Fancy a little fun and games with your rabbit? Rabbits are intelligent animals. With patience and the right steps, they can even perform a "high five" or "sit."
Trust is the basis for training your rabbit to become a little show star. Before you start working on tricks with your rabbit, your little prey animal should not flee into its burrow out of fear when you approach. You can read more about how to gain your rabbit's trust in the article "Training rabbits – how to succeed." With the right methods, an affectionate and open-minded animal can be persuaded to perform one or two tricks quite quickly. Once you have understood how to get your pet's attention and approach the task with sufficient patience, you can think up lots of tricks and work on them with your rabbit. Below are a few exercises to give you some basic ideas – there are no limits to your creativity when it comes to thinking up eye-catching tricks for your rabbit. The most important thing is always to have fun together!
As with all exercises, you first need to get your rabbit's attention. Use a tasty treat to make your rabbit curious. Small pieces of carrot work best.
Hold the treat close to the animal's nose and, as soon as it wants its reward, guide the rabbit around its own axis. Ideally, it will follow your hand with the treat. Once the rabbit has completed its circle, it will of course receive its reward immediately. It is best to start by using a clear command and a hand signal or gesture for the exercise. Repeat this during the exercise and stick to it later on. For example, say "turn" and move your hand in a small circle. At the beginning, you still have the treat in your hand. Later, when the rabbit already knows what is coming, a command and the hand movement before the reward will be the signal to perform the trick.
A piece of carrot is also helpful for this exercise. With a gentle upward movement, show your bunny that it should stretch until it is standing on two legs. It can support itself with its front paws on your hand and will receive its reward. It will certainly take some patience until the rabbit understands what it is supposed to do, but even this task is not impossible. In the next step for the high five, extend your hand so that only one paw can fit on it and, as with all exercises, use your command immediately.
These exercises may require a little more training, but with the right lure, you will succeed here too. Sit on a stool and place a bowl of tasty greens on your lap. Lure your rabbit until its attention is focused on what is on your lap. It may stand up on its hind legs at first and rest its front paws on your legs. Then continue to lure it and use your command for conditioning. You can also hold one hand a little lower to create a kind of bridge for the rabbit. Ideally, it will hop onto your hand and then onto your lap. Once it has done so, be sure to praise it, praise it, praise it – and let it nibble on lots of greens.
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