Some of My Show Rabbits

[Dog Shrink]

So I just wanted to shre my one of my other passions with Y'all. My sons and I have been riasing show rabbits for the last 3 years. We run BKG Rabbits (Breyden, Kellee, Garrett is BKG ) We started with Flemish Giants, French Lops and Netherland dwarfs but now we focus mainly on our netherlands. Most of our rabbits are named after Hollywood, either movies or actors or songs. So here's the herd:

Mr. Cool (Cool hand Luke) (REW ruby eyed white) our first netherland

Hershey (yes he goes against the grain with the name, he came that way) He is a 3 time grand champion. He is a Siamese Sable.

Being Judged

I call him Donnie Darko because he is from one of the top lines in the country, Darkside. He is a black silver marten:

Rebel (with out a cause). He is a chinchilla.

Harpo (or Oprah as we like to call her 'cause she's just a big black girl. Sorry bad joke but that's what happens when I let hubby name a rabbit)

Squirrel. She came to us just a number but squirrel is actually her color. Squirrel is a dilute of chinchilla. We just got so use to referring to her as the squirrel doe it stuck. Her daddy won the netherland nationals 2009.

She's what's called a carpet hugger. She doesn't like to pose plus has 1 white foot so is disqualified from showing but produces wonderful babies.

Her current litter. 3 weeks old both squirrels. The first is a good show contender.

Igor

and his sister Inga

Inky. A himalayan girl.

Big Love, a siamese sable gal, she also doesn't like to hold her pose.

Sammy (yes like Davis Junior). He's a broken chinchilla boy

and quite the ham

and teasing my lab Diego

So that's the ones I have pix of so far. I have many more to get yet but just to give names we have...

Chestbut brown, Mel (like Mel Brooks) and his sister, Alice. Squirrel brother and sister Zsa Zsa and Prince Von A, Himi Psycho Diva, Himi Lola (L-O-L-A, sing it with me ), black silver marten Lou (as in Mr. Farigno 'cause he's built like a brick Sh (well you know the rest), black Houdini, and Siamese Sable Mr. Wonderful (son of Hershy and 1 leg away from his grand championship).

My only french lop left, Marilyn.

and with her Best of Breed trophy (sorry so small)

and in Memory of Chachi, our fawn Flemish Giant

with his Best of Breed Trophy

With my son Brey

close up of the beast. he weighed about 17 pounds

and Otis, our special blind boy. R.I.P.

So that's my buns. Hope y'all enjoyed lookin at them.

 

[fuzzylogix]

lol, awesome rabbits! we used to have a couple netherland dwarfs, but the wife ended up being highly allergic to them. very smart and very personable little bunnies though.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Yes they are pretty cool but I gotta say my heart lies with my french lop (maybe 'cause I'm French Canadian I'm bias)... she is tops in the personality department (put her off the couch she jumps right back up,lather rinse repeat), next to Sammy that is, and Prince Von A really is a silly curious boy too. Always sticking his nose thru the wire for scritches and bum rubs when ever you're in the rabbitry. It's a lot of fun.

 

[tlbowling]

OMG! They are beautiful! Where do you keep them all? No wonder you only have 1 leo! lol. They must take up a lot of your time! Inky :smitten: is my favorite

 

[WulfSC]

Ah, how cute. I love bunnies. The Netherland Dwarfs are my favorites, but they're all amazing.

 

[Dog Shrink]

You'd be surprised Tara, they really don't take up much time once they're past about 14 weeks and you've got thier pose pretty much perfected. It's a lot of handling when they're little to get them use to the accosting they'll go thru on the show table, and it certainly does weed out the show stars from the brood animals but it is a lot of fun. That is actually how Psycho diva got her name... she was a show star from the get go. The minute you plopped her on the table she's pose right up, but shes a nut (hence the psycho part).

My rabbitry is actually pretty small compared to most of the other people in my Rabbit club, I'm still considered a "new comer" to the hobby after 3 years. Imagine that I only have about 17 holes which is soon to change as I'm gonna divide up my larger 36 inch cages into 2 since those were purchased for the french lop/flemish giant part of the program that we aren't pursuing so that will add another 6 holes to the rabbitry. I keep them all in my basement. I'm fortunate enough to have a HUGE house that was built in 1850 with 7 foot ceilings in the basement and prety much 10 foot ceilings everywhere else in the house. A little history note... my house was one of the first one's built in Lake City (the oldest actually. The other which was behind mine burnt down a few years back) by one of the Founding families. If you walk across the street, there is another house that actually use to be the carrage house for my house way back when.

The Rabbitry: (not the prettiest but highly functional) *from left to right going around the walls*

Eros doesn't have to share space with anyone but the dogs (when they're eating anyway) and Brey's mouse colony. He lives here in what we call the dog room:

Tell me this just ins't too cute:

baby Zsa Zsa

Baby Prince

I finally got pix this morning of the rest of the herd ('cept Alice and Houdini. They were in pissy moods this morning) so I'll put them up after they're cropped and sized. If you like Inky, you'll also like Psycho Diva (she's also a black himi) and Lola (she's a blue himi). I have 4 girls ready to have babies on the 30th. Psycho, Lola, Alice, and Zsa Zsa. I Can't wait. My first show is in mid-March so this new crop will be my starting line up

Glad y'all like them. It's so much fun.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

Those are some beautiful rabbits.

