If you are reading this you’re probably aware rabbits are intelligent and interactive beings. Our rabbits ask for attention, find clever ways to entertain themselves, and certainly know how to tell us when we are five minutes late with a salad. Taking this into account, a wave has hit veterinary medicine that has yet to make ripples in the rabbit world: cooperative care, which is a concept that allows an animal to be an active participant in their care. Much of the rabbit community reports their rabbits will stay for a snack and then run off. Others say their rabbits will stay for pets, but with the appearance of the brush—away the rabbit goes, sealed with a solid “THUMP!”
What if we could change the scenario? What if we could get our rabbits to willingly hop up and agree to a nail trim that’s completed quickly? What if we needed to pick our rabbits up and it wasn’t a full aerobic workout? Great news; we can! Rabbit guardians everywhere can set aside a few minutes several times a week for fun cooperative care games. Let’s dive in!
Hand feeding: This is where a trust conversation is built. Start by sitting on the floor next to your rabbit’s space. Decide on a consistent place to easily slip a piece of food onto the floor. Give a verbal cue such as “noms” and calmly place a piece of food or treat on the ground and return to your starting position. After your rabbit has taken the food, go to place a piece of food in the same manner with the same cue. Soon many rabbits will turn their nose up at food on the ground and show preference for hand feeding. Some may even start to ask for nose rubs. Resist the urge to reach towards your adorable rabbit. Amendments can be made for rabbits with shy or territorial tendencies.
Consent to Pet: Approaching the rabbit, offer a hand, palm down, just slightly away from your body, and gently pet for a maximum of five seconds, then stop but keep your hand available. Your rabbit is likely to maintain the position or nudge for more rubs. If your rabbit withdraws or turns away, you have received your first “no thanks” loud and clear. If your rabbit presents with aggression, you will need to alter your approach to avoid a perceived threat. Practice consent at every interaction to build a fluid language with your rabbit.
Station Training: Your station is a signal that interaction and training games will happen. Create an elevated and easy-to-carry surface for your rabbit to hop up on, such as a child’s step stool. My rabbits love yoga mats glued to small step stools. Raised stations are easier for pets to target. Start this behavior by patting or gesturing towards the station surface and putting a high-value treat on it. As soon as the rabbit interacts with the station, use your tongue to make a “click” noise and place another treat down on the station. Click each time the rabbit does a fraction of all four feets on top of the station. You can then say, “All done,” and scatter some treats on the ground. Pick up the station and end the session.
Once your rabbit is eager to hop up on the station, you can add a verbal cue of “station” just before they hop up. You can cue them to go find treats off station, then cue “station” as they are about to hop back on.
Nail Trims: After you have built a reliable station behavior, you can start the ascent towards cooperative nail trims and brushing. Simply start by cuing a station, click, and treat for the station. The next move is to give a cue that means you will be grabbing a paw. My cue is “tootsie.” As soon as you touch a paw, give a treat. Repeat a couple of times and then end the session. If your rabbit backs up or hops away, let them. Removing themselves from an interaction is removal of consent. When you respect the “no,” you get more yeses! Create a way to slice the behavior into a smaller piece, such as moving a hand towards a foot, then treat. It’s OK to work with an alternative station. When my rabbits see stations, nail clippers, and cookies come out—they hop up onto my lap for nail trims.
Brushing: Cue that reliable station. Next, grab for a brush and give a treat. Put the brush down, then repeat. Work small approximations until you are able to do a brief brush stroke and give a treat. With very short sessions and consistency, you will be brushing those floofs all over.
A common response when I post that, as rabbit guardians, we can do better is, “I know my rabbit, they can handle it and recover.” I personally don’t want my rabbits to “handle” anything; I want them to choose to participate and avoid frustrated pouts or fearful retreats and thumps. Stating that a rabbit looks OK doesn’t mean much. Guardians often miss subtle stress signals from their animals, such as wide eyes, frozen body posture, or rapidly moving ears with a stiff body.
The biggest selling point of doing 20 minutes of cooperative care work in a week is it saves lives. One of my rabbits, Val, presented with neurologic episodes that required medication several times daily. When Val tried to escape from his medication administration, I had to find a sustainable solution. We had already started stationing so we built on this with the help of some pureed banana. I began with a cuing station, presenting a 2:1 puree to medication syringe (with his veterinarian’s approval), and clicked any time he licked the syringe. Within a few days, Val was hopping up on his station and leaning forward, telling me, “Mom, start the game.” After five days we didn’t need any banana, he took the medicine eagerly to earn his treats.
Cooperative care, when practiced correctly, makes general handling less stressful. The decrease in stress means a quicker road to recovery for many common ailments such as GI stasis. Beyond emergencies, your veterinarian will love that your rabbit can nose boop to say, “Start my exam, doc!” and hold still for blood draws and full physicals. Consent and cooperative care are also integral parts of aggression treatment. The brief time invested in preparation saves time and energy in the long run.
Visit rabbit.org/clicker-training-your-rabbit for more info on clicker training.
Reviewed by HRS staff
Author: Rebecca Gridley MA-Phys, BS- BMS, AS-PVS; Animal Trainer and Owner of Total Pet Care LLCPhoto Credit: Rebecca Gridley
Journal Issue: House Rabbit Journal, Winter 2019
