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Is anyone else out there slightly over-protective over their bunnies?!

Ozbun

Warren Scout
Yesterday a neighbour's little girl came round to see my rabbit. Ozzie was originally bought as a Christmas present for her by her Mum's partner. Her Mum didn't really want a rabbit, was scared of him & did not have the time to look after him. Long story but he was alone in a hutch wasn't looked after so in October I ended up asking if i could have him. The little girl is very cute & only 5 yet I found myself bristling when she came in to say hello to him. :oops: She said "he's horrible sometimes and you have to shout SHUT UP! SHUT UP! to him!" (whilst screaming at him through the bars of the pen...) :evil:

Ozzie is such a lovely soul, really sweet & funny. I can't understand it when others don't see it (meaning adults here, not the little girl) Although they aren't "bad" people I felt really sad that they clearly didn't love him even a bit.

Guess you either love animals or you dont!
 
Yesterday a neighbour's little girl came round to see my rabbit. Ozzie was originally bought as a Christmas present for her by her Mum's partner. Her Mum didn't really want a rabbit, was scared of him & did not have the time to look after him. Long story but he was alone in a hutch wasn't looked after so in October I ended up asking if i could have him. The little girl is very cute & only 5 yet I found myself bristling when she came in to say hello to him. :oops: She said "he's horrible sometimes and you have to shout SHUT UP! SHUT UP! to him!" (whilst screaming at him through the bars of the pen...) :evil:

Ozzie is such a lovely soul, really sweet & funny. I can't understand it when others don't see it (meaning adults here, not the little girl) Although they aren't "bad" people I felt really sad that they clearly didn't love him even a bit.

Guess you either love animals or you dont!

Sounds like you rescued him. I can't stand it when children are loud or agressive around animals, let alone my own pets. I would definitely say something :oops:
 
To be fair, a child of that age has to be taught how to be respectful around animals, and if she hasn't been taught, she won't have the skills. Maybe you can teach her when she comes round, if she comes round again.

I am ultra protective of mine though when it comes to people, for a variety of reasons.
 
I don't mind children seeing my rabbits. If someone comes round with kids I always ask if they want to see them, HOWEVER, I give them strict rules to follow. Be gentle be quiet. Worded to suit the age of the child. You shouldn't be afraid to give her rules, he's your rabbit now. :)
 
My boyfriend's baby cousin is about 5. She is very cute but very pushy. She loves going to watch Poppy jumping around but then starts throwing her toys into the crate shouting "HE LIKES TO PLAY WITH THEM" 1. Poppy is a girl and 2. she never really plays with any of her toys lol. I know she doesn't understand but I have had to tell her sometimes to use her 'gentle voice' around the rabbits otherwise she will scare them and they won't want to come and play lol.
 
Well... I had to be quite manipulative in order to rescue him, I had sneaked into their garden after becoming concerned. The hutch was clean but no food or water!! I didn't think there was a rabbit in there at first as he hid. Then when i first saw him I was horrified & I promised him i would get him out of there! I had to be a bit sneaky because if the little girl on a whim suddenly decided she wanted bunny back, I wouldn't have been able to help him. Perhaps it's as well that she thinks he's "horrible"- she might not get another one! I think they're moving house... :thumb:
 
If anyone ever screams at my bunnies, in a playful fashion or not, kids or not, they are shown the door - I have already dispatched two cleaners, one for hoovering with Sharik cowering in a corner in the same room, petrified, and the other for trying to get King out from behind the armchair with a broom, screaming "get out you nasty rat" at him in the process :evil:

I am probably overprotective, but I and the bunnies work so hard for to get them comfortable in their surroundings, and to trust me that I won't have that undone by anyone :)
 
To be fair, a child of that age has to be taught how to be respectful around animals, and if she hasn't been taught, she won't have the skills. Maybe you can teach her when she comes round, if she comes round again.

I am ultra protective of mine though when it comes to people, for a variety of reasons.

I agree.

A few years ago someone brought a child to visit my lot, Jack was about 10 years old. The 4 pigs were in the run which is on slabs with their tunnels etc. Jack stamped his feet because he wanted to see the pigs run out of a tunnel across the run. I am sure it never even crossed his mind that he was frightening them. It is all to do with how they are brought up.
 
I sometimes bring the little girl I look after over to see my buns. Shes 2 and a half but Ive always taught her to be very gentle and quiet around them and she sticks to it and just likes to stroke them gently. (The buns on the otherhand are way too intrigued by her and follow her around sniffing and nudging :roll:)

If I have people over for tea and especially if we have people staying over, I get super protective of them. I dont like their routine to be upset in any way. Tbh I hate hate it and turn into a complete control freak :oops: OH's sister was here last week, she left the light on in the lounge twice, I was fuming because thats where Max and Charlotte sleep :evil:
 
I am mega protective over all of mine, only me, my partner and my parents handle my rabbits.

