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Bonding With Bunny
*see also Tips and Tricks
How to Handle your Bunny, and How Not To
NEVER, and I mean NEVER, pick your rabbit up by the ears. Now I know we've all seen magicians and cartoons and people on
TV do it, but come on, it's just
not right. As steadfast as bunnies are, they are
also fragile creatures,
with fragile backbones. Picking up a bunny by
the ears could cause neck
injury, back injury or *gasp* worse, like a broken back.
So don't manhandle your cute fuzzy one by schlepping
it up by it's ears,
it's dangerous, will make your bunny VERY unhappy,
and it's just plain rude.
You can scoop it up by the rump and underarms or pick it up like a baby.
 
Something I've done to better bond with my little charmer, Phili, is to get down to his level. Pull up your sleeves and get
down on the floor.
Crawl around with bunny, see the world
from his point of view.
How better not to understand him (or her)? Not only does
it allow you to get
a better look of what the little sucker can get into,
but it gives a path
for him to play up to you, instead of you bending down
to pet him, he can
come over to you. Rabbits are extremely social creatures,
and this gives
him an opportunity to show you the ways around his world.
 
Try not to lock him up in solitary until you find one or two hours to give him attention. I know that a lot of you
don't like the idea
of giving your bunny the freedom of hopping around
your entire house,
and that choice is just fine. But, don't keep him caged
up for 24 hours a day 7 days
a week. Give the little sweetie some romping room.
Pick out a designated area
(it could be a room, part of a room, the laundry room even!),
and let him do what bunnies do best: explore. Now
the first two years
of Phili's stay with us, we pretty much let him have
way with the entire place,
just shutting doors to rooms we didn't
want him to get into. Or,
like now, he has his own little area, with a little
baby fence (great investment people!)
to mark the boundaries of his bunny wonderland.
 
Bunnies are people too!!!! Okay, stop making the face already .  What I mean is, bunnies also like entertainment.
For instance, my sweet loppy eared
Phili just LOVES to listen to music. No joke.
One of the first weeks
I had him I set him down in the living room, and softly
turned on
Fleetwood Mac ( insert old fogie joke here), and he absolutely
adored it. He
hopped over to the speakers and flopped next to it and just
sat there,
and I swear I could hear him humming. I've also
noticed that he,
and I've heard the same thing from other bunny owners,
likes the television.
Phili really digs really cheesy 80's movies, and detests David
Letterman (turned him on one night and the bunny was just
THUMPING at the TV left and right).
So be a pal, let the bunny listen to some tunes and watch
the boob tube
(be mindful though, no loud music or racy cable shows, be a good influence
). 
Bunny is bound to make a few oopsies every now and then. Try not to get
enraged and resort to spanking. While light spanking
may be fine and tolerable for other bigger
pets,
it's just not the best way to reprimand your
bunny. Instead,
do something that they'll understand, stomp your feet.
Thumping at them will make them pay attention,
so you can spout out a firm
"No!", while you have their attention. Trust me, it works.
                    
 
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