Fuzzy Lops Near & Far

Carolina on My Mind

2012-01-05T07:09:00.001-08:00

Pack up those Christmas ornaments and clear away the New Year’s confetti. Its time to start thinking about the 2012 AFLRC National Show. This year it will be in Greensboro, NC and it promises to be awesome!

2012 AFLRC National Show

CAROLINA ON MY MIND

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Where: Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Lee St, Greensboro, NC 27403

Judges: OPEN Randy Shumaker, CA, Jay Hreiz, NC, YOUTH Jamie Green, GA

Host Hotel: Drury Inn Rate is $84, cut-off date for rate is Feb 9, 1-800-0720, or www.druryhotels.com, group #2115017, check-in after 3pm. Other hotels in area: Best Western, Hampton Inn, Ramada, Red Roof Inn, Sheraton

Airports: Greensboro, NC, Raleigh, NC (1 hr), Charlotte, NC (2 hr)

Banquet: Darryl's Wood-Fired Grill, $25/person, see separate banquet menu. Reservations with checks to be mailed to Lory-Ann Rubinstein.

Entries: AFL National Show: $7.00 per rabbit, $3.00 per rabbit wool

North Carolina RBA : catalog posted at www.NCRBA.com

Saturday, March 10, Show B Sunday, March 11, Show C and D . Entry deadline March 6, email to Judy Bustle, showentry@msn.com

Check-in time: Friday, March 9, 2012, 6-9pm, Saturday, March 10, 6-7am.

Judging begins promptly at 8:30am Saturday, March 10, 2012

Show Superintendants:

Helen Moore, h3lenm@bellsouth.net 704 583 8498

Ginger Mendat, mendat13@yahoo.com 704 299 6405

Show Secretary: Jennifer Green, jennfuzzylop@yahoo.com 803 424 4455

All Entries for National Show must be postmarked by February 27, 2012

Mail to: Jennifer Green, AFL National Entry

1828 Four Mile Creek Rd, Ball Ground, GA 30107

Make checks payable to Virginia Mendat/SFF

You may also use your 2010-11 sweepstakes gift certificates for entry fees

See catalog on AFLRC website

A good week..a very good week

2011-10-23T06:10:00.001-07:00

In our hobby, we can go weeks and months (OK, let’s be totally honest--years) without a big win. But every time we get a little discouraged, we see the face of a 4-week old kit, or we talk to a friend who is excited about their Fuzzies, and we are ready to go again. Still nothing can jazz up our enthusiasm for American Fuzzy Lops like doing well at a show.

Last weekend, things went well, very well for me. I won Best of Breed in the two shows with a solid sable point buck. I thought he was looking very good, but took him to the Best in Show table with no expectations.

Judge Randy S examines the AFL during Best in Show A judging.

Betty and her English Angora doe, selected Best in show by Judge Kevin S, and me with my buck. My buck was Reserve Best in Show for both shows that day!

Yesterday, I headed to another show, the last show before the ARBA Convention in Indianapolis. I packed up a different group of Fuzzies this time, to make sure all the rabbits had time to rest before traveling to Convention later this week. It was so tempting to take the sable point buck again, but I decided it was more important for him to be ready to compete in Indianapolis. Besides, I thought I had a couple of other bucks that were looking nice.

My broken buck won Best of Breed in both shows. But I really didn’t expect more. There were a lot of very nice rabbits at the show yesterday.

Show A, my broken senior buck is selected Best in Show by Judge Josh H! Betty’s English Angora is RBIS. Note that we have both won again one week later but with different rabbits!

Show B, my broken buck takes BIS again. Juan and his Mini Lop are selected RBIS by Judge Melissa.

I guess I like this hobby after all!

Let the pictures tell the story

2011-07-08T08:23:00.001-07:00

Mason, MI: It was an AWESOME show, says Tabatha.

Show A Open BOB- Tabatha Corbin-Meeks
                    BOS -Margaret Wronski
Show B open BOB -Theresa Frank
                    BOS ~ Tabatha Corbin-Meeks
Show C Open BOB ~ Tabatha Corbin-Meeks
                    BOS ~ Dawn Guth
Show D Open BOB Tabatha Corbin-Meeks
                     BOS ~ Tabatha Corbin-Meeks
Also we hear that Jamie Fry did great in youth and took RBIS in show B!

Fun in the Sun

2011-06-28T06:54:00.001-07:00

Spring and summer can be a great time to step back and enjoy the rabbits in a more relaxed way. One tradition is the “picnic” or backyard show. District 2 hosts one of the best where American Fuzzy Lops, Jersey Woolys and Angoras all gather for a great triple show.

Wade checks the Fuzzies while Carol is finally caught on camera.

Chris had a great time relaxing, talking and judging.

Johnny judges French Angoras with Gabrielle taking comments

Youth exhibitors turned out in great numbers and had gorgeous Fuzzies!

Results:

Show A, Youth, Johnny Haussener

BOB, VC Hayley Cowles
BOSB SKT Hayley Cowles

Show B, Youth CHRIS Zemny

BOB FFS Madison Todd
BOSB MXML1 Ruby Juballa

Show C WADE BURKHALTER

BOB SKT Hayley Cowles
BOSB FFS Madison Todd

Show A, Open Johnny Haussener

BOB FOB Mary Henderson/Guy Reynolds
BOSB LSU2 Carol & Kendall Green

Show B Open Chris Zemny

BOB CHR Carol & Kendall Green
BOSB LP1 Christina Gillett

Show C open Wade Burkhalter

BOB KNO CAROL & KENDALL GREEN
BOSB FOB HENDERSON/REYNOLDS

Fuzzies go to school

2011-06-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Rabbits, children and science.....mix those three things together and you have a successful Science Day prsentation for kindergarten classes.

