Has anyone ever successfully taught a rabbit NOT to pee on the bed or sofa?

[Jazzable]

I know that some buns just don’t seem to have the urge, but mine definitely *does*. He is free-range all the time, but currently I have to block his access to the bedroom because he immediately wants to pee on the bed. He was the same with the sofa, although I now don’t *have* a sofa so he’s usually fine everywhere except the bedroom. Except that last night I slept on cushions on the living room floor because I have a friend visiting, and twice in the space of a few hours this morning he peed on the cushions where I slept.

I wish I could understand exactly *why* he feels the need to pee these places?! I know it’s presumably something about territory and scent marking (note: he is neutered as of a month or so ago, but he’s been consistently prone to bed/sofa-peeing since I got him aged ~9 weeks), but.. what and why? Is he peeing there because he thinks I’m threatening his territory? Or is he trying to contest me for *my* territory? Does he think he’s just marking it as a place we share? And whichever of those may be the case, how can I help him feel secure in our joint ownership of the space to the point that he doesn’t feel the need to mark it this way?

I can’t figure out what the common factor is at all, it’s so frustrating! I thought it might be things raised above the floor, but that’s ruled out by peeing on floor-cushions (and by not peeing on dining chairs which he can jump up on). It’s not just about people sleeping there, because no-one ever slept on the sofa. It’s not just about people spending *time* there, because no-one even sat on the sofa (and I sit on the floor cushions all the time!). It’s not about soft fabrics because the sofa was leather and his bed-peeing was undeterred by covering it with a shower curtain (plus the living room floor is carpet, and there are cushions and blankets around that he doesn’t feel the need to pee on). I know that no-one really *knows* the answers but.. does anyone have any theories or evidence, or any information that might help me figure out the reasoning? It is definitely not a lack of general litter box ability, because he is 99.9% consistent with that outside of these very specific exceptions.

Aside from all that, if I can’t ever know exactly why he does this, I want to know if anyone has ever successfully taught a bed/sofa-peeing rabbit to *stop* doing it? And if so, HOW? I can’t really use any solution that involves preventing him accessing the bed completely (other than just blocking him from the room as I do now, which is really not ideal) – I’m not going to put gates around my bed, and because he’s free range full-time I can’t be constantly on-guard to teach him that it’s forbidden territory. (In fact I initially *did* try to do that, and for a while he seemed to understand he wasn’t allowed to get on the bed at all. But then I went away for about 48 hours and he realised he could get on the bed, peed all over it, and wouldn’t re-learn the fact that it was forbidden after I got back). I really just want a solution that will let him spend time on the bed and cushions without peeing there.

Sorry this is so long and rambling, I’m just frustrated! I love him so much and he is incredibly well-behaved, he’s otherwise perfect at using his litter box, friendly, chilled out, and I’ve got free-range rabbit proofing down to an art. It’s just this one issue that causes so much stress, and I wish I could find a solution!

[Muchelle]

He probably just likes to pee on them, at this point. It’s a pretty comfy set up after all

As for immediate counter measure, I suggest you invest in a waterproof cover for your sofa – and for your bed when you’re not around to discipline him.

Mine used to do it when he was younger and it surely was a territorial challenge or a “hey I want to put my smell right next to yours! we’re fam!”, but after I shielded it and kept yelling NO and pushing him off, he stopped doing that. So either he learned, became more confident with owning his territory or just decided it wasn’t worth it.

[Heaven]

Hi Jazzable! This is definitely a common problem and something a lot of us BB users have experienced

You’re right, it’s territorial (though not aggressive). Bunnies like to pee on soft things, especially if they smell like human, so they want to mark it with their own scent.

To stop my rabbit peeing on my sofa and bed, the trick was to cover them in blankets which already smell like him – or possibly that he’s even peed on. I also bought a large outdoor picnic blanket (one side material and one side waterproof) which I cover my bed with during the daytime. He’s completely stopped marking those areas now, and he’s not neutered.

You mentioned yours was neutered a month ago – it can still take a little longer than that for hormones to completely settle down.

[Author]

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