While most of people assume that they will need to brush their rabbit daily, we would recommend you only do so about once a week. Grooming should be done with a wide tooth comb, a cat slicker, and a tooth brush or soft bristle brush.
The first thing you want to do is go through the coat with the wide tooth comb to pick out any matts or loose hair. It is best to start under at the bottom of the skirt or bib, and work your way up. Try not to pull out any healthy hair as your rabbit will loose mane density if you over groom them.
If you have any very stubborn matts you can add a bit of corn starch to the mat and rub it in to loosen it and make picking it out easier.
Work you way up, parting the rabbits fur and getting out any tangles, and when the mane and skirt are free of any matts, tangles or pilling you can use the cat slicker to fluff the mane and skirt. Remember, you are not trying to pull, just to fluff up the fur.
Your last step is to get your soft brush or tooth brush and gently brush the fur around the eyes. Remove any goop in the inner corner of the eyes and brush the fur away from them. If you frequently brush the fur away from your rabbits eyes with a small brush, it starts train the direction it grows. Eventually it will sit away from their eyes, and will make it easier for the rabbit to avoid getting fur in its eyes. It is never nessesary to trim fur around from your lionheads eyes, as they can see through their mane, but many people worry about fur in their eyes so repetitive brushing will help with this issue.
If your rabbit dislikes having it's bib and chest area groomed, you can flip it on its back to brush that area. Using your lap and knees to hold the rabbit is a great way to keep them still. Simply flip the rabbit, lay it in your lap with it's feet facing your stomach, and use your knees pressed together to hold it's ears. Using your knees to clamp to ears is a good way to keep the rabbit still, and you can tell if the rabbit is about to try to flip it self over by the way it holds it's head. You want to have control over the way your rabbit flips so it doesn't accidentally harm it's back while doing so.
After you finish grooming your rabbit, it's always a good idea to give them a treat. Positive reinforcement will make the grooming process less stressful and more pleasant for both you and your rabbit.
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