I took six different rabbits with me--two Fuzzies, one Jersey wooly, two young Netherland Dwarfs and a Thrianta. All were picked because I thought they would be tolerant of poking and prodding! I talked to the kids about the many uses for rabbits, what they eat, and how the babies tend to look like their parents. When I asked what rabbits eat, the answer was always "Carrots!". The kids were great though at sitting in their chairs and holding up their hands to ask questions. It helped that the teacher warned me that their attention span was "8 mins"!

Rabbits and the "teacher" were tired when the day was done!

Do you have any Sable Points available?

2011-05-31T07:05:00.001-07:00

I get more requests for sable points than any other variety of Fuzzies. That’s not a scientific survey of course, because most people know that I don’t raise too many of the rarer colors anyway. But torts and sable points are very compatible when it comes to breeding and since most of us have torts, then most of us could also raise sable points.

As discussed in the last post, there are five main color genes (ignore the broken and vienna genes for now). By the way, there is a very good article in the current issue of Domestic Rabbit, May/June 2011, on rabbit color genetics also, which is a great reference too. We are going to focus on one gene for this discussion though, because it is where the torts and sable points different, the “C” or pigmentation (also called color) gene.

In some ways, the pigmentation gene is the hardest because instead of a nice simple two versions, with one dominant over the other, the “C” series has five different forms or alleles. “C” is the dominant form which means that one copy of this allele will affect the color of the rabbit. The other four alleles of the pigment gene are : “c(chd)”, called chinchillation dark which results in chinchilla or silver marten varieties; “c(chl)”, chinchillation light, required for sable points, Siamese sable, and smoke pearl varieties; “c(h)”, Himalayan (or Californian) allele, giving pointed white, and “c”, for albino or ruby-eyed white variety. Since each rabbit has two copies of the pigmentation gene, the dominance of each matters: C > c(chd) > c (chl) > c(h) > c.

The sable point rabbit pictured at the top of this post has very nice clean sable point color. Note the darker shading on his muzzle and ears. The legs and feet are also darker sepia brown. The color over the body isn’t white, but is a very light almost “pearl” color (sable points are called “pearl” in the angora breeds).

Solid sable point AFL with clean color

Solid sable point with darker sable point color.

There are variations in the sable point color that occur as seen above. It is believed that two copies of the c(chl) gene will result in the darker version while one copy of the gene paired with a “c” allele will give the cleaner color. This could be tested by breeding each of these rabbits to a ruby eyed white rabbit, if REWs as well as sable points are in the litters, then the sable point parent carried one copy of the c allele.

One complication with broken sable points is that the light body color can make it difficult to see the pattern on an adult. The color is readily seen on a broken sable point kit. At birth the colored skin is as visible as in any other broken, and as the wool grows it is still easy to see.

But as the wool grows, the color seems to become diluted over the length of the hair shaft and be more difficult to see. Sometimes these rabbits are disqualified for having too little color, but most judges realize the need to look closely (even in the sunlight if possible) at the body, as well as the head. A rabbit with normal or heavy broken markings on the head is likely to be well colored on the body as well.

The buck above shows the typical pattern of color on the head seen in broken Fuzzies with a prominent butterfly and colored ears. Additional pattern of color is also apparent on the face of the rabbit. The body also has several large areas of slightly darker colored wool, although the length of the wool makes it harder to see the color.

A broken sable point with less density in the wool has more prominent color patches. Some sable points are also darker in color than others; this is probably because the rabbit carries two copies of the sable point gene rather than only one copy.

Enjoy your sable points. They are a beautiful variety of AFL.

Oh Mr Mendel, where are you?

2011-05-16T06:49:00.001-07:00

When the talk turns to alleles and genes and Punnett squares, some folks’ eyes glaze over while others get very very excited. If you are one of those who start thinking about what you are having for dinner when the ABCDEs roll into the conversation, just stick with me and give it a shot. This won’t be a full lesson, just a tidbit. If you want to produce colors (varieties) that can be shown, then you need to know some basics about rabbit color genetics.

There are five genes that determine most of the varieties of colors shown in Fuzzies (Note I said “most”, not “all”). Each of these genes has at least two alleles (or versions) that will determine some feature of the rabbits color.

First is the “A” or agouti series. This gene determines whether a rabbit with exhibit agouti, tan or self pattern, thus there are three possible alleles of this gene.

The “B” series is next, and is sometimes called the basic series. Its easiest to think that all rabbits are either black or brown.

The “C” series, or pigment series, controls the amount of pigment in the hair shaft and has six different alleles that produce rabbits that range from full colored to albinos (ruby eyed white).

The “D” series or color intensity gene controls the intensity of color resulting in either intense color, e.g. black, or dilute, e.g. blue.

The extension gene, “E” controls the extension of black to the fur tips.

There are two other genes that are important to us also. First is the gene that produces either solid or brokens. Any color can be broken. Then there is another gene, usually termed Vienna or Blue-eyed white that can conceal all colors and produce a BEW.

Photos are from rabbits that were class winners at AFLRC National shows and ARBA Conventions.

Basket of Babies

2011-05-04T06:53:00.001-07:00

There are few things as exciting as your first litter of Fuzzy Lops (well the second, third and fortieth are close!). After just celebrating the arrival of the litter, the next fun part is to figure out what varieties are in the nestbox. Since we have so many torts, its not usually that difficult. But some of the lighter colors can be more challenging. For example, I have thought I had a ruby eyed white (REW) kit until the eyes opened and the wool started growing and I realized it was probably a blue point. Experience also helps a lot. I recently had an email conversation with a new exhibitor/breeder who wasn’t sure whether her sable point juniors were solid or broken. My suggestion—let’s look at the photos of young kits before the wool grows in. Watch these Fuzzies grow:

So what varieties are in these two litters? Its one broken tortoise shell, two REWS and two solid sable points. Beautiful!

