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Bunny Show Jumping?

I think they are amazing, but as with horses, dogs etc. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it makes me a bit uneasy. Should an animal be trained to do these things for competitions and for our entertainment, do they enjoy it or are they just responding to commands? I'm not sure about it, but I haven't tried it either, so I don't know. :D
 
I think they are amazing, but as with horses, dogs etc. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it makes me a bit uneasy. Should an animal be trained to do these things for competitions and for our entertainment, do they enjoy it or are they just responding to commands? I'm not sure about it, but I haven't tried it either, so I don't know. :D

I think that's a really interesting comment. I do a lot of horse riding and I have worked with dogs doing obstacle courses. I think with horses and dogs it's easier to tell if they enjoy something.

From my experiences with horses, you get horses that naturally enjoy jumping and others that don't. Those that don't are usually happy to pop over a low pole but will refuse anything higher and the majority of caring horse/riders and owners would not force the horse to go higher. On the other hand, you get those that love jumping. I used to ride a horse that excelled at complex courses and you could tell he enjoyed showing off his stuff.

I've always thought what a good jumper Inky would be if I could put a saddle on him (does that make me mad? Probably :lol: ).

I think if the animal enjoys it then fair enough, although I don't think I'd want my lot to go a a competition, I'd imagine it would be a bit stressful for a rabbit.
 
It's very popular in Norway, Sweeden and Denmark:D
Jumping competitions are often arranged at the same time as rabbit shows.
I've competed a few times, but my buns aren't very eager when it comes to competitions (if they don't want to jump then they don't jump, no reason to force them). But they're sometimes rather good when they're training.
I didn't have to teach them anything, bunnies are born to jump:D My only problem is that Zakura often prefers to crawl under the obstacle if it is too tall:roll:
Rabbit jumping is very fun, and great exersize for both bunny and owner. (Sasuke and Aroma tends to outrun me:lol: )
 
Egg is jump tastic too - and as time goes on, Tuesday is getting better at not landing on his head when he climbs stuff in the dining room :roll: :lol:

As for rabbits enjoying it or not - quite simply put if Egg didn't want to jump something, I would never be able to make her.... she's very stubborn! :lol: I don't think i'd get any rabbit to do something they didn't want too - especially if they could just hop off or knock the jump over!
 
My very first bunny used to jump but to be honest, he was so in love with me (not castrated) that he'd follow me anywhere (hence why he jumped the jumps to get to me). I can't imagine any of mine every doing it now!
 
I think as we all have bunnies we know that it'd be quite impossible to get them to do something like that if they didn't want to. :lol:

I think Faline would be good at that, she's impossible to keep off the furniture, but I don't think she'd wear a harness.

As for dogs, I think mostly they love agility. They get to spend time with their owners, it gives them something to do that stimulates their body and mind and they get rewards for participating.
 
It's not that hard to harness train a bunny (in my opinion);)
If the rabbit doesn't "want" to take the harness on, (bites the neck part of it etc) give it something to eat while you attack the harness. With most bunnies I've tried this on, they hardly notice the harness is there once it's on.
Don't try to lead them like a dog, it won't work. In the begining its best to let the rabbit just go as it pleases wearing the harness, perhaps just let it go in the run without a lead, so it can get use to it.
All my bunnies have been harness trained since they were 3 months old (Zakura actually wore one for guinea pigs when she was 5 weeks:roll: but that was before I found out she should have been 3 months) but I've tried it on adult bunnies as well at school. Tried once on a one-year old rabbit and once I put her on the grass, she immidately started bouncing around. This was her first time ever wearing a harness. :D

NKHF has regulations on how the harness is supposed to sit. Some use so-called "chest-harnesses" which puts pressure to the chest, rather than the neck. Others use "H-harnesses" Named so because if you open them up they look like H. Also the ring to fasten the lead on has to be on the back, not in the middle of the harness or on the neck-ring.
Here's Aroma in her "Bunny Sports" harness:
Pberget.jpg


Also does are not allowed to compete if they are pregnant or nursing. The rules say they can return 10 weeks after giving birht, 2 weeks after the babies usually stops nursing. I think it's 2 weeks if the babies die.
I wouldn't put a harness on a pregnant doe anyway, not sure about nursing does but to be on the safe side I'd rather not.
 
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