We've declared this to be Tula Appreciation Week!!
Who is Tula? Why, just the cutest and smartest bunny we know! Tula works with her people at
Small Animal Resources
and Empowered Animals Behavior and Training, LLC
to help rabbits with all kinds of behavior issues. This week I'm posting a two part interview with Tula that I think you'll really enjoy. We're talking rabbit-to-rabbit about behavior, clicker training, and what rabbits really want from their people! I hope you enjoy it - we had so much fun! Love, Mrs. Brighton, Education Bunny!Every rabbit has a story! Tula, could you tell us your story? Where are you from and how did you find your humans?
Well, my early days were a little fuzzy, but I remember living outside. I used to frequent a garden and help myself to the veggies there. Eventually, a rescue came and rounded me up. It ended up being a good thing, because I was able to give birth to 5 kits in a safe place, but, sadly, they didn't make it.
I didn't know it at the time, but my human, Emily, had contacted the rescue looking for a bunny that could help her educate people about taking good care of rabbits. She was originally thinking one of my babies could be good at that job, but she wanted to help me get healthy and find a good home by fostering me. I was pretty scared when she picked me up and took me to her house. We were slowly getting to know each other, and she gave me a lot of treats!
After adjusting to the house for a few days, I got to explore outside on a patio a bit. I really loved being back outside, and my human came with me this time. I only knew her for 6 days, but I felt like I could trust her, and I asked her to pet me by lowering my head under her hand. Later, I learned that that had sealed the deal for me-I had found my forever home!
I understand your people are animal behavior consultants. Can you tell me about them and how they help rabbits?
Well, it's not just my people-I do a lot of the work, too! WE work together to help other bunnies! Really, our work is about helping people connect with and communicate with their bunnies. We value both sides of the relationship-the human and the bunny, and my people have combined their skills in those areas!
Check out my YouTube video of how we got ready for my spay surgery! You can do this with your bunny, too!
My human trains a lot of different animals. She works in a zoo and always comes home smelling like a lot of different animals: birds, tigers, gibbons, and, mostly, orangutans! Those are smells I never thought I'd encounter! She used to work a lot with dogs, too, but, to be honest, I'm really glad she doesn't anymore - I don't mind the smells of other animals, but I DON'T like dogs at all!
My human's sister has a Master's degree in Applied Behavior Analysis, which is the science of behavior. She helps human parents and teachers be more effective at teaching kids by using behavior science. I have a cousin named Hank who lives with her. He is a pig, and he works with us, too! Many people have misconceptions about pigs, just like they do with bunnies, so he helps us teach people how to take good care of pigs!
My humans use something called "Zoom" to talk to other bunny parents who need help connecting with their bunnies. They ask them about what their goals are for their bunnies, and they work on helping them communicate those goals to the bunnies. They do that with positive reinforcement training, which us bunnies really love!
Most of the time, the behaviors that are a "problem" for humans are not a problem to us bunnies at all! We love to dig, chew, and burrow, and treats are a great way to encourage us to do what the humans would like instead. It's a fair compromise, right?
My main job is demonstrating for people how smart bunnies are, and how we definitely enjoy and prefer when our humans give us choices and empower us. Many people don't understand how to build trust with bunnies, and my human takes a lot of video of me talking to her with my body language, then she explains what I'm trying to say, and we share that so other people can learn what their bunnies are trying to tell them!
This video is of us building our friendship. Notice how Emily is just sitting with me and giving me treats when I approach! See how happy I am?! At about 46 seconds in I'm chinning her feet, and at the end of the video I'm doing some sky high binkies. (Warning: Cuteness Alert!) This is the start of a great relationship!
You and your people have a great relationship! It's really enviable! Can you tell us how this came about?
I love my people a lot!! I think that the basis of our good relationship has to do with the fact that my human really gives me the ability to choose what I want to do all of the time. If she wants me to do something, she always offers me a reward for doing that, and she always tries to make it a positive experience for me. She pays attention to me when I get a bit nervous, and she pauses with whatever is worrying me and helps me feel more comfortable with it. Usually, it ends up being no big deal!
This was my first day home! Emily was feeding me through a barrier, which helped me feel safe.
Our clicker training time is my favorite: I know a lot of things! It's great because I get treats, but also because we work together to figure out how to communicate and work towards a goal. I'm pretty smart, so it's really fun for me to try to figure out what she's trying to teach me!
What do most people do wrong when trying to make friends with a bunny?
There are really two answers that we see on this one: The first is that many people have misunderstandings about what bunnies like. We typically don't enjoy being picked up or held. There are some exceptions, but they are just that: exceptions! Most of us have, unfortunately, learned that being touched by hands often leads to being picked up, grabbed, or restrained in some way, so they make us nervous.
We also take a while to warm up, and don't necessarily want to be touched right away. Sometimes, bunnies need to be trained to learn that petting is okay. That training can take some time, but that's because trust takes a while to build!
The second big mistake people make often happens when they try to move too quickly in the relationship. Often, people take the good advice of just sitting with their bunny and reading or otherwise ignoring them so that they can come up in their own time.
This was a day or two after I got spayed. You can see Emily is just hanging out with me, not trying to pick me up but just gently patting me. This is the way to make friends!
This is all great, and then when the bunny starts to get close, the person reaches out to touch them. When a bunny finally decides to come up and check out a person, it's because they are comfortable with what the human is doing in that moment! When the human suddenly reaches out, the bunny often gets startled and leaves!
The rabbit approaches when the human is in a comfortable position for the rabbit, and if the human changes their position (especially suddenly and when the bunny has decided to get closer), it often punishes the behavior of coming closer. In behavior science terms, punishment means decreasing behavior. That means that if the bunny views that experience as punishing, they are less likely to approach in the future.
The best thing people can do when trying to build a relationship with their bunny is to take a BIG step backwards, sit down in the room or area with them, have treats nearby, and take a good book! For bunnies, relationships begin with safety first. We have to feel safe in order to even take treats, so the best thing the human can do is to create a safe space for a bunny.
Now that I know a bit about living with people, I know that it can be hard for them to resist touching us! I promise that if you are patient, your bunny will begin to feel safe!
This is some great information for humans about making friends with rabbits! After you've become the best of buddies, your person can go even further by clicker training with you! We're ending Part One of Tula's interview here, but join us for Part Two on Thursday when we'll be talking with Tula about what this involves, and how it can be great for your relationship with your person!
Want a preview? Check out this awesome video of Tula doing a bar jump!!!
We love you, Tula!! See you Thursday!!!
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