Can you take your rabbit for a walk?

I have never taken any of my rabbits for a walk. I have ONCE tried to get one of my rabbits in a harness. I needed to do a lot of research for this post. If you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment.

I have no desire to walk my rabbits. At all. An X-pen in the garden is good enough for me. I’m still scarred by the one harness incident.

How do you put a harness on a rabbit?

Seriously, how?? When I tried, my rabbit somehow turned into a gas and wriggled out of in, in less than three seconds.

First of all, you need a super chill bunny. Some rabbits will simply never accept wearing a harness. Some of mine I couldn’t have even got to stay still long enough to measure them up for a harness.

As well as your bunny being super chill, it’s also great if they love treats. I would use pellets because you can give them quite a few.

Don’t try to pick your rabbit up and fit the harness – sit on the floor and try to get your rabbit to sit still long enough for you to put the harness on. This may take days, it may take weeks. Depends on how chill/greedy your bun is.

How do you train a rabbit to walk on a leash?

Make sure that your rabbit is happy in their harness before you move onto leash training. It’s weird enough wearing a harness, so you want them to get used to that before moving onto to getting used to the sensation of a leash.

Once they’re happy with the harness, let them drag the leash around and let used to have something pulling on them. From there, just build up – take them on a short stroll around the garden and build up from there. Let your rabbit take the lead – rabbits like to feel in charge, and if they’re leading they’ll think this whole thing was their idea.

Are rabbit harnesses and leashes safe?

Yes, generally, but don’t force a rabbit into a harness that clearly doesn’t want to be in one. if your rabbit hates being in a harness they could cause themselves damage by trying to wriggle free.

Make sure you pick a harness that designed for rabbits, and go for one that’s either recommended by other rabbit owners, or that has great reviews from rabbit owners.

To be perfectly honest, I have no desire to take my rabbit for a walk. I’m too scared that they get frightened by a dog, or a car or something and get scarred for life.

once of the reason I love rabbits so much is because they don’t need daily exercise outside – they prefer to play wall of death around my living room.

What are the dangers of taking your rabbit for a walk?

Dogs, weather, cars, cats, people, birds of prey, burning their little footsies on the pavement…I’m far too risk averse to take my rabbits for a walk.

Do rabbits like to go on walks?

I bet some of them LOVE it. If your rabbit is really inquisitive and confident, I bet they’d really enjoy going for a walk.

It’s like anything – for every one rabbit that loves one activity, there’ll be ten that hate it.

As chicken as I am about it, if you want to take your rabbit for a walk and your rabbit seems to have fun, absolutely do it.

Can I take my rabbit outside?

I often take my rabbits out into the garden for a play. X-pens are easy to move, so you can just set one up in your garden and let your rabbit get a bit of sun.

I live in a small town in the UK, so there’s not that much in the way of predators, but I still don’t like to leave my rabbits alone outside. If I had a large, secure run and my back garden was a bit more private then I might consider letting my rabbits spend an afternoon outside, but I don’t so I won’t.

Bear in mind that rabbits can easily pick up parasites like fleas outside. Wild rabbits, birds, and cats could have possibly come into your garden, so get your rabbit flea medication if you plan on taking them outside a lot.

Don’t leave your rabbit outside overnight, or alone for very long. They’re house rabbits, and they can get scared very easily.

Final thoughts on taking rabbits for walks

Taking my rabbits for walks isn’t something I’ve ever really fancied doing, and the disastrous run-in with the harness really hammered the final nail in that coffin. But as long as you keep your bunny safe, and they enjoy it, I can’t see the harm.