Fear in rabbits is information, not stubbornness
A rabbit who startles at footsteps, freezes at voices, and bolts from hands is behaving exactly as a prey animal should when the world feels unsafe. Some rabbits arrive this way from a noisy or under-handled start; others become fearful after a fright, a painful episode, or a house move. Punishing fear is impossible and pointless — your job is to change what she predicts will happen around people, sounds, and movement, one safe repetition at a time. Expect the work to be slow and uneven, with good days followed by setbacks that are not your fault.
Shrink her world until she can relax in it
Start by reducing, not expanding, her territory. Set her up in the quietest corner of one room with a solid hide — a cardboard box with two exits, so she never feels cornered — plus hay, water, and a litter tray all within a short hop. Visit on a predictable schedule, sit on the floor reading or working nearby, and let her watch you be boring. Scatter herbs just outside the hide, then a little closer to you across days. She should be able to eat, drink, and toilet without crossing open floor in view of anything frightening, because a rabbit who cannot meet basic needs calmly cannot learn anything else yet.
Trust work at rabbit height
Always approach from the side at her level, announcing yourself softly before you appear. Offer food from a flat hand on the floor and withdraw the hand slowly whether she takes it or not. Do not stroke her head from above, chase her to return her to a pen, or lift her during this phase unless health requires it — use a carrier she can hop into for food when you must move her. Once she eats beside you reliably, progress to a brief touch on the shoulder while she eats, stopping before she moves away, so touch always predicts food and freedom rather than capture.
Desensitising the specific triggers
List what actually scares her — the vacuum, the doorbell, the dog's bark, visitors, the television — and address them one at a time at low intensity. A recorded household sound played quietly during herb time, gradually louder across sessions, teaches her the sound predicts snacks and nothing follows. Keep other pets separated by a closed door at first, not a gate she can be stared through. For visitors, give her the hide and a strict no-reaching rule; a fearful rabbit improves faster when guests ignore her completely. If one trigger causes panicked crashing into walls, lower the intensity sharply — flooding a rabbit can injure her and deepens the fear.
When fear points to pain or illness
A rabbit who becomes suddenly more fearful, hides when she previously coped, stops eating hay, sits hunched, or grinds her teeth loudly needs a veterinarian promptly, because pain — especially dental and gut pain — presents as behaviour change in rabbits. Likewise, a rabbit who cannot settle at all, loses weight, or shows laboured breathing is not a training case. Note what changed and when she last ate and passed droppings normally, and seek veterinary advice the same day if eating has stopped, since a rabbit who stops eating is an emergency. Small, dated observations — she ate beside a visitor, she flopped outside the hide, the vacuum at low volume no longer sends her running — are how you know this slow work is succeeding. For the plateaus, when progress stalls and the next step is unclear, put a follow-up question to KinsLe's Kimmy; she answers using the KinsLe Answers library.