Mad as a March Hare

[Gina.Jenny]

There’ve been a few posts in different threads on the longer days affecting buns in the Northern Hemisphere, so I thought I’d start a thread on the topic.

All my buns are definitely reacting to the longer days, Gina and Snickers are the worst, they are humping poor Podge and Mini every evening

Gina has dug and chewed several more holes in my not very old settee, I swear she waited til I was out the room so she wouldn’t get caught! Gina has also started chewing on the dining table legs? Snickers and Mini have followed Gina’s lead, and I now have two chewed table legs. Just to go one better, Snickers started chewing on the stair rails, and Podge and Gina added to the original chew marks??? None of them are short of tastier things to chew on and the vet recently confirmed every buns’ teeth are fine.

Jenny and Pippi decided a pair of slippers needing putting in their place last night, the poor slippers didn’t stand a chance

And all six have gone through a super mega moult, at its worst the air indoors was foggy with bun fur wisps 

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Youch, I hope they won’t tear down the house around you!

I think more light and longer days corresponds with more energy in rabbits. Breintje has been more active lately as well: running around, making binkies and destroying his toys. Odd that even indoor rabbits react so strongly to the seasons.

[Bam]

Same with Bam! Much more active. And he’s molting like there’s no tomorrow. He hates it when I brush him

[Jessica]

I’m sorry every one is having a hard time with their buns, but I’m also kinda glad to hear I’m not the only one. I don’t remember my previous bun being crazy like this in the spring

[Q8bunny]

Chewie’s just STILL reenacting the Nutcracker for me with his massive white flurry of a moult. Other than that… pretty much ‘same same’ as they say here LOL

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Great… he’s taking the opportunity now to show me that he’s stubborn and he’s got his own opinion, and only listens to his command words whenever he feels like it.

I trained him to go in his cage when I say “Breintje, hokje”. He gets a treat when he goes in. Starting last week he often runs toward his cage, stops at the entrance, runs back and starts doing crazy leaps, head shakes and thumps around the coffee table. I often have to chase him into his cage now, which of course is not rewarded with a treat.

I hope it’s just a temporary seasonal bout of the crazies, because he used to be so well trained. And I’m often in no condition to pick him up and put him in his cage. Anyone else ever had a lapse in training?

[Q8bunny]

Sorry, it’s not funny, I know, but he just sounds so stinkin’ cute

[Bam]

He does sound stinkin’ cute!
I’ve never tried o train a rabbit, but lapses in training is very common with young dogs. I think that’s more or less the norm.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

It is very cute, but also rather frustrating. He’s 4,5 years old and neutered, so toddler or teenage stubbornness is not expected. Several things are going through my mind now: have I really offended him lately?, is it just the season?, is something wrong with his cage?, is he suddenly bored with his treats after 2 years?.

[Boston's Mama]

Maybe he’s anticipating the treat and jumping ahead? As in he use to be content with getting the treat AFTER he got in the cage – but now he is getting to the cage and it’s not there already so he’s running off-? Oakley anticipates pellet time now and he is trying to move it half hour earlier!
He has always hopped on his house once I open the pellet cupboard and sits there like simba on pride rock until I get to his cage then he hops down and runs to where the pellets get put- now he is hopping on his house BEFORE cupboard is open – actually half an hour early – and sulks till I go to the pellet cupboard…
My guess is he may be trying to change the rules – do you usually get the treat out after he gets in ? Or do you have it in your hand in prep?
Maybe get it out in your hand then give the command ? Or if you do that already maybe pop it in his cage quite obviously and then give command?
Sometimes we have to compromise with our requests more than we would with dogs I find – they like to feel they are getting it their “way”

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

This is how I do it: I give the command, wait for him to jump in, pick up the treat and give it to him.

[Boston's Mama]

If it was me I would try having the treat in hand and having him see that and then command – a reminder that “if you want this yummy thug you smell then you need to listen”

[Boston's Mama]

Posted By Oakley’s mama on 3/12/2017 6:46 AM
If it was me I would try having the treat in hand and having him see that and then command – a reminder that “if you want this yummy treat you smell then you need to listen”

[Boston's Mama]

I’m clicker training at the mo and I always have the treat in smell – right in my hand – as reward has to be instant for them to get the connection between the command , action and reward. Any lapse in time and the connection is harder to make – it sounds like he gets what you are asking him to do ( based on the fact he used to go in as you told him) but he doesn’t get that the treat he got was actually a response to his action

[Bam]

Change treats if you don’t do that normally. It’s key in training, to have a reward that’s attractive for the animal. In case you haven’t read Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, I recommend it warmly. I think it’s available online as a free PDF, it used to be at least. She trained dolphins and other animals that you can’t make do things unless they want to.

It sounds like he’s happy, but the first thing to rule out when there’s a behavioral change in an adult animal is, as always, pain.

March hare syndrome is still a plausible explanation imo. But you know him best.

[LittlePuffyTail]

No attitude change. But dreading the big molts I know are coming. Sterling growled at me last night while I was grooming him. He’s a total nightmare….

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Thanks for the advice everyone I tried to switch treats (tangerine and raisins, things he’d normally do anything for) but it seems to be in the “hokje” command. The other command “kom maar” (come then) does seem to work, within a second he hops up next to me on the couch for a treat. No matter which treat I hold, when I use that “hokje” command now, he acts up.
I’m about to take an afternoon nap now, and Breintje is in his cage. I didn’t use the command, but instead I dangled a raisin in front of his face and used it to lure him into the cage, singing many praises and giving him another treat as a reward. I guess I’ll slowly start building up the training again in the same way that I started. Don’t know what makes him behave so oddly.

Thanks for the advice on the book LPT, I found it as a PDF.

[Azerane]

Posted By bam on 3/12/2017 6:51 AM

Change treats if you don’t do that normally. It’s key in training, to have a reward that’s attractive for the animal. In case you haven’t read Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, I recommend it warmly. I think it’s available online as a free PDF, it used to be at least. She trained dolphins and other animals that you can’t make do things unless they want to.

Found it too, loving it already Thanks for the tip. I’m determined to be a pro dog trainer from the minute I get my dog, lol. If only

[Vienna Blue in France]

Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor

Got it in my rather sparse bookcase
Think I’ve started it about 10 times – never manage to finish it….

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

I observed him for a day, and he seemed anxious to jump into his cage even without the command. He just stood there with his paws on the edge of the door flap, staring into his cage but not daring to jump in. After some re-arranging I found out what his problem was. Several weeks ago I made alterations to his toilet so there would be fewer spills: I added a cover that raises the sides a bit. Appearantly this makes it more difficult for him to jump in and out of his cage, but he never complained about it until this week.

With some gentle encouragement and lots of treats he seems to be re-learning the “hokje” command. He’s still hesitant about jumping into the cage, but raisins and gnawing treats seem enough to coax him in. At least he doesn’t bolt and thump anymore when I use the command. I still don’t know why he got anxious all the sudden, the alteration has been there for weeks and he never complained. Bas speculated that maybe he landed painfully on the side of the toilet while jumping into his cage.

[Author]

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