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Think Dougal's not my friend any more

nicole

Mama Doe
When ever I go near him he runs away (unless I have food).
Don't know what I have done to offend him?

He does not come for nose rubs, never has really. When ever I go to give him a nose rub he turns his back and walks off!

Mhairi will jump up for petting but she will nip you first!!

How can I bond more with Dougal and how can I stop Mhairi nipping me?
 
Hiya

I don't admit to being an expert on rabbits by any stretch of the imagination - but I do know horses, which are prey animals too, so what I'm suggested is probably based more on horse expereince.

Can you maybe offer Dougal a treat, with one hand, have the other arm sort of nearby, and gently stroke him while he devours his treat?

Jx
 
He let's me do that, but he wont come to me for nose rubs.
He is quite happy to ignore me.

Am I doing something wrong, or have you tips on bonding me with Dougal?
 
I don't know - some buns like to be independent...

I don't expect to be visited by egg until every single nook, cranny, bug etc etc has been given the once over. She'd be far happier trying to climb the back of the sofa than have nose rubs from me! :) (although she does come and say hello every once in a while before she's off again up to more mischief)

Each bun is different - some are happy to watch the world, others have to go out and explore it
 
I have been winning over my new girly with dandilions - it helps that Cosmos knows if I go to a certain part of his run I am going to poke dandilion leaves through so she followed him to see what was going on the first time.

I say her name and talk to her softly as I feed her and already just three days later when I crouch down near that end she is beating Cosmos to the corner and perks up when she hears my voice (ears up, sits up waiting for me), so much so that I even persuaded her to come out when Sadie (my dog) was there.

I am feeding her titbits with Sadie around so she learns to associate positive things with Sadie and is becoming less wary. Cosmos doesn't even blink an eye at Sadie anymore and even tries to play with her (my other dog is kept away as he isn't good with small furries).

Over the next few weeks I will start feeding her the dandilions and pellets by hand inside the run (without trying to touch her) then start offering my hand to stroke her as she feeds.

It does take a while with some buns and Cosmos, even though I have had him for 18months now still isn't a big fan of being touched and my aggressive bridge baby Athena was never good at being handled right up until she went but at least she stopped biting me :wink: !

You always get a set-back as well e.g. they have to be given medicine or have their nails clipped and they take a step back as they remember the last time you held them they had stuff done they didn't like.

I find once you are able to give nose rubs i.e. they let you get started then they cotton on pretty soon and come up and demand them with a nudge at your hand etc. With Athena it took ages before I could get to her nose without losing a finger but once I was able to she would sit there and get a nose rub quite happily - she actually preferred an ear rub though just behind her ears at the base - possibly because of how they lopped. When Zeus would be getting a nose rub she would come up and quietly lay beside him, nose to the floor and I would end up doing one with each hand, she rarely liked it unless Zeus was around.

With the nipping I used to squeek a bit when it hurt and Zeus disliked the noise I think so stopped, he was the only one who nipped (Athena was a bite and hang on for dear life kinda girl), I would also occasionally tap him gently (emphasis on gently) on the nose and say no. Rabbits use nipping as a way of gaining attention or telling you that you are in their way :roll: sometimes though they nibble instead, which is actually them trying to groom you and a sign of affection. I don't tell them off for that.

Hope I have given you a few ideas to try.

Caz
 
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