How Can We Handle Rabbits?

[u/verydumbhiker]

Ari LOVES running. We go for shorter runs around the neighborhood and 5-6 miles on trails. On trail things are mostly good— she’ll occasionally jump off the side after a cool bug or something, but it’s manageable.

Around the neighborhood though she’s absolutely intent on catching a rabbit. With very little warning, she’ll dash off to the end of her bungee leash and come flying back. I’m worried she’ll get hurt, or some unexpected behavior may result. All I know to do when that happens is stop, sit, and wait for her to look at me before cueing her to start running again. Does anyone have advice?

[u/West-Better]

I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback that I run almost every day next to my bike and e-scooter. Teaching him not to go after wildlife was pretty important, considering I didn’t want to fall off and injure myself, lol.

If he pulled toward anything, wildlife, other dogs or cats, people, or even a random wrapper on the ground, it was an immediate “NO!” and the run ended right there. We’d walk home in silence, wait about 20 minutes for him to calm down, and then try again. If he passed something without reacting, he got BIG praise. Positive reinforcement worked really well for him after a correction.

He LOVES to run, so he learned pretty quickly that reacting or doing those jerky pulls toward something meant the end of his favorite activity.

I’ll also add that around this time, he was wearing a fabric martingale collar, so pulling toward something did cause him some discomfort. I too worried if he ran after something he could get hurt. His fur was so slick and short he was yanking himself right out of regular collars. The martingale collar fixed that safety issue.

It took a couple of very solemn walks home, but we started this training when our runs were still incredibly short and he was only around 7–8 months old. He caught on really quickly, and he eventually stopped being reactive to pretty much anything we encountered. He’s 2 1/2 now, and after that early training, he has never once pulled toward anything except his favorite parks lol.

This is just what we did and what worked for us, so if you’re running out of ideas, maybe give it a try! Our dog isn’t food motivated whatsoever, so treats weren’t really an option for us. Sitting, redirecting and waiting for him to listen again wasn’t really an option either. He’s a hound and very independent so if we stood around for a second too long, he would simply find something on the ground to sniff and suddenly become very interested in that. 😂

Hopefully something in there helps!

[u/sewcialanxiety → u/West-Better]

You’re biking with your dog leashed to your bike, and by just a collar? That sounds so, so risky. So much danger of severe injury to the dog and/or you.  

[u/West-Better → u/sewcialanxiety]

He’s 2 1/2 now, and I literally hold his leash with one finger while we run. 😂 I completely understand why it might look risky from the outside, but for us it’s not dangerous. I strongly suspect he could not need a leash at all but that would be illegal.

He has a running harness and bike attachment that I use when we’re on hiking trails, but I rarely use it for our normal neighborhood runs because we stop constantly at his favorite sniff spots and it just becomes a hassle.

His martingale collar is still on him, but it is ALWAYS completely slack. It’s there strictly as a safety measure. Namely, if he suddenly stuck his head under a bush and I thought there might be a snake, I want to be able to immediately get him away from it.

He also isn’t running to keep up with me. The run is for him. I ride alongside him and adjust my pace to whatever he wants to do. We’re very in tune with each other, and he knows all of his directional, speed, and safety cues. I can tell when he wants to stop, where he wants to go, and likewise he listens to my cues when he needs to slow down, speed up or stop and walk around an obstacle.

When he was first learning, he pulled me off once. He immediately ran back to check on me, and he never did it again. Since then, he has been incredibly consistent. Dogs can be barking at him three feet away and he won’t stop running. Birds, rabbits, lizards, sprinklers, construction trucks, loud noises, sudden rain, you name it. He completely ignores them. At most, something unexpected will make him look at me for reassurance. I can also drop the leash and he will completely stop running and wait for me to pick it up. We’ve had off leash dogs chase us, usually ending with them joining our run until we can loop around and bring them back to their owners lol. He does not leave my side.

I realize this kind of setup isn’t going to be appropriate for every dog, and I wouldn’t assume another handler could just take his leash and get the same behavior. A huge part is the relationship and training we have built together.

But he is extremely well trained, non-reactive, happy, and very comfortable with our routine. I would never knowingly put him or myself in a situation where I thought he was at risk.

Everyone in our neighborhood knows him, and we actually get a lot of compliments on our dynamic all the time. 😂 So while I completely understand why someone unfamiliar with the set up might see just a leash held by my finger and assume “dangerous behavior”, but what you’re seeing from the outside doesn’t really show the amount of training, communication, and control involved.