How to Bond with Your Netherland Dwarf Rabbit

Rabbits are social animals and companionship is vital to their well being

How do you bond with a rabbit? Is it even necessary in the first place? You must have encountered such kind of questions, and if you have not, then you are likely to encounter them pretty soon. Straight to the main subject of this article, you need to know why taking a time to bond with your pet is itself fulfilling both you and your pet. First, you must have realized that rabbits are just so social that their security depends on their caregiver. A relationship between the rabbit and its caregiver is a foundational type of relationship that goes a long way to dictate the quality of your pet’s life. When you take time to create a connection with your pet, both of you become mutually satisfied and that answers the question why bonding with your pet is ideally necessary for your pet to thrive. When you neglect this important aspect of care giving, it  will result in strained relations, insecurity and poor health of your rabbit.

Starting off

As you are starting, you will realize that your rabbit will somehow exhibit some shyness and it would be very hesitant to give in to your constant squeezing or touching. When you understand this tendency, you need to make your playground level. It only means that you can sit or even just lie on the floor. But more conveniently, bring the rabbit on the bed or the couch next to you.

For this initial stage, you need to be very sensitive and cautious to the rabbit’s reactions since it may take them time to adapt to the new environment that you have taken them. Begin to speak more gently and softly, when your pet lies next to you on the bed or the couch. Remember that your pet’s ears are a lot more sensitive and can only be receptive to gentle and soft voices.

What’s next

On the next step, you can now explore the chance to let your rabbit run after you. Since they have a tendency to be curious, you need to be silent and patient in most cases, and you will finally see it come after you. With this act, the rabbit will be assured you are harmless since you do not drive it away when it comes after you.

That executed, take the next step of giving small treats as you build trust. Try out activities such as eating together, which when executed well, can instantly build a strong bond. In this case, you need to ensure that you pamper it and give only the best of foods such as apples, carrots and oats.

After you have passed this level, you now need to learn a few tricks on how you can hold your rabbits safely and gently. Since rabbits detest being held, you need to reduce the frequency of holding or lifting it up. You can then replace these dislikes by gentle petting, nuzzling and sitting side by side during social activities.

You Need to Build This Relationship from Scratch

Rabbits are a very peculiar prey species, and since they differ from other animals such as dogs and cats (the predator species), they require utmost attention. In a more clear explanation, they need more deliberate attempt to build a stronger bond that can sustain itself to the tail end.

Another lead to creating a strong bond with your pet is being playful. Whenever you find time for this, keep engaging your rabbit with a lot of toys. It, therefore, means that most of your time with your pet should be geared towards this. Activities such as stacking cups, knocking and tossing wooden blocks and soft balls will prove to be much fun for the rabbit, and you will end up enjoying these sessions.

Can You Mimic?

It is the advanced stage of bonding with your pet. Mimicking your rabbit is one complex activity yet has a lot of benefits. When you mimic how two rabbits engage, you will end up learning much about your pet’s body language. Learning the body language can never be a one-time thing. You need to be very cautious with each kind of mannerism that your pet has. In this case, you can never start barking like a dog; you can instead mimic its chewing, how it licks and how it stands on its two hind feet which will ultimately help your learning experience to be much easier.

Understand Your Pet

Lastly, you need to understand that rabbits have unique yet diverse personalities. In most cases, the common rabbit species exhibit prominent figures. They can be active, nagging, affectionate or even just relaxed. Therefore, bonding with your rabbit will aid you to learn about the need to appreciate the diversity that your pet shows. In this case, the climax of achieving a strong bond will be treating your pet in its own way, knowing too well that it is a creature that has many gifts that it can share.