 

[DragonBeards]

I love them all, but my favorite has to be Sammy. I love rabbits, they are such personable and cute little creatures

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Wow! Very cool I love bunnies, they're so soft n snuggly n warm n stuff When my daughter was growing up, she took her bunny for a walk regularly, put on a leash and away they went around the neighborhood. My cat would go along with, unleashed, and what a sight that was. We also would let bunny wabbit free-range in the front yard, his leash looped onto the garden hose. He was litter box trained too, which was wonderful, except he began to chew electrical cords and had to stay outside after that. My daughter is all grown up now, 31, but still loves rabbits. Her 6yr old boy will be getting a new one come springtime. They have a big fancy hutch waiting for the magic moment Thanks for posting your photos Kel

 

[Dog Shrink]

Thanks Ashley... Sammy is a hoot. He was a $5 soup pot rabbit that we bought to save his butt. He was an awesome showman ship rabbit for my son while he was in 4-H 'cause obviously you cando anything to him and he's like What 'ev...

Awww Laney that sounds so cute. We use to put a leash on Marilyn when we'd go to all day double shows and I'd walk her around. Boy did we get some looks. You can also see that one pic of Brey where he's laying on Chachi there is actually a long lead rope that is on Chachi 'cause he was a fast booger and would bolt. Brey use to set up a table on the corner of our property every Easter and put out a sign that said Pix with the easter bunny $5.00. He use to make about $50.00 that one day. A lot of breeders I know keep their rabbits in outdoor hutches but I just couldn't do it here esp. with our weather but most do fine. Marilyn will use a litterbox too when she's out free ranging in the basement, or tearing up a phone book They LOOOOVE phonebooks. Tell your daughter to give one to their new bun when they get one. It's a hoot. Also you can spray electrical cords with Gannick's bitter apple and bunnies will leave them alone. FYI, they're not all soft and snuggly andnice. Ihad to put one down a few eeks ago because he was the Anti-Rabbit (oddly enough that was also what we called him)! Houdini's brother actually. Man was he MEAN! Even my friend's red tail wouldn't eat him. Guess even the snake knew he was no good

Thank you too EG for your nice compliment. I appreciate it We put a lot of work into getting our rabbits to show standard. This last year has been our best so far with 2 home grown champions (Mr. Wonderful, and Psycho Diva (mother and son oddly enough)), and we have high hopes for Igor and prince as well. Looks like we're finally doin it right

 

[BrilliantEraser]

Congrats on your awesome show record! I know about Netherland Dwarfs, but I never got to work with any (my high school vo-ag program had a good rabbit breeding program), sadly. I know they make awesome pets. I looooove the squirrel color. Are you breeding for any colors in particular, or just breeding for the standard at the moment? And Chachi is so cute. We had a Flemish Giant at school, and I loved letting him roam around the hallways after classes were done. At school we also had Mini-Rexes, Tans, English Spots, and English Lops.

Can I share my personal rabbit stories now? Yes? Good. I used to work with show-quality English Spots. I had a grey-white spot named Merlin (HANDSOME little booger) and a black-white spot named Guinevere. They were going to be my breeding pair, but I lost Guin to a freak accident when she was only six months. After that I owned a bottle-fed English Lop (I got him at three weeks, as he had a major URI and the owner was just going to euth him). I named him Wicket W. Warrick because he was a furry little trouble-maker! Made one of the best pets I ever owned. I'll see if I can get pictures of the crew. Might take a while since I only have hard copies of the photos. This was back before kids had fancy digital cameras.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Aw Liz that sounds like so much fun. My school never had an ag program

As far as the colors we breed for are the shaded variety. Siamese sable, smoked pearl, himi (black and blue) plus a couple agouti patterns, chinchilla, Squirrel (the dilute of chin) and we have our first Chestnut pair. Odd the chestnut pair came out of a solid black doe (Harpo) and Sammy so idk how we got that but the buck (Mel) took a first B.O.B jr at our season's closing show this fall :main_thumbsup: I don't think I'm gonna continue with the chestnut tho 'cause to breed them right you have to incorporate black otter and I absolutely DO NOT want to get into otter, but everyone else we're gonna go with. I'm just gonna prove the pair out, get another leg on the buck and sell him and Alice. Our web sites needs MAJOR updating but here it is if you like http://www.freewebs.com/bkgrabbits/ (the mirror site is a little more complete at the moment but closing in March ) The english spot are so cool. The standard is soooo strict on those. You never see many of them around any more tho. I'd love to see your pix if you get them uploaded :main_yes:

 

[tlbowling]

Is that black and white great dane yours? LOVE him or her too! Huh, guess I have a thing for all your black & white animals

 

[Dog Shrink]

Is that black and white great dane yours? LOVE him or her too! Huh, guess I have a thing for all your black & white animals

Yes that was my Dane Dauber (or Daubie as we affectionately called him). He passed away 2 octobers ago from a sudden heart attack Degenerative cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Yeah he actually thought he fit on a snuggle ball sized for a beagle

I Miss him SOOOOO much. He was an amazing dog. I had trained him to work with Parkinson's patients (kinda like a counter balance the danes keep them righted on their feet or act as a brace for them too pull themselves up if they do fall or try to catch them on the way down).

