Published: September 10, 2008 12:12 pm            

Cover story: Agility demo shows rabbits as more than just cute, furry faces

Originally published in the September 5, 2008, print edition.

Rabbits are just supposed to sit there and be cute and furry, right?

Not so, says a group of 4-H’ers.

4-H’ers from Dakota, Ramsey, Hennepin and Washington counties have started to make their rabbits earn their keep, or at least work off those extra carrots and greens.

Members in these four counties have been training their pet rabbits to work through agility courses much like the ones dog perform in.

“One of our leaders, Dell Robbins, had seen video from Britain of them putting their rabbits through agility courses,” said Mark Engstrom, adult leader from the Hennepin Hoppers, a 4-H club dedicated to the rabbit project. Robbins, who has since passed away, thought rabbit agility could take off here in the states.

That appears to be the case as Engstrom said the Hennepin Hoppers boasts a membership of about 35 members.

According to Katie Broeckert, rabbits are “very trainable,” but admitted that some rabbits are easier to train than others.

“For rabbit agility, look for a rabbit that is playful and comes up to you,” said Broeckert, 16, president of the Hennepin Hoppers.

Fourteen-year-old Tiffany Londeen, Hoppers vice president, said female rabbits can be a little harder to work with than males.

“Males can range from nice to mean,” Broeckert said, “as where females can be mean or nice, and not in between.”

Both girls said it takes about a year of working with your rabbit to get the agility basics down, but you don’t want to start too early.

Barb Kelley, a trainer with the Animal Humane Society of Golden Valley, said a small breed rabbit should be at least six-months-old before starting agility training, a little longer for larger breeds.

“You need to wait for the bone structure of the rabbits to be better developed,” Kelley said. “Training rabbits is similar to how we train horses. With horses we can start ground training on the day they are born, but with rabbits you need to wait for their bone structure to develop.”

The AHS of Golden Valley offers rabbit agility courses that allow the rabbit and handler to work through six levels of training. Kelley said this training is really taking off, having started about two years ago with just a couple rabbits in a class. Now there are eight to 10 new rabbits in a class.

“It was Dell’s (Robbins) dream to spread this, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Kelley said.

The training doesn’t stop once the course is completed. Allegra Bipes, 13, said she works with her two rabbits about three times a week.

“Rabbit agility increases the quality time a 4-H’er can spend with their rabbits,” Engstrom said.

Hennepin Hopper members were putting their rabbits through their agility course, and spreading the rabbit agility word Aug. 22 at the Minnesota State Fair. While members put their rabbits through the course of jumps, tunnels and ramps, another member explained the rabbit agility area and answered questions from fair-goers.

Members lead their leashed rabbits through the course, some coaxing with foot cues, some with verbal commands, some with treats.

“Rabbit agility is still just a demonstration at the State Fair,” Engstrom said, “but hopefully it will be an actual project area soon.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.