 2lbs, before he was at a steady 1.2lbs. He has a lot of health problems (hes disabled) but all of them can be controlled. One of his issues is that he cannot grow a thick winter coat at all. He has to wear sweaters or he will shiver in a little ball. I dont think this is normal for dutch buns at all, but im not totally experience with different buns of the same breed. But it does bring up that to avoid health issues that may hinder you (in my case, i need a cold season bun and a warm season bun) adopting a young adult bun from a shelter might be the best bet to help avoid getting one with possible bad health

                  We use a chihuahua puppy harness and the buns i had when i was younger used a cat harness  We plan on getting custom fitted harnesses for the buns later wen we have some money to blow. Customs can be expensive (but pretty easily found on etsy or the like) but will fit your bunny the best. I dont use an ESA harness or leash but ive got 2 ESA IDs that i have clipped either on the bag or on the crate, and i always have one in my wallet just in case i lose the one clipped


                • Jenna
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                    Happy to hear the input! I looked up my local prices for a neuter and it’s $350! Yikes! So I checked around local shelters and there are a few that caught my eye, but are not my chosen breeds. The one I was most interested in is a Chinchilla, anyone know what Chinchilla rabbits are usually like? I went ahead and emailed a few questions about my favorite one, and asked them if there were any bunnies at their shelter that fit my needs. I’ll feel great giving a shelter pet a home and he’s already neutered too! All my other pets, except the parrot and fish, have been rescues!


                  • SeaTurtleSwims
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                      I think a rabbit is an excellent pet for an emotional support animal. What country are you in? In the United States, the role of emotional support animals is not the same as a service animal or therapy animal.

                      A service animal is a piece of medical equipment, like a pacemaker, that has been specially trained to assist a person with a physical/tangible task throughout their day, like a seeing eye dog. A service animal that provides a vital task to an individual has special public access rights. A well trained service dog is upwards of $25,000-30,000 and undergoes years of highly specialized training.Currently, the only legally recognized service animal are canines and under special circumstance miniature horses.

                      A therapy animal is a pet that has typically undergone advanced obedience training and volunteers with their owner to bring joy/comfort to individuals. There are therapy dogs, therapy cats, therapy bunnies, even therapy miniature horses! A therapy pet does not have public access rights, but may be invited to public spaces.

                      An Emotional Support Animal as prescribed by a doctor does not require special training and does not have public access rights, because it is not performing a tangible task. It does however, prevent the owner from being denied housing because of the animal. If you live in a no pets rental, you legally cannot be denied housing because your emotional support animal is your prescription. However, they do not have public access rights.

                      A disruptive service animal (one that behaves inappropriately such as excreting at will rather than on command which might be one risk with a bunny dropping pellets at a restaurant or grocery store) can legally be asked to leave a premises for creating a disruptive environment. While it is illegal for a business to ask what illness you have, it is within their right to ask what service the animal is providing. I worked as a dog trainer through college and currently at a no pets park and without a legitimate response, I respectfully turn them away. If you want an emotional support animal, this would not be an issue, as these do not have public access rights. Their jurisdiction is with fair housing.

                      Below is a link to the ADA website that details the rights and responsibilities of service dogs, emotional support animals and their owners/handlers.

                      https://adata.org/publication/service-animals-booklet


                    • Mikey
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                        An emotional support animal is a service animal and has public rights

                        Ive never had a problem bringing my Blue around with me, as long as i have his IDs. They need to know the basics of being calm in public, being on a leash and harness or being crated, and must be friendly towards strangers. You can train them further if you wish (i prefer to; it helps out more). They still need to be certified and ID. A doctors note is also helpful to have, but the certificate and IDs have much more hold than doctors word


                      • SeaTurtleSwims
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                          “While Emotional Support Animals or Comfort Animals are often used as part of a medical treatment plan as therapy animals, they are not considered service animals under the ADA. ”

                          From the Americans with Disabilities Act website linked in my previous post. I would just proceed carefully because there are a lot of fake documents sold online for this.


