Getting rabbits to come back

Soon Archie and Molly will be able to free range again, and the problem we had before was getting them to come back to me. By the time they are able to free range again, the garden fences will be fixed so they won't be able to get out, but its stressful for them to keep chasing them around trying to catch them to get them to go back.
I used to shake the food bowl and they got fed as soon as they came over to me, but they stopped listening to that, so I don't know how else to get them to come back to me.
Today I sat with them and practiced with the clicker, by saying come here, and when they put both their front feet on my lap and let me touch their sides (I was hoping this would be sort of like picking them up to them) they would get a treat. Is that the right way to do it?

Training them to come to you for a treat is definately a good start. The trouble is sometimes they are having too much fun and don't want to stop for a treat.

The easiest option is to get into a routine, so food time is the same as bedtime. So, maybe let them out half an hour before their normal dinner time, then feed them dinner as normal (pretend they are there), and hopefully they'll go back in for food. Then close the door. They will get hungry eventually but start on a day where you've got time to wait for them to go back when they are ready.

Tamsin said:

Training them to come to you for a treat is definately a good start. The trouble is sometimes they are having too much fun and don't want to stop for a treat.

The easiest option is to get into a routine, so food time is the same as bedtime. So, maybe let them out half an hour before their normal dinner time, then feed them dinner as normal (pretend they are there), and hopefully they'll go back in for food. Then close the door. They will get hungry eventually but start on a day where you've got time to wait for them to go back when they are ready.

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^ agree although bribery with a rare treat does work sometimes too maybe a tiny bit (5p size) banana or a fenu greek crunchie