Rabbit not using litterbox

Question
Hi there,

I have a 9 month old femaile Lionhead who has been litterbox trained for some time. I have been noticing lately that although she still predominately uses her litterbox, about 3 times a week she is urinating on my carpet or couch. I try and move her as soon as I see her getting ready to take action, but I don't always catch it in time.

She understands "no" and I know she knows she isn't supposed to be doing it, as as soon as she does, she scurries back across the room and hides in her cage. She knows when she is bad!

I do not allow her on my couch because of this, yet sometimes she sneaks up when I'm not looking.

I'm wondering what I can do in order to make her understand that she must use her litterbox. And stop these "accidents". Or are they just accidents?

At night, I open her pen an allow her to run around a 20x15 living room freely for several hours. Am I giving her too much space?

I want oher to be able to enjoy living outside of her pen, but the urinating has to stop. Any advice?

Also, I have to replace all my baseboards because she has ruined them. Lucky for me my boyfriend is a carpenter! I have since blocked all the baseboards with cardboard, but once they have been replaced and repainted I do not want her to ruin them again. I'd like to not have to cover them with cardboard since it looks awful, but perhaps that's the price you pay for having a houserabbit?  

Answer
Hi,

she's marking her territory.  And/or overmarking someone else's scent.  Another pet or person.  Whoever sits in that spot.  You might notice it might get worse when your hormones are higher.

You don't mention if she is spayed or not, but if not, you should now consider it, as this behavior is hormonally based.  It should lessen after spaying.  You'll also double her lifespan getting her spayed, as most intact female rabbits will get uterine cancer and die by age 6.  Spaying her can let her live a good 10-12 years as an indoor house rabbit.

One thing you can do in the meantime is put a litterpan over the spot she marks and see if she'll go in the litterpan.  If she goes next to the litterpan instead, best thing to do is put a thick towel down over the spot she marks to absorb it and save your cushion.

No, you're not giving her too much space.  I would suggest giving her an extra litterpan while she's out, as well as a water source next to the litterpan, while she's out.  That way she doesn't have to go back into her house to drink or use the bathroom.