                        • Mikey
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                            You can register ESAs as therapy (not allowed publicly without added papers) or as service animals. It might depend on your disabilities, though, that im not sure of. I just know my bunnies are registered ESAs and have 100% of the same rights as a service animal

                            EDIT
                            Looked into it a bit further and found it also depends on your state. Some states allow any animals to be considered service animals as long as they complete the given tasks required, and other states only allow a select few animals as service animals making the other animals therapy type animals and not giving them the full amount of rights in public areas. It also depends on the persons disabilities and limitations

                            Pure ESA or therapy, nonservice animals, are allowed in public areas but in stores and business, they are allowed to be kicked out for no reason. Where as a service animal can only be kicked out, legally, if it is disruptive in any way


                          • Mikey
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                              I do agree though, be careful of online websites. I went through an online website given to me by my therapist, but there are a lot of fake ones out there scamming people out of their money

                              If youre going to go through an online company, check it first at the Better Business Bureau website (http://www.bbb.org/) to make sure the company is legit


                            • Jenna
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                                Yes, I am the USA in Ohio.
                                I have been getting all my information from https://www.nsarco.com/emotional-support-public-access-s.html
                                Is this one of those places that forges fake documents? It seems to be the only place that ever pops up in a google search.
                                In pages on this website it has roughly the same info you posted. Directly quoted from this website is:

                                “What Are Your Legal Protections and Rights?
                                The Air Carrier Access Act 49 U.S.C. 41705, Dept. of Transportation 14 C.F.R. Part 382, Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 are the laws that protect an emotionally disabled person and his/her ESA.

                                The legal protections an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) has are to:

                                1. Fly with its emotionally or psychologically disabled handler in the cabin of an aircraft without being charged a pet fee.
                                2. Qualify for no-pet housing (that also includes limited size, breed, or species housing) without being charged a pet fee.

                                No other public or private entity (motels, restaurants, stores, trains, taxis, busses, theatres, parks, beaches, libraries, zoos, etc.) is required to allow your ESA to accompany you and in all other instances, your ESA has no more rights than a pet. That means they aren’t protected by law to accompany you into any public place that does not allow pets. That doesn’t mean these places won’t let you, it just means that they are not required to, by law.”

                                It seems you are correct. This is confusing as the link says they just need to be controllable by the disabled handler and not be aggressive to others. Taking time to read through this again (despite what I’ve heard from everyone else), this seems to effectively eliminate my entire reason for needing an ESA. If I cannot legally take my rabbit to public areas without fear of being turned away then I would have no use for him.

                                With that said, I have never truly had an ESA. My doctor brought up the prospect of an ESA for me after I told him how they help calm me down. I am severely homebound (I’ve left my house about 5 times in the last 9 years!) because of my severe phobias and only really go to the doctor’s office. Lucky for me they were happy to accommodate my cat at the Dr’s office when I had her as long as she stayed in her carrier. The parrot, with his severe aggression, obviously fails the required ESA rules. Training the parrot to not hate strangers would require me to have him out in public every day for the rest of his life, not feasible for someone like me. I’d love to be able to go out and experience life again, but I really need the companionship of an animal at my side to do so. Since my severe social phobias are only curbed by my animals, I guess I will need to have a different discussion with my doctor. I would never be able to afford one of those insanely priced service dogs, nor would I want another dog in my house anyway, I don’t really care for dogs.

                                I will continue to check into my local shelter about their rabbits despite this saddening news. I’m waiting on their response because of the long weekend. Because ESA or no ESA I think I’d still like to have the opportunity to experience the world of rabbits as well.

                                Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I’ve been under the wrong assumption for a few months! Looks like my doctor has as well! I hope we can work something out for me in the end.


                              • Mikey
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                                  Perhaps you can get an ESA for home and semi public areas, and look into a service dog (some states allow service ponies if that suites you better) so you can leave your house without the fear of being turned away?


                                • SeaTurtleSwims
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                                    I hope you are able to find an animal that suits your needs. I still think bunnies are an excellent pet for people suffering with anxiety. The right bunny can be just SO SNUGGLY and chill! They have a marvelous calming effect 

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                                Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Which breed for Service Animal?