aatkin
Warren Scout
Hi there,
I just thought I'd share a 'it-gets-better' behaviour story! Some of you may remember that when we adopted Peabody earlier this year she was a very different bunny to her best friend Emerson - she was very shy, nervous, disliked being touched, ran away from us, bit my husband, etc. We were okay with our little nervous nelly and decided that we would just cater to her every need and provided she was happy, then we were happy! The only problem was, she is a VERY fluffy bunny and needs to be groomed.
Grooming became a nightmare situation, traumatising the both of us. When we first adopted her she was matted, so we had no choice but to catch her and cut the matts out. After that, to stop her from getting matted again we knew regular grooming would be required, but there was no way she was going to have it (couldn't sit with her on the floor to groom her, couldn't get her to hop into a basket and move that to groom her, we tried just about everything but we always had to resort to catching her and grooming her on the desk - which we both hated). Eventually I just thought, "Enough with this!" As it was definitely impacting how she behaved around us - she was even starting to get wary of treats, instead of getting positive about grooming!
I decided that it absolutely had to change, even if it meant some teething problems. I stopped grooming her. For weeks! Over time, as she began to let me sit nearer her, I started to stroke her right after I had filled their hay box with fresh tasty hay and she was distracted and content. It was just a quick stroke here and there. But slowly I began to build up, get closer to her head, try to ruffle her fur a bit, etc. I tried moving on to using a brush. She was fine with it, until she realised it was the brush - and then she'd run away! But I persisted. I would start stroking her with my hand, then move on to the brush, then back to the hand. I wouldn't wait until she was fed up, I would just groom a little bit at a time - but twice a day, in the morning and evening when they get most of their fresh hay.
And now - my what a different bunny. First of all, she actaually enjoyed being groomed (as long as she has tasty hay). I can brush just about every bit of her with no complaints! But, the biggest different - she lets me stroke and pet her at other times now - even when they are out exploring. She has become much for inquisitive, climbing on me when I'm cleaning their room, and peeking into the bedroom even!
So... if you have a nervous nelly, don't give up hope!
I just thought I'd share a 'it-gets-better' behaviour story! Some of you may remember that when we adopted Peabody earlier this year she was a very different bunny to her best friend Emerson - she was very shy, nervous, disliked being touched, ran away from us, bit my husband, etc. We were okay with our little nervous nelly and decided that we would just cater to her every need and provided she was happy, then we were happy! The only problem was, she is a VERY fluffy bunny and needs to be groomed.
Grooming became a nightmare situation, traumatising the both of us. When we first adopted her she was matted, so we had no choice but to catch her and cut the matts out. After that, to stop her from getting matted again we knew regular grooming would be required, but there was no way she was going to have it (couldn't sit with her on the floor to groom her, couldn't get her to hop into a basket and move that to groom her, we tried just about everything but we always had to resort to catching her and grooming her on the desk - which we both hated). Eventually I just thought, "Enough with this!" As it was definitely impacting how she behaved around us - she was even starting to get wary of treats, instead of getting positive about grooming!
I decided that it absolutely had to change, even if it meant some teething problems. I stopped grooming her. For weeks! Over time, as she began to let me sit nearer her, I started to stroke her right after I had filled their hay box with fresh tasty hay and she was distracted and content. It was just a quick stroke here and there. But slowly I began to build up, get closer to her head, try to ruffle her fur a bit, etc. I tried moving on to using a brush. She was fine with it, until she realised it was the brush - and then she'd run away! But I persisted. I would start stroking her with my hand, then move on to the brush, then back to the hand. I wouldn't wait until she was fed up, I would just groom a little bit at a time - but twice a day, in the morning and evening when they get most of their fresh hay.
And now - my what a different bunny. First of all, she actaually enjoyed being groomed (as long as she has tasty hay). I can brush just about every bit of her with no complaints! But, the biggest different - she lets me stroke and pet her at other times now - even when they are out exploring. She has become much for inquisitive, climbing on me when I'm cleaning their room, and peeking into the bedroom even!
So... if you have a nervous nelly, don't give up hope!