Warm weather = power washing

2011-05-02T06:44:00.001-07:00

So why are all the rabbits loaded up in transport cages? Sure its nice outside, but they would rather be in their normal cages, eating and relaxing on a warm weekend day.

Do you think something is happening in the barn that we should investigate?

It is time for spring cleaning, one of those days that we both love and hate. It is a huge job, and best done with lots of help. First everything is removed from the barn—rabbits, tables, feeders, and assorted junk that accumulated over the past 6 months. Next, the wool is burned off with a hand held torch. This doesn’t remove all the wool, but it helps. A broom and shop vac are used to clean the light fixtures, walls and rafters. The biggest step and most time is spent with the power washer. It takes at least two times over the cages, and heavy work with wire brushes to clean everything.

Eight hours later, the Fuzzies are all back in their cages, fed and water. The trays may still have a few stains that collected over the years, but the cages are clean and fresh smelling! Ready for the summer now.

More Nationals 2011

2011-04-25T07:26:00.001-07:00

On Friday, the show room was just starting to fill as exhibitors came to load Fuzzies into the coops. Christina is playing with Natalee, Parker and Stuart.

The American Fuzzy Lop club booth was decorated with the award quilts, and a great silent auction.

Show day (Saturday) was busy but there was still time to talk to old friends (Lisa B, Mia B, Shari A, Sherry H, and Carol G)

Nate B, Muriel K, Diana K work on the paperwork of the show. Great team!

Christina G, Irving, and Marian S watch the judging.

AFLRC National Show Recap

2011-04-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

The National show weekend started out looking like this and I really wanted to give you minute-by-minute updates this year. But once that train started rolling, there was no time to write or post to a blog.

Here is my first view of the mountains with snow as I head west to Reno. (Yes, I did take this photo while driving, but I did not talk on my phone at the same time!).

By now many of you have heard who won but nothing tells the story better than photos.

Our judges were Deb Dyer-Pagel and Kevin Stanford. There were 46 American Fuzzy Lops shown in youth and the winners were:

Solids

Senior buck Ella Todd
Senior doe Hayley Cowles, BOV and BOSB
Junior buck Sarah Compton, BOSV
Junior doe Dalton Kelman

Brokens

Senior buck Madison Todd, BOV and BOB
Senior doe Hayley Colwes, BOSV
Junior buck Madison Todd
Junior doe Dalton Kelman

Best wool Dalton Kelman
Best display Dalton Kelman

In open there were 152 Fuzzies shown. The results were:

Solids

Senior buck, Shari Albrecht, BOSV
Senior doe, Carol & Kendall Green, BOV
Junior buck, Nate & Stuart Burbidge
Junior doe, Nate & Stuart Burbidge

Brokens

Senior buck, Shari Albrecht, BOV and BOB
Senior doe, Valerie Uptagraft & Michelle Uptagraft-Smith
Junior buck, Lisa Davis & Tim
Junior doe, Kathy Nicholls, BOSV and BOSB

Congratulations to the winners!

We got wool!

2011-04-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

Photos from 2008 National show in Colorado. This National show will be a bit more deluxe, since its in a major hotel/resort rather than a dirt floored fair barn. But the fun will be the same!

Entries are in for the AFLRC National show for this coming weekend. Numbers entered look very good and there are a lot of wonderful friends making the trek to Reno.

Open, 150 entered

Solid senior buck 20
Solid senior doe 29
Solid junior buck 15
Solid junior doe 11
Broken senior buck 25
Broken senior doe 20
Broken junior buck 19
Broken junior doe 10
Wool 28

Youth, 44 entered

Solid senior buck 8
Solid senior doe 9
Solid junior buck 4
Solid junior doe 4
Broken senior buck 6
Broken senior doe 11
Broken junior buck 2
Broken junior doe 2
Wool 5

National Show Entry Deadline!

2011-04-11T06:23:00.001-07:00

Its time, its time—April 11! Send your entries, via email to Nate B at utahrabbitman@yahoo.com today. This is the deadline. No kidding. We need to give Nate time to get the show entries in the program, print the cards and coop labels. So sit down and send ‘em now!

So far the numbers of rabbits entered looks very good and we are anticipating exhibitors from all over the country. But when you sit down to enter, don’t hesitate to add just a few more. The exhibitor who enters the most rabbits in Nationals wins one night’s hotel fee ($89). Plus if you are traveling, you can win one night’s hotel fee for coming the most miles to Nationals. We want to see the faces of some of our distant friends!

What about the awards for Nationals? Just fantastic. The quilts are gorgeous. In fact, all the awards are really very nice. The theme is “western” but also handmade. You won’t believe how talented our fellow rabbit friends are!

Everyone loves a winner

2011-03-31T06:44:00.001-07:00

Remember this rabbit? This is the broken senior doe, owned by the mother and daughter team of Valerie U and Michelle U-S, that won Best of Breed at the ARBA Convention. Viola and owners are at it again!

The show was March 26 held in Ontario, OR, hosted by the Snake River Rabbit & Cavy Breeders. This gorgeous doe won Best of Breed in both shows and then judges Allen Mesick and Randy Shumaker, both picked her for Best in Show! Congratulations to Team Viola!

Great time to peak, right before Nationals, ladies. We have our eye on you……

Love the rabbits, love the exhibitors

2011-03-20T08:18:00.001-07:00

Dawn sent some great photos of the exhibitors at the Michigan show. Its great to see smiling faces!

Sarah S and her fiance

Molly E and Brian S

Theresa F taking a break

Cindy D

Bill P and youth BOS winner

Fun at the open Fuzzy Lop table

Thinking of our Friends in Japan

2011-03-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

Please protect these wonderful people and this beautiful country.

