Shadow the Puppy Bunny

Shadow on the bed checking things out.
 Shadow just has to get in to this corner
Shadow boxes himself in

Shadow was a very happy bouncy puppy bunny, always ready to have fun. He would steal your heart with his wonderful playfulness and sweet nature.  He was always ready to hop up and introduce himself.  Like a dog, he considered everyone to be his friend.  He had that same doggie way of tipping his head to the side as if he was asking a question.  It was just so much fun to watch him checking everything out.  While Tigger was quite a serious rabbit, Shadow was all lightness and play.

He just loved to run around like crazy and play with things.  Unlike most rabbits, Shadow liked to be chased.  He would run up to you and then take off again looking back to get you to chase him.  Shadow would just love it when Blaine would instigate the chase by pretending to charge at him.

Shadow loved to be petted, especially his head.  If either of us started to pet Tigger and Shadow was nowhere in sight, within just a minute or two, he would be charging up and flopping down.  If you weren’t petting his head, you would get the little head butt on your palm as a reminder to pet his head.  He would also burrow under your hand to position his head just right for petting.

The little boy was decidedly a beggar too.  He would get up on his hind legs and do the begging dance to get his bunny biscuits.  Once he realized that the top of the cages was the closest to where the biscuits were kept, he would leap up there and dance around.  He got so crazy one time he hopped himself off the side of the cage while he was up on two legs begging.  After that, we would position ourselves right at the side of the cage so he couldn’t hop off in his excitement.  Instead, we would have a bunny batting his front paws against us if we took too long getting those bunny treats out of the container.

Also like a dog, he loved to dig.  We had uncovered litter boxes until Shadow came along.  Then Shadow showed us he saw the litter boxes as multi purpose.  He would use them quite nicely to do his business and then he would dig them all out.  His skills at excavation were quite remarkable.  He could empty a whole litter box of pellets and have it spread out over a six-foot area.  We had to invest in a number of litter boxes with tops which both rabbits actually loved since the tops provided another hang out spot for them.  We had to get more small throw rugs so that the plastic tops weren’t quite so slippery.  We used Acco binder clips to fold and shape the corners of the rugs to be a close fit  to the tops.

We read at one point that use a spray bottle filled with water and squirting a misbehaving bunny could deter bad behavior.  Tigger did not like being squirted with water and would stop, but we gave up on using that to deter Shadow.  We could give him several squirts and he would just shake himself off like a little dog and keep on going with whatever he was doing which was usually chewing something.

Coming Wednesday, Shadow the bunny goat …

 

Layers of Personality

Shadow at RestLast week I wrote about Shadow’s chewing habits which my other half said  made him sound like nothing but a bad bunny.  That is the difficulty with sticking with one subject per post, lack of the full picture.

Shadow is Mr. Personable with a whole lot of  dimensions.  Most of the layers of his personality are on the light, bright and happy side.  The one way he does use his oh so serious dark exterior is to play bunny Shadow Man.  He loves to hide in plain sight, picking the darkest pieces of furniture or rugs to hang out in front of or on.  He virtually disappears into the shadows when he does that and takes you by complete surprise when you come upon him, earning him the nickname “Boo”.

To give the best overall description of him, Shadow is like a full of energy puppy.  He races around, bounces up and down with happiness, gets into everything and loves to see you and play with you.  He will zoom up and zoom away looking back over his shoulder.  He wants you to play chase with him.

Shadow is a handsome rabbit.  He is all over black except for some graying on his nose now that he is older.  His vet tech thinks it gives him a sexier look.  His fur is satin with a beautiful glowing sheen to it.  He has a slim trim athletic build.  He runs like an athlete and has been a fearless jumper.  Not always a smart jumper, but a fearless one.  We had to learn what was needed to keep him safe. 

He has comedy in his soul.  You can always count on Shadow doing something to make you laugh.  One time I was on the floor on all fours face to face with Tigger when I felt something tugging on my oversized T-shirt.  I figured it was Shadow pulling on the hem.  When I glanced down, I realized my shirt was hanging down to the floor and he had hopped inside with me.  Now I was looking at a bunny peeking out at me through the V neck opening.  I felt like Mama Kangaroo looking down at baby peeking out of the pouch.

Shadow is a roamer, always doing the rounds of his territory, checking things out and looking for things to do.  When I am working, I can count on him coming in at times and nudging me on the ankle.  He loves to have his head petted and isn’t afraid to ask for attention.  If you touch his head, you will find yourself with a bunny flopped down and ready for a long haul session.  If your hand strays from his head, you will find the head butting your hand as a reminder to keep focused on his head, stroking his nose and massaging around his ears and cheeks.

Shadow is the rabbit people go to if they want a bunny hug.  He is not thrilled about being picked up, but seems to realize that the humans need it from time to time.  His face reads like a little boy being hugged by female relatives, “All right I know I have to, but let’s make this quick, okay?”

Each rabbit I have come to know well has had a unique combination of traits making up their personality.  It makes it such a wonderful adventure getting to know and love them.