Odour Control in the Rabbitry

Lots of things a person can do about odour in the rabbitry

1. apple cider vinegar in the water (1 tbsp/gallon) helps to reduce the smell of the urine
2. cleanliness!
3. peat moss
4. lime
5. baking soda
6. horse stall bedding – which is compressed sawdust.  works really well.
7. products such as abate xp : these words from a user of it

There’s a product called ABATE XP which is really outstanding at all odor  control/neutralization. Worst case, when I had to scrape the entire rabbit  area down to black STINKY gunk, a pound of this stuff, sprinkled dry, then  lightly watered, on a 40×40 foot area….totally eliminated ALL odor within  2 hours. That’s pretty darn impressive!

http://www.agritectx.com/catalog1.html

More detailed info:
Home use: http://agritectx.com/abatehom.html
Farm use: http://agritectx.com/abatefrm.html

Fly Traps

Keeping flies away is imporant in a rabbitry.  Helps to prevent fly strike!  (you just don’t want to go there …not a fun place to be).

Numerous things can be done to keep flies populations down.

1. keep things clean!  Can’t stress that enough, the cleaner and drier your rabbitry is, and the cleaner and drier your rabbits are, the less flies you’ll have around.
2. keep your compost and/or manure pile away from the rabbits by at least 10 feet.
3. hang small  ziploc bags filled with water and 5-6 pennies – not sure why it works, but it does.
4. hang wasp traps to catch the persistent ones.     what works for me is to use three different traps, each filled differently

• a wee bit of meat suspended in water – catches meat bees and flies
• pickle juice – catches those icky pickle bugs and the fruit flies
• lemonade – catches almost everything

If you do get fly strike time is of the essence as the toxins released by the growing maggots will kill a rabbit swiftly.

Remove all maggots, give a flush to the area with peroxide, and just hope that you got them all.  REMOVE the rabbit to someplace with zero fly population and just hope that she makes it.

I’ve used ivermectin before which acts quickly, but you’re still just hoping that the rabbit will want to live.

Here are some other methods that people have used.  I can’t vouch for them, but if they work for you YEAH!!!

1. There is an old fly trap I use to make every year for the cow barn, and in between the barn and the house for flys. I catchs wasps too. Take a plastic milk jug, clean, and stuff in a whole banana peel. On the stove, boil the sugar and vinagar until all sugar is desolved. Pour inside the jug, over the peel. Swirl around the mixture so the peel is covered. There you go. Now sit the jug outside. The flys crawl in the opening and head for the sugar. But something in the banana will kill them. They died in layers. At the end of the summer, you could have 8″ of dead flys, and it doesnt smell. We just take the jugs down andthrow the whole thing away. I have made these for years, and they never fail…1 cup water,1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 vinegar   OR  2 cups sugar, 2 cups vinegar and 1 banana peel
2. I make a similar fly trap using a glass jar..
   I poke holes in the top of the metal lid..big enough for flies to crawl through.
   I mix 1/4c white vinegar,1/4c sugar ,1c water
   Mix and put in jar and it fills up with flies in no time.

Susan Garrett’s newsletter

Susan Garrett has a newsletter that she sends out with various dog training tips.

You can sign up for it here.   She has helpful tips and articles on her clickerdog site as well.  go check it out.

Pet Restraint in cars

Phyllis over that the pet connection blog has written a good post on pet restraint in cars.

You might want to go check it out.

Watch the videos.

Restrain your pets when they are in the car…just like you would your children.

Sea Kittens? You have GOT to be kidding

PETA is at it again.

Let’s see if we can make something all cute and furry so people stop thinking and just give us money.

Fish are now called Sea Kittens!

PETA has so far only promoted the campaign in North Carolina but plans to take it nationwide, even to Alaska — a state where fishing is both a source of recreation and many families’ livelihoods.

In the small fishing town of Unalaska, population just under 4,000, some people see the campaign differently.

“I don’t see fish as sea kittens; I see them as food,” says 12-year-old Chastity Haskins.

I went to the PETA website..oh boy…get to dress up a fish in clothes!  YEAH.. I get to give it a litter box?  How stupid.

Will people actually fall for this?????

Keeping a dog Focused on the course

Dogs can be funny, they can train perfectly at home or at a training club…but add the excitement, noise and bustle of a trial…and that self same dog can turn into a completely different dog.  A dog that barks, that doesn’t listen, that acts like it has NEVER seen a tunnel before it’s whole entire life.

What does a trainer/owner/handler do?

Some things to try:

Here is something I was told to do with my high drive agility crazed PWD who
would fly off, well, still does once in a blue moon..