Beautiful AFL in Michigan

2011-03-13T09:08:00.001-07:00

Dawn G, our East Coast Report sends this update on the Michigan State Convention, held March 5 and 6.

What a nice turnout of Fuzzies and exhibitors! Over 60 Fuzzies shown in Open and a Specialty show on Sat and a very nice turnout of Youth Fuzzies shown in the State Show! It was nice seeing Theresa Frank back at the tables again with some beautiful color and although Sherry Callen didn’t have any rabbits to show, she was a trooper and came and held up way better than any of thought she would!

Does anyone remember this year at Convention when Allen Mesick had to DQ a SSB from the table because he fell over on the show table? Well, I’d counted and re-counted and thought I’d given everyone a crock with water but apparently I missed one! By show day, Bastet’s Nemo was dehydrated and couldn’t even stand! Cindy Decker and I took him back into the wool room and gave him subcutaneous liquids and within a few hours he was eating again. At the MI State Show, Bastet’s Nemo took Best of Breed! Thank you again Cindy! Nemo is near and dear to my heart because he’s out of Brian’s Neptune through a breeding Brian and I traded. He’s the sweetest thing ever and I just love him to pieces!

MI State Show

Open, Judge: Donyell Schultz
BOB: Dawn Guth – SSB
BOS: Dawn Guth – SSD
Youth, Judge: Bill Patrick
BOB: Jamie Fry – SSB
BOS: Ashley Born – BSD

Specialty Show

Open, Judge: Carla Wilson
BOB: Kathy Cordner – BSB
BOS: Dawn Guth – SSD
Youth, Judge: Mark Jacobs
BOB: Jamie Fry, BSD
BOS: Jamie Fry, SSB

Dawn with her winning Fuzzies from the state show.

Jamie F’s winning Fuzzies of Specialty show.

Carla W, Dawn G, and Kathy C with open winners of Specialty show.

More photos to follow later in the week from the show.

Like making sausage

2011-03-06T07:01:00.001-08:00

The 2011 AFLRC National show will be in Reno, NV at the Sierra Grand Resort on April 15-17. Its been a long time since the national show for Fuzzies was held in a hotel and I am really looking forward to it.

Because the show is in the west and Reno has a long and varied history as a silver town and true “wild west” location, the show has a western theme. Mr. Big Pants has put away his surf board and donned a cowboy hat and boots. (Drawn by Randy G. Thanks!)

The Best of Breed and Best Opposite of Breed awards also are western in tone. Check out the process of making quilts for awards.

Like the title says, its like making sausage, not a very pretty picture! But the final product should look pretty good.

Don’t you want to win one?

Share the Wealth

2011-03-04T07:24:00.001-08:00

The cutie above was sold in the 50:50 auction held by AFLRC at the Minneapolis ARBA Convention. Nate and Stuart B donated this tort buck and Lory-Ann R of North Carolina bought him. Lory-Ann recently sent this update on the buck.

“Hello from North Carolina! Just thought you would like to know that your boy took BOB both open shows in Perry,Ga. this weekend. I am thrilled to have him in the rabbitry!!

All the best, Lory-Ann”

Don’t miss your chance to buy a nice Fuzzy Lop at the Indianapolis Convention where we will hold our next 50:50 auction.

All Broken

2011-03-02T06:54:00.001-08:00

The California State Convention show was last weekend, Feb 26-27. Other than chilly temperatures and windy conditions, it was a perfect show for bringing to together the American Fuzzy Lop exhibitors under one roof.

On Saturday, Fuzzies were judged by Randy S. Carol and Kendall’s broken senior buck, Christian, won Best of Breed.

Sunday’s shows were bigger for Fuzzy Lops and the competition “hotter”. In the first show, judged by Cathy S, Mary and Guy’s broken doe, Lambo won Best of Breed.

In the second show, judged by Allen O, Mary and Guy’s gorgeous Fuzzy Lops prevailed again! Best of Breed was their broken senior buck, FOB.

Congratulations to everyone! Now go home and start thinking about Nationals in Reno, NV, April 15-17.

Don't stop believing

2011-02-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Guest blogger Nate B reports:

Burb's Cease Fire (G.C. Burb's Ta Dah x Burb's LER) is pictured above. He was a double BOB winner and double RIS winner at the Eastern Idaho RBA show on 2.12.2011. The judges were Cathy Armstrong, Allan Ormond and Lawrence Weeks.

Cease Fire is a 7 month old buck who is just now coming out of his "uglies" stage. Many times, several breeders told me to cull him. For once, I took the advice of a wise mentor who always says that this is a breed that requires a lot of patience ... they get better as they get older.

Anyway, I am glad I kept Cease Fire and look forward to more shows with him.

Thanks for the wise counsel Carol.

Thank you, Nate for the reminder. I have some really ugly juniors right now with ears straight, long bodies and thin wool. When I look at them I try to see them as 4 week old babies. Ahhh much better!

A little help from a friend

2011-02-18T07:25:00.001-08:00

Christina is a familiar face in California at the rabbit shows. Actually she is a familiar face and name for AFLRC too. She is now the District 2 director for the National club. But don’t be surprised when you see Christina with her new assistant, Irving. He’s a black lab, 2 years old, from Canine Companions for Independence. Don’t Christina and Irving make a great team?

A little hug for her boy.

Nice profile, Irving!

Irving helps Christina open doors.

See you both soon!

Show me

2011-02-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

Rabbit shows are in full force here in California. Its fine fun to get those rabbits out of the barn and bring them to shows. Also provides better motivation to groom the rabbits! One of the very popular shows of the year in my area was held last Saturday in Stockton, CA (yes, it’s the same weekend as the PA show which is HUGE in the east). I hadn’t planned to attend this year because I was scheduled for a work meeting in the midwest (obviously NOT planned by an ARBA member), but the wonderful blizzards of 2011 stopped air traffic cold (hahaha) and I was “stuck” at home in spring-like temperatures and time to go to a rabbit show. Enjoy the photos of a day with the American Fuzzy Lop exhibitors!

