aatkin
Warren Scout
Hi there,
Since we adopted our fluffy bunnies a few months ago we have slowly been getting to know them better. However, I've come upon a hiccup. Peabody (a very fluffy lionhead) needs regular grooming (minimum once a week). She is very shy/skittish/smart much more so than Emerson (who doesn't mind me running a brush over him as he's hopping about or eating). In order to groom Peabody at first I was having to catch her and take her to neutral territory (bathroom, which they are allowed in, but it is away from their HQ). This worked okay for a while, although she got progressively harder to catch as she caught on. While she never harboured any resentment to me following the grooming sessions, I felt like it was a barrier in our bonding, as even as she got more comfortable around me she would always wonder if I was going to try and catch her for grooming.
I decided the other week that I would stop picking her up and try to build up trust - which has worked, but she still isn't anywhere close to letting me groom her. She really needs a groom as I can see some small matts beginning in her mane and I want to get them before it gets any worse (thankfully she has stopped moulting at least). I know some people have suggested I get her to hop into a container and then pick that up, instead of picking up her directly - but she's too damn smart for that! Any suggestions?
[Edit: I will take any suggestions into account for the future, but consider some trust broken between Peabody and I. She needed to be groomed, which is more important than whether she likes me or not, so I had to pick her up. Although she doesn't mind the actual grooming, which comes with treats, so hopefully she will get over the picking up soon enough. I would like to avoid this in future though! Especially as she went through a mini-stasis episode a few weeks back and although I have no idea what caused it (we reckon a new type of grass treat) I would like to avoid any unnecessary stress for my buns.]
Since we adopted our fluffy bunnies a few months ago we have slowly been getting to know them better. However, I've come upon a hiccup. Peabody (a very fluffy lionhead) needs regular grooming (minimum once a week). She is very shy/skittish/smart much more so than Emerson (who doesn't mind me running a brush over him as he's hopping about or eating). In order to groom Peabody at first I was having to catch her and take her to neutral territory (bathroom, which they are allowed in, but it is away from their HQ). This worked okay for a while, although she got progressively harder to catch as she caught on. While she never harboured any resentment to me following the grooming sessions, I felt like it was a barrier in our bonding, as even as she got more comfortable around me she would always wonder if I was going to try and catch her for grooming.
I decided the other week that I would stop picking her up and try to build up trust - which has worked, but she still isn't anywhere close to letting me groom her. She really needs a groom as I can see some small matts beginning in her mane and I want to get them before it gets any worse (thankfully she has stopped moulting at least). I know some people have suggested I get her to hop into a container and then pick that up, instead of picking up her directly - but she's too damn smart for that! Any suggestions?
[Edit: I will take any suggestions into account for the future, but consider some trust broken between Peabody and I. She needed to be groomed, which is more important than whether she likes me or not, so I had to pick her up. Although she doesn't mind the actual grooming, which comes with treats, so hopefully she will get over the picking up soon enough. I would like to avoid this in future though! Especially as she went through a mini-stasis episode a few weeks back and although I have no idea what caused it (we reckon a new type of grass treat) I would like to avoid any unnecessary stress for my buns.]
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