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Post by dannyt on Apr 3, 2006 4:50:04 GMT -5
Hi I am the owner of a chocolate brown lab and I also have a rabbit. Mia, the lab is quite well trained but nothing special, just the simple commands, and she seems to be quite intelligent and picked up clicker training very quickly, however, she mainly answers to spoken commands as this is what we use most often. We have the rabbit in a hutch and a run at the bottom of the garden and we haven't really had him very long, but the thing is, whenever mia is let outside she just runs over to the hutch and basically jumps at him. This obviously frightens the rabbit and he darts where she can't see him. They have been introduced on a number of occasions, and mia seems to be crying very loudly, almost shouting at him, and the human equivalent I suppose must be screaming. When she is introduced to him on a lead she sniffs him but has never tried to bite, and she is very heavy handed with him with her paws. I was wondering what the best way would to be to get her to basically ignore the rabbit or at least just leave him alone! I look forward to hearing your replies
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Post by willow on Apr 3, 2006 10:32:55 GMT -5
Although Mia has not tried to chomp your bunny yet, it could very well escalate to that if she is not taught that she must not run and lunge at bunny's cage and scare him to death and that she must not get "heavy handed" with her paws, as she could easily kill him like this too.
What would I do? Physically correct her with a training collar and leash when she lunges at the cage or paws etc. at the bunny. She has to learn that any roughness will not be tolerated and she must be gentle with the bunny.
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Post by kaos on Jul 11, 2006 15:59:12 GMT -5
I have a lab x and a rabbit too. If you haven't had the rabbit very long, and the dog appears to be excited more than agressive towards the rabbit, which was the case with my dog, it might be worth trying to desensitise her.
Take a chair out when you have no distractions or time constraints, and with your dog on a lead sit quite a distance away from the caged rabit with a bag of yummy treats. When your dog looks towards you and is ignoring the rabbit and being calm with a loose leash praise and feed (you could use the clicker too if your dog is already familiar with this). Gradually move the chair nearer to the cage and repeat. You will need lots of patience and possibly several sessions. In between and until the dog is ignoring the rabbit reliably, you must not ever allow her to be out with the rabbit off lead and unsupervised. Chasing behaviour will be highly stimulating and self-rewarding so don't give her the option to form this habbit and undo your hard work.
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