Take me to a rabbit show

2011-02-02T06:30:00.001-08:00

We have so many shows in California that its possible to pack up bunnies and drive to a show nearly every weekend. But due to a convergence of real life and holidays, I hadn’t been to a rabbit show since early December. Well that changed last weekend. The Kern County Rabbit Breeders Association held their double open/youth show on Saturday, Jan 29 in Bakersfield, hired me as one of the judges, plus High Flying Fuzzies put on a specialty show for AFL. Yeah! Time to travel!

The sad part of this story is that even though I packed my camera and my new Flip video camera, I had a severe case of “no-photo-it is”, and pretty much left the picture gear untouched! GGGRRRRR. I hate it when I do that. Kendall even came with me to the show but she was so busy showing Fuzzies and her Thriantas while I judged, that she didn’t take pictures either.

At least I got one shot of the showroom and a few AFL exhibitors. Marian is wrestling the paperwork for the specialty show, while Pam and Anita peak over the coops. Jessica was at the show too, but she was the general show secretary and was very busy all day. Chris Z judged the specialty show and did a fantastic job.

Best of Breed in all three shows was Carol & Kendall Green’s broken buck, Christian, pictured here waiting for Show A Best in Show judging. Best Opposite of Breed was also owned by Carol & Kendall and was their solid doe, AK’s Vane.

It turned out to be a great day for Fuzzies! In show A, Randy S picked Christian as Reserve in Show. In Show B, Joe L picked Christian as Best in Show! Pretty exciting for Kendall and I. Christian seems less impressed!

Bring your special Fuzzies to a special show

2011-01-27T07:24:00.001-08:00

Ohio Mini Convention

Triple Show Weekend for Fuzzy Lops and Jersey Woolies

Double OSRBA AFL & JW Specialty Shows – Sat. April 30^th, 2011

Open and Youth

Judges: John Soper and Pam Jones

OSRBA Mini Convention All Breed Show – Sun. May 1^st, 2011

Judge: Allen Mesick

Baring any cancellations or unforeseen circumstances these will be the judges.

OSRBA Catalog will be posted soon at www.osrba.net

Open Show Secretary: Bonnie Saunier – (330) 875-5561 openentry@osrba.net

Youth Show Secretary: Laurie Owen – (330) 620-1502 youthentry@osrba.net

Hotel Information:

Ramada Plaza Hotel - (614) 846-0300

Baymont Inn & Suites - (614) 848-9696

Great Combo: Kids and bunnies

2011-01-25T07:56:00.001-08:00

Most of you know how it starts.

“Please may I have a pet. Its just a little bunny. I’ll take care of him, promise. Pleeeeease…” And the fun takes off from there.

So we give in and rabbits become a big part of the family’s life, whether its only one rabbit or a whole barn full of them.

Its easy to forget the wonder of that first rabbit, learning how to take care of it and keep it healthy and happy.

Fuzzies are pretty laid back, aren’t they?

Hey, how did that Jersey Wooly sneak into a Fuzzy Lop blog? Well that’s OK, they make great rabbits for kids too!

Don’t get discouraged

2011-01-19T08:31:00.001-08:00

I don’t understand. When its cold, I wear a coat. Apparently American Fuzzy Lops take the change in temperatures as the time to get a new wardrobe. That makes sense, but running around bare seems wrong to me!

The buck pictured above placed in the top ten in wool at Convention! Sort of hard to believe, isn’t it? Well at least he should be looking good by spring.

Is it wool?

2011-01-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

We call it wool, you know that stuff covering American Fuzzy Lops and the cage bottoms, walls of our barn, and all of our clothes. But shepherds will tell you that the only true wool comes from sheep. Its certainly true that sheep wool has a lot of unique properties. As stated in the The Knitter’s Book of Yarn, “Wool in yarn is like restaurants in San Francisco. You could knit a different blend every day for a year…”

What makes sheep’s wool different from rabbit wool? It would be easier to show you in person, if you could touch it, but we’ll give this a try anyway.

Look at the crimp or waves in the fiber. This tends to be very easy to see in sheep’s wool. This particular lock is from a California Variegated Mutant sheep. We know that there are differences in the fiber quality—softeness, length of fiber (called staple), and density. There is probably even greater difference between breeds of sheep!

Now look at the AFL wool. Although rabbit wool does have crimp, especially in the underwool, it is clearly not as apparent as in sheep wool Sheep wool also have more and larger scales than rabbit wool. As a result, sheep’s wool is more elastic.

Sheep also secrete lanolin (yep that is the stuff that makes your hands so soft), which means the fiber has to be washed before it can be spun into yarn. In contrast, rabbits are very clean. You can sometimes see angora owners spinning fiber directly off of a rabbit that is sitting in their lap. We know that would never work with a Fuzzy Lop. My rabbits would hop off and start playing before I could get any spinning done.

The next photo shows a batt of CVM sheep wool blended with Fuzzy Lop wool. This is now ready for spinning into yarn on a spinning wheel or with a hand spindle.

This yarn is has been washed and is being prepared to be dyed. Both sheep and rabbit wool take up dye very well.

But natural colors look gorgeous too. This is 100% AFL yarn being knitted into fingerless mitts. The cuffs are made from an alpaca yarn to add a soft nice trim.

And here is a finished pair of fingerless mitts, knitted from soft AFL wool, trimmed with handspun sheeps wool and silk yarn. Yummy soft and warm!