1. exercise well morning of trials
2. For the next several trials do not run the entire course – Run just long enough to have your dog be successful and then leave on a high note.
3. do not attempt to go from crate to ring, you must spend time with the dog before going in the ring first – warm up, then let the dog blow off some steam, then work on fun focus ringside
4. change your expectations for this dog – this may not be the dog that gets the big ribbons.   Maybe this one is one you have fun with in the ring as a team and  live with lots of NQs Maybe this dog should only run jumpers and not  Standard. After all, are you running agility for you, for the dog, or to do something together?
5. use some Rescue Remedy and / or some lavender oil to help calme and ease  the dog’s nerves. (I tend to recommend that a person try all other options before turning to medication).  — -that’s just me though
6. ask other people what they see.  Perhaps you are not trialing the same way that you train. Perhaps you are getting louder/softer/more vocal/less vocal/more active/more demanding etc.   The old adage holds true…trial like you train, train like you trial.  Be consistent.
7. Try doing some fun runs.  You know…those mock trials that trainers put on to help green dogs chill out about the bustle and wait of the trial setting.  Not quite the same as a trial, but helps.
8. Try training at odd  places, busy places, quiet places, places with odd things going on and so forth.
9. if your dog is getting reactive at a trial perhaps it’s time to step back from trialing and just get your dog used to the atmosphere.  Go to a few trials.  Teach your dog to chill out.  that is lay down and relax.  reward good behaviour and then ignore or correct inappropriate behaviour.   Take your time .. as much time as you need to.
10. Consider if your dog is a trialing dog.  Not all dogs are.  Some dogs just can’t deal with the whole trial thing and for the good of your dog… should you require them to do so?

I thought this bridge really neat

This is the actual turn-off From Banff, Alberta, Canada to the #1 highway to Calgary.

Great picture isn’t it?

They had to build the animals (especially the elk) their own crossing because that was where the natural crossing was and after  the  highway was built there were far too many accidents.

It didn’t take the animals long to learn that this was their very own bridge!

And then you have some people saying ‘ Animals are stupid ‘.
Really….?

Hay Racks for Bunnies

Bunnies like and need hay.  It gives them something to munch on without getting fat, and gives them fiber to keep things moving along.  Both are important for rabbits.

Given a chance though…rabbits will sit in their food to eat it.  This results in a fair amount of spoilage.

Hay racks help prevent spoilage.

Here are some pages on either hay racks to purchase or that can be made.

Rabbitweb: how to make a hay rack

Using a Suet Holder

Guinea Pig hay rack(works for rabbits too)

ZooPlus has this idea for a hay rack

Other ideas that I have heard.

• Use a toilet paper roll, or any roll that is paper and stuff it full of hay.
• PVC piping…either leave it whole and cram the hay in, or cut it in half and mount up high on the cage
• place hay on the top of the cage so they need to pull it through
• use leftover cage wire to make a basket
• use soup or mushroom cans…carefully filing down sharp edges – put hay in them fairly tightly
• wrapping the hay around itself and suspending it from the cage roof
• using hay balls that you can get at pet stores

Inexpensive Weave Poles and Jump Standards

Cindy found an inexpensive make-do weave pole set! I found some electric fence plastic 48 inch tall step in plastic poles that are perfect for me to use for training at home. A good picture should be at Deer Fencing.

She only paid $1.85 each at TSC (Tractor Supply), so a set of 12 was inexpensive. They have metal spikes on the end, and they are “step in.”

These fence posts can also be used as jump standards.

You can also use them for the sides for Jumps . Just cut the 3/4″ 10″ PVC
pole in half. Cut a notch on each end and rest them on the tabs that are on the
poles. Jump for about $4.00!!

And to make them look more regulation, try adding some PVC

I use the step in electric fence poles as well, and get PVC pipe in a diameter that slides over the top of the fence poles. I tape the poles as well.   That way the dogs get the same view of the weaves as they would have at a trial.  The diameter is a little bigger than regulation as it needs to go over the  wire holder tabs on the fence poles. But it is worth it, in that they go into  the ground easily with the step on edge. I actually turn the step on edge in  the direction that I don’t want the dogs to travel in on the weaves. This also  keeps the edge out of the way of the dogs feet.

Some Issues you may want to consider:

• do you have rocky ground?  if so, inserting them may be a challenge
• can you put them in a straight line?
• can you build a line to help you make consistent spacing?  I.e. use a rope, tie knots it in at the appropriate intervals
• will you remember to move them before the ground freezes?  If not…they will stay there until the ground softens again.   This may or may not be an issue for you.
• Do you have the strength to pull them out again?

Dogs Weaving in Poles

Dogs who know how to do weave poles tend weave either by single tracking or hopping.

Dogs that single track go through the poles using their front feet individually as they go through the poles.  Dogs that hop, well….they hop!   They use both feet and alternate hopping back and forth between the poles.

Of course then there are the littlest dogs who just run around the poles.

This page shows dogs that are single tracking.  It also talks about how to help train them.

I’ve searched for pictures of dogs hopping through weave poles but have been unable to locate one.  If you know of one, let me know please.

Any method is fine for getting through the poles as long as the dog is able to be consistent the whole way through on a consistent basis.   Some prefer to train their dogs to single step, other trainers prefer to let their dog choose how they will negotiate this object.

This page talks abit about how to go about figuring out how to train weave poles.