Rabbits are often mistakenly thought to be stupid. Many people think that rabbits only look cute but cannot learn tricks. In fact, rabbits are very willing to learn and can learn easy tricks with patience and care.


Training a rabbit requires a great deal of understanding for the animal, a lot of time and patience. If you make the effort, you can delight friends and family with some amusing tricks. The following tips will help you to teach your rabbit a few simple tricks.

Start by getting the rabbit to listen to its name and come towards you when you call it. Call the rabbit's name and hold its favourite treat in front of you so that the rabbit can smell and see it. In the beginning, the rabbit will sit very close to you. Over time, you can increase the distance if the rabbit responds to your call. The rabbit learns to associate its name and your voice with the positive experience of a reward and will come automatically after a while.

A rabbit can learn to jump over small hurdles or hop onto the couch on command. The obstacle should be small at first, but high enough that the rabbit has to jump and doesn't just run over it. Think of a command word (for example "hop") and repeat the word as you lift the rabbit over the obstacle or place it on the couch. After each successful hop, don't forget to praise and reward the rabbit. Stand on the opposite side and let the rabbit jump towards you, possibly with a treat in your hand. With practice, the animal will recognise the command word and respond to it.
When jumping onto a chair, armchair or couch, make sure that the rabbit can get up easily. If it is too high, put a small step in front of it.

Rabbits can learn to "man-up" on command, i.e. to sit on their hind legs and stretch upwards. This is best achieved by holding up a treat and giving a command at the same time. Hold the treat high enough for the rabbit to stretch up, but only high enough for it to reach it. Once it has done it, give it the reward and praise it lavishly. After a couple of times of "man up" you should wait a while with the command in case the rabbit is already full and does not react to your command.

Other tricks you can teach your rabbit are jumping through hoops, running up stairs or taking food out of your mouth (between your teeth). The principle is always the same: you show the rabbit what you want to achieve, offer him a reward at the end and repeat the exercise together with a set command word until it works on its own.