This isn’t baseball

2011-01-08T14:38:00.001-08:00

Have you heard the “three strikes rule” advocated when it comes to breeding does? The basic premise is simple—if a doe misses or has dead babies three times in a row, then the breeder is done with her, removing her from the breeding program. Early in our rabbit fancy career, we were advised to follow this rule. Well, it’s the rule in baseball, but does three strikes have anything to do with raising rabbits?

This pretty doe is Brian’s Samey. She was purchased by Muriel and I, along with another solid sable point and a broken sable point doe. We really wanted sable points (can you tell?). Then disappointment hit. The does missed or had dead litters multiple times. Samey was at Muriel’s house and the doe had at least three dead litters. The other does were at my house and I wasn’t having a lot of luck either getting litters from the. Finally my sable point doe, Avena, raised one kit. Although we discussed giving up, we really wanted to get offspring from these does. The rabbits had great type in addition to gorgeous wool and color. So we decided to trade does and then see what happened. Maybe a change of locale would help!

Guess what? Success! Samey, in California, had one live kit just before Christmas while the other solid doe was busy raising a litter of 3 in Oregon. Actually the broken sable point doe had a litter of three sable points also. We are in business now.

Moral of the story: If you really want to get offspring from a doe, then don’t give up. Fuzzy Lops don’t play baseball!

“Boy it is warm and cozy in this nestbox”, says the little guy.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T13:52:00.001-08:00

It’s exciting to start fresh with a new year, even though today looks a lot like yesterday (cloudy with drizzle). Good bye 2010!

View of the Minneapolis, MN skyline from our hotel during the ARBA Convention.

Convention Risers!

2010-11-04T06:41:00.001-07:00

No I don’t mean people who are early risers during the ARBA Convention. I’m talking about those wire squares that keep the rabbits off of the shavings during Convention.

AFLRC will not be renting risers this year. The club decided to sell the risers over the next two Convention. All the club risers that will be in Minneapolis are already reserved. If you reserved with Carol G or Deb L, the risers are supposed to be delivered to the Convention Center on Saturday (but travel could delay until Sunday).

Everyone else that needs risers should plan to bring your own or buy from cage suppliers at the show.

See you all soon! Safe travels!

Convention Updates

2010-10-18T06:45:00.001-07:00

Entries: Today, October 18 is the last day to enter the ARBA Convention, either as a new exhibitor or add on to your entries. Yes, the deadline was extended. Isn’t entering on line wonderful! I got my entries in by the first deadline, but the offer to allow me to add more was just too tempting.

Also, mark down next Monday, October 25. That is the last day to make free changes in class and ear number to your Convention entries. You can change everything except breed. Again, love the on-line system!

Banquet: A very nice banquet at a very reasonable price is planned for Convention. Be sure to order your tickets for the AFLRC Awards Banquet by October 30. Its $20 per adult, children under 12, $10. Send to Deb L. Her address is in the newest Fuzzy Tales.

Don’t forget that we are holding an auction during the banquet. This raises money for the awards at the spring National show. So please bring items to donate and be prepared to bid (high!).

Convention Fundraisers: Due to local laws, raffles are not allowed in Minnesota. Its considered gambling…this makes our normal fundraising activities a bit more complex than normal but never fear! There will still be items at the AFLRC booth, which will be in a silent auction rather than a raffle. We did this at Nationals in Ohio and it worked very well. Please bring donations for the table silent auction. More updates later in the week……start packing, here we come Minneapolis!

Better with age

2010-05-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

Some breeds of rabbits are shown only when they are young. Once they get older or have a litter, they just don't have the same flesh condition. English angoras are generally competitive only until their first coat is removed; subsequent wool is never quite the same texture. Tans tend to have a very short show career, as they lose the "racy" body type as they get older (don't we all become a bit less "racy" with age?).

But some breeds like Fuzzy Lops and Holland Lops, can be shown for several years. In fact, the bucks often aren't competitive seniors until they are at least 1.5 - 2 years old; it takes that long to get a great head on a buck.

Here is a picture of me, Judge Brooke and my doe, AK's Faith after she won Best In Show at Santa Rosa, CA in October 2007. Faith was about 8 mo old and looking very pretty (note she doesn't seem to care much for being held and posing for a camera).
And here we are again, Faith and I with Judge Doug K in Watsonville, CA, yesterday. Faith hadn't attended a show for at least 1 year. I thought she looked good sitting in her cage, so I entered her. Good move....Faith was selected Reserve Best in Show. (note same cranky look on her face, while I look just a bit older with longer hair.).
Here is Faith in a better mood sitting in the sun today. Thanks old girl, keep up the good work!

Oh the things I saw in Ohio

2010-05-03T16:40:00.001-07:00

Banquet at the Spaghetti Factory. Yum.

Adorable awards!

Jamie and Jacob

Dawn, Laura and friends

Kathi smiling the day after Nationals.

Congratulations to all!

Oh Oh Ohio!

2010-05-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

AFLRC National Show

Hosted by Great Lakes Fuzzy Lop Club

Columbus, OH

Youth:
Best of Breed, Broken Senior Buck, Jamie Fry
Best Opposite of Breed, Broken Junior Doe, Chase Lowe

Best Wool, Jamie Fry

Best Display, Chase Lowe

Best Solid, senior buck, Stephanie Miller
Best Opposite Solid, senio doe, Jamie Fry
Best Broken, senior buck, Jamie Fry
Best Opposite Broken, junior doe, Chase Lowe

Open:
Best of Breed, Solid Senior Buck, Kelsey Stover
Best Opposite of Breed, Solid Senior Doe, Allison Minger

Best Wool, Nicole Schmitt
Best Display, Dawn Guth

Best Solid, senior buck Kelsey Stover
Best Opposite Solid, senior doe, Allison Minger
Best Broken, senior buck, Kelsey Stover
Best Opposite Broken, senior doe, Dawn Guth

Snapshots from Nationals

More tomorrow.......

Just sit still, will ya?