Such a good dog... Love ya big guy :angel:

 

[WulfSC]

Sorry to hear about Daubie. I love Danes. If, and when, I get another dog, I'd like a Great Dane.

As for your rabbits... they're just too adorable. It should be a crime to be so cute.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Aw Wulf now you're just brown nosing but thank you. As far as Danes go they are great dogs but there are a few things I woud warn people considering one about.

1. COPIOUS amounts of drool. Dauber's other nick name was slobber chops or slobber Dauber. Be prepared pretty much 24/7 that if they put their face on you, near you or with in 3 feet of you. you risk getting wet. Daubie knew what "3 foot rule" meant. It meant he had to be more than 3 feet away if he was gonna flap his face/shake. My house has super high ceilings and you look up and you're like how the hell did he get that up there?

2. Don't let Anyone ever tell you there is no difference in personality amongs the colors. There is most def. a difference. Totally avoid merle danes. Nothing good can come with them. They carry all the merle issues as aussie shepherds in a larger package and isn't a recognised color so it shouldn't be encouraged to be bred. The fawns and brindles were used mostly for hunting so they tend to want to go go go more than the other colors. The blacks and blues were used mostly for police and military work so they tend to be more "sharp" than the other colors (plus there is ahigher incident of allergies int eh blue coated breeds of any dog), and the harlequins and mantles (Dauber was a mantle) are the largest and most phlegmatic of the colors as they were mostly used for guarding wide open estates. There is a strick code of ethics when breeding the colors. Fawns to brindles or fawns, brindle to brindle or fawn, blacks to blues or harlies and mantles. blue to black, mantle to harlie or mantle or black but breeding harlie to harlie after time will produce a dog with minimal spotting which coud result in deafness if the majority of color is white since it is lack of color pigment in the ear canal that leads to deafness. The nerve endings die causing deafness. You don't want a pedigree that crosses the color barriers and that is a sure tell of a reputable breeder versus a for profit breeder any day. Read your pedigree.

3.A book by a lady named Jill Swedlow is a must have for any dane owner. it's called Great Dane Model of Nobility. I highly suggest it. Also reading the Dr. Glickman report/study out of Purdue veterinary university on Bloat is helpful as well since they proved feeding out of an elevated feeder incerased the chances of bloat by something like 110% (which actually disappoints me that it is still in Swedlow's book to use an elevate feeder but that book was written before the study).

4. Make sure ALL genetic testing is done for hips, elbows, heart and ask if there is any history of bloat in the lines as it is hereditary.

If you'd like to talk Danes further once you get closer to buying one feel free to PM or email me. I can talk dogs all day long You can also get a hold of me thru my web site http://rolloverrover.webs.com there's also a budding dog forum on my web site.

 

[WulfSC]

Ahaha...I'm not brown nosing. *shifty eyes*

I'm familiar with Danes. My girlfriend's parents have three. They're all very well mannered, albeit, very drooly. Haha. I'll take your advise on the book though...besides being a good tool, I love to read --- anything and everything. And, I'll definitely check out your website. Thanks.

As for the bunnies, though, I just love the little tiny ones. The Netherland Dwarfs are one of my favorite breeds. We have two of them, and a Lionhead at work. I work part-time (2 days a week) at a local mom-n-pop pet store. We buy all our animals from local, and reputable breeders. I work full-time as a tattoo artist.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I sell som of my better grade culls to a place called propet that picks them up and distributes them to local mom-n-pop joints in our tri-tate area. I would sell them directly to the pet shop I have locally but they already have a contract with another rabbit breeder I know who breeds polish and french lops (but they only take the small ones).

Since your a book-o-phile, another great book for any dog owner is by a fellow named Brian Kilcommons (with Sarah Wilson) called Good Owners Great Dogs. Wonderful source for practical cruelty free training.

BTW back when I had spare time, I use to design tattoos

 

[prettyinpink]

O M G!!! I adore buddies esp the netherland dwarfs they are sooo tiny! I love them!!! So cute!

Darko, Inky, Big love....pfft I like them all. I never really get to see netherland dwarfs too often though. So cute :smitten: Oooooh bunnies, I love them!

 

[Dog Shrink]

Thanks Erica... they're loads of fun and so many different personalities. Sammy however goes agasint the mold for tiny tho... he's about a pound overweight but throw awesome babies and the dwarfing gene so he's a keeper dispite not being able to be shown.