How do you get your bunny to ware a harness ?

Hi Iam trying to get my Bunny Poppy a B+W Butterfly Dwarf Lop to ware a Harness so I can take her out side in it in the garden .

I have tryed slowly puting it on her back so it just lays on her back for a bit. but then she moves and it drops off her back .
I have even tryed doing it up just under her back end leaving the the front of the harness loose but she then hopes out of it .

if i try to do up the front part of the harness she will crouch down with her head on her front paws so you can't do it up round her neck head area.

I have tryed the treat way. but as soon as she see's me comming with it or has it laying on her back she's off like a shot .

iam at my witts ends with her. oh yeah she's running loose at the time i have tryed to harness her. as she comes out for excersise in the house .
I have tryed harnessing her in her indoor cage where she lives. but she just runs away from me into a corner of the cage when i go near her with it.

Poppy is nearly a year old I have put a harness on her befor but that was when she was living out side for the summer last year and she was 11 to 12 weeks old then .

you don't surpose a cat collar would be better for her ? she has her duelap which makes it a bit hard to put a harness on her around her front.

or maybe she does not like wearing a harness :? but might be ok with a cat collar around her neck instead

or maybe what I could do is start her off in a cat collar and then slowly brake her in to wearing a harness if i get her use to having a collar around her neck first she might let me fit the harness around her .

at the minit she's like a bucking bronko horse as she also kicks her hind legs in the air like a horse does when you try to strap the harness round her . :lol: :lol: she makes me laugh to when she does this.

if you have any help to offer me on this prob reply here thanks.
I just hope their is a solution to this prob .

if I can't harness her she won't be able to go in the garden for excersise unless she is caged again in one of those out door runs .
which won't be much fun for me or Poppy as Poppy likes her freedom as much as people to. :wink:

please help if you can thanks for reading to.




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I fshe doesn't like putting it on then I would say don't do it!! I feel rabbits are generally happier having arun - even in a "caged" run - than being restricted by a lead and harness. Plus they can cause injuries.

Spacegirl said:

I feel rabbits are generally happier having arun - even in a "caged" run - than being restricted by a lead and harness.

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I agree, I hate harness and lead thingys for buns Xx

harness

Have you tried bribery ?

I put my french lop on a harness and lead the first few times I let him in the garden because I didnt know how he would react having never been outside. I sat him down and fed him a jacobs cracker which he loves, while he was busy munching that I managed to get the harness on and do it up !

I don't think there is anything wrong with a harness as long as the bunny still gets to hop around on it's own sometimes, if you havent got a secure garden its a good way of getting them out of their run and letting them have a sniff round.

Now my bun is used to the big bad garden I just leave his hutch open all day and he has the run of the whole garden, unless the others are out for a run then he is shut in for a while.

I've only ever tried Squidgy with a harness, and I thought he was going to break his back, he was kciking so much. He hated it. He has the run of the house, so when he goes outside in a run, I don't feel bad at all.
The other bunnies live in large enclosures, with supervised access to a run onto the grass. I can't let them loose because of wher we live, so this is the best solution. I wouldn't attempt to harness any of them.

I have tried it on various buns, and have been bitten for my troubles, so no longer try :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I tried once! :lol:
Learnt my lesson and rabbit proofed the garden instead. More costly but so much nicer seeing a rabbit completley free.

Out of my 15 buns, I have 1 bun that enjoys it & 1 that tolerates it. They much prefer freedom though :lol:

Pringle (my bun) doesnt mind his harness i have it on him when hes in the house or in garden for a run around, although i do have a run for him which he loves as he can run freely without worrying about me holding onto him.
I put the neck part in and slide it over his head then put it tighter (not strangling him :lol: ) then slide the part under his belly and fasten it at top, hes quite happy, sits on the table or my knee when i do it. I sometimes give him a carrot while i take it off to keep his occupied but again he doesnt really mind me puting it on or off him.
What kind of harness do you have ?

Harvey has a harness for when we take him out, our garden isn't secure enough to let him out without one, well we did with buddy but he would come when you called him so was controllable!!

Harvey doesn't mind at all. he sits there all dopey while you put it on and then just plods around. I don't tend to follow him too much, its an extendable cable so he can go quite far... but he doesn't usually bother.

If i thought for a minute it upset him I wouldn't take him out. To be honest i think the "outside" is more worrying for him as he tends to make a beeline for home after about 5 minutes!

I tried putting a harness on my lop Fred, he seemed to put up with it for a few hops, then he disappeared behind a large plant pot for a couple of minutes and the lead went slack, as he had decided he had had enough and chewed through it!

So I took that as a sign not to try that again!