They said it couldn't be done.

Many rabbit owners confine their rabbits to cages, because until recently rabbits have been classified as unintelligent, un-trainable pets. This makes it very difficult to find information about rabbits beyond their basic needs. In my rabbit studies I have found several articles about how to litter train your rabbit, but I have yet to find any information on how to train them to do any other things. My Bunny has been entirely potty trained since day one! What I want to know is how do you go about teaching them to do things like play games, do tricks, and come when called? Maybe he could even cook dinner, pick up after himself, and do the dishes every once in a while! Oh wait, now I'm talking about my husband. Is training a rabbit (or a husband) anything like training a dog? Without the answers to these questions, I have still been determined to teach the men in my house a thing or two.

My foremost favorite pet is my Bunny, and my second favorite is my mom's Pomeranian, Zoe. She is quite a talented little fluff ball. She can do a myriad of tricks, she comes when called (most the time), and when you tell her it's bed time she goes right upstairs to bed. Art's belief is that our Bunny is nothing more than an A.D.D. afflicted lunatic with a lousy memory span, but I personally don't have any reason to believe that my Bunny would be incapable of learning just as much as Zoe can. Maybe my Bunny can't "speak" like Zoe, but I am certain that with his amazing balance, agility, stamina, observation skills, escape artist abilities, and dashing good looks, he can outperform Zoe in some other way. So with Zoe as an example and my confidence in my Bunny ripened, I began my training feats.

TRAINING SESSION ONE: In an attempt to teach our Bunny to be more people-friendly I wanted to train him to hop up on the couch when you call him. It didn't take much coaxing at all and up he came! I tried it again the next day and he hopped right up without hesitation.

TRAINING SESSION TWO: Sometimes it can be quite a task to get the Bunny to go back in his play pen when it's his bed time so I thought, "Well, Zoe can do it so my bunny can too."

It is a well known fact that Bunny will do just about anything for a treat. The only time he willingly got on my lap with all fours was in an attempt to snatch a tasty banana chip from my grasp. So I got a banana chip ready and held it just inside his cage and called "Bed time, Bunny!" and he came running in his cage for the treat and I closed the door. At this point he was not fully trained, but he was beginning to understand the concept.

Last night I told Art about the things I was trying to teach the Bunny and he was quite skeptical that I would have any success; especially in teaching the Bunny "bed time". Just then, I turned to the Bunny and said, "Bed time, Bunny!" and he came running straight to his cage. Art could hardly believe it. Heck, even I had my doubts that he would actually go in his cage!

I know our training ventures have merely begun, but one thing is for certain: They said it couldn't be done, but my little guy did it!