Interview: Andrea Bratt Frick about clicker training rabbits

August 21, 9:43 AMClicker Training ExaminerEve Alexander

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Andrea training rabbits at Best Friends Animal Society in Utah.

Andrea, I heard about you from Dolores Arste who trained Cali for Mona Ramouni. In preparation for receiving her guide horse, Mona first learned to clicker train a rabbit. How did this help Mona?
Dolores contacted me to see if I would help Mona clicker train her pet rabbit Baylea. Mona had never trained an animal before. She would need to practice some basic training skills so that she could continue training her new miniature guide horse Cali when she arrived. I was delighted to help Mona over the Internet and we had a great time teaching Baylea some basic clicker training. It was interesting for me because I had to think of things that Mona could train Baylea to do without being sighted.

How did you get into clicker training?
I began clicker training when I adopted a young rabbit named Filbert who had a 36" vertical jump. He seemed to like my company and would jump out of his pen to find me. I had seen European rabbit hopping competitions on the Internet and thought that Filbert would enjoy jumping hurdles. I had read about clicker training and began to use it to teach Filbert and his friends to jump hurdles courses and do some agility. I quickly got into teaching other tricks and using the clicker with fearful and aggrressive rabbits. Since then I have had a chance to train many other animals. I currently operate a dog training business www.K9sBehave.com and am working on a rabbit training video.

How receptive are rabbit owners to clicker training?
Clicker training has been popular with dogs since the late 80s but most people don't think of training a rabbit at all or if they do, they think about litter box training. Once people see clicker trained rabbits in action either live or on Youtube (search for fuzzfarm) they get an idea of just how trainable rabbits really are. I think people are getting more receptive to the rewards of clicker training a rabbit as time goes by.

What are the most popular behaviors and tricks that people are training their rabbits to do?
One of the most popular behaviors that we train rabbits to do is to touch an object, such as a stick or your hand, with their nose. Once they learn to target an object we can easily clicker train them to stand up on their hind legs, spin in a circle, jump up on a small stool, jump hurdles, give kisses and many more tricks. You can find out more about clicker training rabbits at www.clickerbunny.com.

What kinds of treats do you use with rabbits?
I use a variety of treats when I clicker train rabbits. I like to use some of their daily ration of pellets, tiny bits of carrot and whole oats. I will also use herbs such as parsley, basil, mint, and cilantro. Several of my rabbits would rather have their noses rubbed than eat a treat so I will follow the click with a nice pet on the nose if that is what a particular rabbit is motivated by. Keep in mind that rabbits do best on a low carb diet. Bunnies often are super motivated by sweet treats such as banana, apple or raisins, however these treats need to be limited to a teaspoon or two per day or your rabbit might get sick.

I understand that your passion is rescuing rabbits. Where do the rabbits come from and why are they in need of rescue?
I adopted my first rescue rabbit way back in 1984, less than an hour before he was to be euthanized. He was a gorgeous English angora with the sweetest personality. It was so sad and hard for me to believe that he would be killed simply because no one wanted him. Since then I have volunteered with a group called Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter aka BUNS. We get most of our rabbits from people that find them as strays. Loose rabbits are at risk for getting killed by predators and hit by cars among other dangers. We also get some from people that no longer want them, are moving or have a change in their lives that makes keeping their pets difficult. Many shelters don't have the space and staff to care for rabbits properly until they can be adopted. BUNS is one of the few public shelters that has been able to structure itself in a way that no rabbits are euthanized due to lack of space.

Have the rabbits been abused? If so, how do you gain their trust?
Some of the rabbits that come to BUNS have been neglected or act fearful of people. We use clicker training to get them to feel more comfortable around people. We train our rabbits to come forward to touch our hands and to accept being pet and carried. We also teach them fun tricks to keep their minds and bodies active while they wait to be adopted. Fortunately most of the rabbits that we get are pretty healthy and friendly, they just need a second chance at finding the right home.

Besides teaching rabbits to behave in certain ways or to perform tricks, are there other benefits to clicker training rabbits?
Once we began clicker training rabbits at BUNS we were amazed at the results. We had several rabbits that were aggressive when people tried to handle them. We also had 7 feral rabbits come to us one summer. When we began clicker training them they quickly started acting friendlier and calmer when being handled. Clicker training can be very empowering to a rabbit. It allows them to make choices that can result in getting the things that they enjoy. They learn to interact with humans and form relationships built on trust and respect. We also had some unexpected results when dealing with medical issues. Some of our clicker trained rabbits will occasionally get sick and stop eating which can be very dangerous. We found that even if we offered their favorite foods they refused to eat. However if we asked them to do a simple behaviour then clicked and offered food, most of them would eat a little bit.

Andrea, thank you so much for telling us more about your work with Mona and about clicker training rabbits. Readers who would like to more about Andrea can visit her website at www.K9sBehave.com or email her directly at fuzzfarm1@cox.net. You can search YouTube for 'fuzzfarm' videos. I've included one of Andrea's videos below as well as a European rabbit jumping competition video. Looks like fun!

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