2010-04-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have a "crop" of young Fuzzy Lop bucks growing up in my barn and decided it was time to take a few photos. The camera was charged, the little boys groomed (well as good as little boys can be groomed!), and I was ready. Below are the best of about 50 pictures that I took. Those little guys are fast!

AK's Keenan hunkers down to the table, sure that I am going to do something awful to him.

AK's Bryce strikes a pose (good boy!).

AK's Reno shows us how its done.

AK's Flyboy revs up his motor and gets ready to wing away...put those ears down kiddo.

It really does take two people to get decent photos of junior Fuzzies. Good luck at the shows and good luck with your juniors.

Silent Auction

2010-04-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

AFLRC will be holding a silent auction at the National show, in Columbus, OH. Please bring your donations and "bidding pencil"!

I have heard that entries are coming into the show secretary and the hosting club is making the last minute plans for the show. The National show and a specialty show will be help on Saturday, May 1 with a double all breed show on Sunday May 2.

How the world goes round

2010-03-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

I hate to throw away useful stuff. Like Fuzzy Lop wool that comes off during grooming. Of course the trick is--figure out what it is useful for! One day while knitting I realized how much I liked angora yarn. Where do you think that comes from? Rabbits, duh! And I have a whole barn full of them, molting all over the cage wire. Now if I could just get them to molt into a bag. Well that didn't happen; the bunnies still molt everywhere rather than in a neat pile. But I started collecting the wool. My friends started collecting the wool and soon I was spinning wool int yarn and knitting it into useful items, like gloves and scarves. Bingo! I turned something I once threw away into a valuable product. (see http://www.etsy.com/shop/JustASoftie).

So just a short step down this line of crazy talk was the purchase of a drum carder. This is a simple machine used to process the wool before spinning. A carder helps fluff out the wool and blend with different fibers, like sheep wool or alpaca. Or the carder is used to mix colors of fiber, making a different color in the final wool, than the original.

Below is my new Fancy Kitty Kitten Carder (http://www.fancy-kitty.com/carders1.html). The carder is being loaded with two different colors of dyed Fuzzy Lop wool (dying will have to wait for a later post!). You should be able to see both fushia and purple fiber.

The handle of the carder is slowly cranked and the fiber is picked up by the small licker drum and deposited on the larger drum shown here. Pretty, isn't ?

Here is a shot of the small licker drum feeding fiber on to the larger drum.

When finished with the process, the end result is a batt. The one shown below has about 10% natural Fuzzy Lop wool for the fluff factor, mixed with suri alpaca (white), bamboo (blue) and merino wool (pink). The batt itself is gorgeous and hand spinners love to work with these materials.

This batt spun up into a pretty small skein of yarn too, that has a nice "angora" halo and a very soft feel. Don't try to tell me that Fuzzy Lops aren't useful! Well gotta go groom my bunnies--to keep them looking great and to collect wool for spinning!

Adding to the "Herd"

2010-03-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

I thought you might enjoy seeing something besides rabbits for a change. I love to knit; that's no secret. So when Muriel asked if I wanted to knit a baby blanket for her new grandson, well I didn't hesitate. And when she threw in a few Jersey Woolys to sweeten the deal, I was all over it. Muriel loves sheep so the pattern to pick was obvious. This baby blanket, has mostly white sheep,

and one black sheep.

And it was finished in plenty of time before baby William arrived. Maybe it wasn't in plenty of time, but at least a couple of hours before he arrived!

Count 'em...1, 2, 3

2010-03-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

The California State Convention was this past weekend in Turlock, CA. I was looking forward to the show because 1) I hadn't attended a show for a few weeks; 2) I wasn't judging so could show as many rabbits as I wanted; 3) Kendall was coming too. [Note: I love judging but it just sounded so relaxing to only show, rather than juggle multiple activities. Isn't it funny that I thought a rabbit show would be "relaxing"?]

The show was just as much fun as I imagined for all the above reasons and three more. Kendall and I won BOB American Fuzzy Lop with AK's Noah, a solid senior buck. I won BOB Jersey Wooly with Brian's Zane, a broken otter buck, and Kendall won BOB Thrianta (a first for her) with Kendall's Ruby, a junior doe. In addition, we also won BOSB Fuzzy and Thrianta, and sold the BOSB Jersey Wooly to its new owner who showed her!

On Sunday a double all breed show was held and there were about 50 Fuzzy Lops, a great showing! We had loads of our good friends there including Marian S, Tausha and Christina, Anita R, Gail M, Bob and Kelley T. In the first show Sunday, Marian S won BOB with her lovely solid junior doe and in the second show, Kendall and I won BOB with another solid senior buck.

What a good weekend. Boy am I tired!

Youth Fuzzy Lops Rock!

2010-02-17T06:22:00.001-08:00

Rose Garrison and her broken senior doe won youth Best in Show (A) and RBIS (show B) on Saturday Feb 13 at the Sandhills Rabbit Fanciers Valentine's Show, Sanford, NC. North Carolina.

Congratulations to Rose and her doe.

Neither rain nor snow will stop us...well maybe snow

2010-02-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of February is a big show weekend in the rabbit fancy world. I missed it all. I was in Indiana for a Board of Trustees meeting at Hanover College. I actually missed that too. I combine these trips with visits to family so Saturday morning I woke up to 5 in of snow. That's hardly a blizzard but it was too much for a small rental car to drive a few miles down a curvy hilly country road to the highway. So instead I spent a nice cozy day knitting with my mom.

In Pennsylvania, there is a huge show the first weekend in February. I heard it was held but started late. Did any of our Fuzzy Lops and their exhibitors make it to the show? Let us hear your stories of Snowmageddan and fuzz!