I have a neighbour with two buns in a box, its a fairly big box I guess. Although I have never seen them out on the grass. They are never let out the box, and the kid stands in front of the hutch screaming "hello rabbit" over and over again. It makes me cringe!

I just want to go get them and cuddle them and give them loads of hay and toys. Its just horrible.
I know they arn't spayed as well! :(, so they will die young and neglected.
So easy to shove a rabbit in a box and ignore it.
Sorry bit of a rant there. Maybe one day I will be able to get them.
 
I'm the same - even with my own daughter :oops:

I know she is great around Fudge but i always find myself watching her with him, and more likley than not giving her a warning for being a little rough. I guess the fact of it is though that he doesn't mind as he can easily move away from her - he chooses to play with her. I guess its that he doesn't have a voice - that i sometimes feel the need to step in?

It must be difficult for you though as you know how this little girl has treated the bun in the past


Good on you for taking him in :D
 
Someone brought a small child (uninvited and without warning me) to my house last year. He ran around the garden chasing Barley :( I would have got her back in the run if I'd known a child was coming. The child complained that Barley had bitten him! :shock: She's never, ever bitten before! I can't blame her though! :lol:

If anyone ever screams at my bunnies, in a playful fashion or not, kids or not, they are shown the door - I have already dispatched two cleaners, one for hoovering with Sharik cowering in a corner in the same room, petrified, and the other for trying to get King out from behind the armchair with a broom, screaming "get out you nasty rat" at him in the process :evil:

I am probably overprotective, but I and the bunnies work so hard for to get them comfortable in their surroundings, and to trust me that I won't have that undone by anyone :)

:shock::shock::shock:

I hope by 'dispatched' you mean murdered?! :lol:
 
I think I feel so strongly because people go into things so lightly. I would not have gone out & got a rabbit as I am really watching the outgoings at the moment (self employed work very thin on the ground!) But when i finally got him, my local shelter was overflowing & besides i fell for him on first sight!! :lol::love:

Yet someone else, on a whim bought a cute baby creature without any regard for his future welfare, had him in the house until they got fed up, then shut him in a hutch in an inaccessible part of the garden where no one ever went. He was cleaned out once a week & fed a big pile of muesli mix once every 2 days, no hay & no attention. He has such a big personality and loves to run around. I can't bear to think how he felt shut in there. I think this is the root of my protective feelings towards him- i don't blame the little girl, she's sweet most of the time!

I went to great lengths because i knew the family were having a hard time. They could have been prosecuted for neglect & I wanted to avoid this. They have no idea about that & probably think I'm just an eccentric bunny fan. Others on our (nice) street have done the same with dogs & cats. There are 3 of us on here who have taken in neighbours' animals when they suddenly became bored of them. I have spent around £200 on him so far with cage, pen, etc. I don't begrudge a penny of it but I hadn't planned it & it's not easy. Neighbours are happy: "well we didn't really want it..." :roll:
 
If anyone ever screams at my bunnies, in a playful fashion or not, kids or not, they are shown the door - I have already dispatched two cleaners, one for hoovering with Sharik cowering in a corner in the same room, petrified, and the other for trying to get King out from behind the armchair with a broom, screaming "get out you nasty rat" at him in the process :evil:

I am probably overprotective, but I and the bunnies work so hard for to get them comfortable in their surroundings, and to trust me that I won't have that undone by anyone :)

"Nasty rat?" :shock: I would have wrapped that ol' broom round his or her head!
 
:shock::shock::shock:

I hope by 'dispatched' you mean murdered?! :lol:

The first one I never met - I just heard it from the flat attendant, and told the lady at the refinery to find another one - I actually had the displeasure of witnessing the second incident and my blood was seriously boiling, but I just told her to f*** off and that if there was a rat in the flat, it was her :evil:
 
Yes, I am very over protective over my two! Especially if there's children involved :roll: But adults can be just as bad! The worst one by far was my mum's ex-boyfriend, every time he came over he insisted on trying to stroke Boris despite him growling, lunging, thumping and trying to get away from him. I told him off so many times but he never listened :evil: :censored: I'm glad they broke up :lol: He's a jerk.
 
"Nasty rat?" :shock: I would have wrapped that ol' broom round his or her head!

My little boy was standing his ground and growling - if she'd touched him with the broom, I would have seriously lost it, but if she did I didn't see it - funnily enough once the old witch had gone, he came hopping out all by himself :love:
 
Im afraid I am not a fan of children at all.:oops:
They have got to be the age where one can reason with them and they listen.
Badly behaved children and me are not a good combination.**shrugs**
I suppose I have different ideas about how to bring them up.
 
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