How to teach your rabbit to go back to his hutch

Training a rabbit to go back to his hutch is a bit trickier than other forms of training, because there is no way to do it through reinforcement alone. Nonetheless, rabbits are pretty smart. If you can patiently and gently coax your bunny into its hutch without scaring it, the rabbit will soon learn to follow your command.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rabbit
• <br>Small enclosure
• <br>Hutch
• <br>Rabbit treats

1. Wait until your rabbit feels comfortable with his surroundings. If he is in a new hutch, you are a new owner, or any other recent changes have happened, put off training for a while.

2. Spend a lot of time with the rabbit. She should feel comfortable around you, used to being petted by you and not threatened by your approach.

3. If possible, teach your rabbit something involving simple positive reinforcement before doing this training. You could, for example, teach your bunny to come when called. Training your rabbit to go back to his hutch is a little tricky, so having some prior training experience will make things easier for both you and the bunny.

4. Prepare a small enclosure in front of the hutch. It should have a narrow courtyard with its mouth facing the hutch. Ideally, it should be narrow enough so that the rabbit can only hop directly towards or away from it. It should also be sturdy and tall enough to stop the rabbit from jumping over it.

5. Wait until the rabbit is calm and hanging out in her courtyard. Put a special treat in the hutch if you can do so without arousing the rabbit's attention. This will serve as a small reward for following your commands.

6. Approach him and wait until he is acclimated to your presence.

7. Take a step towards him and in a friendly but clear voice say "home" or "hutch." If he moves towards his hutch, back away.

8. Take another step and say the say command. Do not bend down and pet the rabbit, as this can confuse her and make her think that you want to play.

9. If the bunny still hasn't moved towards the hutch, kneel down and tickle the back of her feet while repeating the command. This will make her hop away from you.

10. Once the bunny has moved a distance towards the hutch, praise him and go away.

11. Come back in a few minutes and repeat the process. As the rabbit gets used to the command, require her to move a bit further before you praise her and go away. You should spend an hour a day on this until she gets it.

12. Once the rabbit learns to go all the way to the hutch on your first command, you can remove the courtyard and try the command again. If he obeys, you've successfully trained him. If not, add the courtyard again and keep at it!

Tips & Warnings

• If your bunny gets scared or excessively agitated, back off the training and leave him alone for a while. You probably will need to annoy your rabbit a bit to get him to obey your command, but you don't want to scare him.