In California, there were no worries at all of snow. A very nice show was held in Stockton. Winning in the open and youth Fuzzy Lop shows was distributed nicely to several people including Bob & Kelley Tapp, Susie Cederloff, Christina Gillett, and Jenny Henderson. But the big winner is below. New exhibitor Julia won Best in Show with her American Fuzzy Lop senior doe. Congratulations ladies!

An American (Fuzzy Lop) in Japan

2010-01-02T13:27:00.001-08:00

The first week in December Melissa Magee and I were invited to judge rabbits by the Nippon Rabbit Club. What an amazing experience! For me, it was even more special because of the gorgeous Fuzzies we found there. There were two shows that weekend; the first one held in Kobe and then a show the next day in Nagoya.

This handsome broken tort buck was selected Reserve in Show by Melissa and Best in Show by me on Sunday, December 6 in Nagoya.

At the show in Kobe, Yumiko won Best Opposite Sex of Breed with her sable point buck.

Best of Breed at the Kobe show was owned by Hiro, shown here working with Melissa for his registrar's license.

The Best of Breed Fuzzy poses with me since Hiro is busy and she is a black doe with a lovely head.

Congratulations to the winners and thank you so much for such a fantastic trip.

What makes a Fuzzy Lop fuzzy?

2009-11-11T06:21:00.000-08:00

The title to this post isn't one of those philosophical questions like "if a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it......". The answer is pretty straightforward; its the wool that makes a Fuzzy Lop fuzzy of course!

At the 86th ARBA Convention in Del Mar, several exhibitors entered their animals in the breed wool contest. The lovely boy pictured at the top of this page is Schmitt's Mat, 1st place wool in open. Nicole is so thrilled with her win and she should be! Competition was tough even though it is hard to get a perfect coat on our Fuzzies in early November. Susie Cederlof won 1st place wool in youth with SB1.

Congratulations Nicole and Susie!

Convention results

2009-11-04T06:23:00.001-08:00

Convention is flying by! We have had so much fun....we have done so much work....we have had such a great time with friends.

Youth results Judges: Ruby Rezac & George Germaine

Solid Sr Buck Jennifer Henderson
Solid Sr Doe Shelby Branum
Solid Jr Buck Julia Armanino
Solid Jr Doe Jisella and Celia Williams
Broken Sr Buck Susie Cederlof
Broken Sr Doe Jennifer Henderson
Broken Jr Buck McKenna Frantz
Broken Jr Doe Hauley Colwes

BOV Solid Sr Doe
BOSV Solid Sr Buck
BOV Broken Sr Doe
BOSV Broken Sr Buck

Best of Breed Broken Sr Doe Owned by Jennifer Henderson
Best Opposite of Breed Solid Sr Buck Owned by Jennifer Henderson

Open Results

Solid Sr Buck Christina Gillett
Solid Sr Doe Carol & Kendall Green
Splid Jr Buck Carol & Kendall Green
Solid Jr Doe Dawn Guth
Broken Sr Buck Sherry Hartzell
Broken Sr Doe Dawn Guth
Broken Jr Buck Christina Gillett
Broken Jr Doe Dawn Guth

BOV Solid Sr Doe
BOSV Solid Sr Buck
BOV Broken Sr Buck
BOSV Broken Sr Doe

Best of Breed Broken Sr Buck Owned by Sherry Hartzell
Best Opposite of Breed Solid Sr Doe Owned by Carol & Kendall Green

More later.......

Blast from the Past

2009-10-26T06:05:00.001-07:00

ARBA Convention 2001 was also held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. And the AFLRC awards banquet was at Chevy's (see you there again next week for the awards banquet!) Look carefully and you will see some familiar, though younger faces below.

At this Convention, Rob and Paula brought blue tort Fuzzy Lops for their final presentation.

The ARBA Standards committee is discussing the presentation and eventually announced that they passed.

Remember when...

2009-10-22T06:59:00.001-07:00

...the ARBA Convention was in San Diego in 2001?

Keyes Pat was the Best of Breed American Fuzzy Lop...

...Joey Schultz judged open Fuzzies...

...Tom Keyes judged youth Fuzzies while Adam Green took comments....

...Mollie Dorrance won Best of Breed youth Fuzzy with Dreamcatcher...

...Muriel Keyes (owner/breeder of BOB) and Brian Hartzell (owner/breeder of BOSB)posed with the gorgeous awards made by Jan Savage.

To be continued.......

Brian's Rabbitry

2009-10-20T06:36:00.001-07:00

A website has been made to help disperse most of Brian Hartzell's AFL and JW rabbits. Please see http://www.briansrabbitry.homestead.com for available stock.

There is a page on the website showing Fuzzies that will be at Convention. All will be for sale so if interested in some on Brian's beautiful stock, check it out.

Sherry Hartzell is also donating one of those rabbits to the AFLRC trio. The other two animals are donated by Jennifer Burns and Lindsay Brinson. This will be the trio to win! Tickets will be available at Convention for the trio, but are also in your latest issue of Fuzzy Tales. You can also buy tickets if you are not attending Convention. Send tickets and money to Paula Grady. Be sure you have identified someone to pick up the trio and transport for you in case you win.

Good luck to all!

We have a winner!

2009-10-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

Have you heard the news? The ARBA Convention in Del Mar, CA entry numbers are a record for a Convention on the west coast--13,035 animals! The numbers for each breed/class are now posted and I can make the big announcement--the winner of guess the entry number contest!

It was interesting to see how many Fuzzies you all thought would be at the show. The total numbers (open and youth combined) for the guesses ranged from 119 to 971. The actual Fuzzy Lop entry numbers for the 2009 Convention are 247 in open and 56 in youth for a total of 303 rabbits. Most people made individual guesses for open and youth and Tausha Tucker gets an honorable mention for guessing 250 in open but she was off by almost 50 rabbits in her youth guess. (Close Tausha but "no cigar").

Drumroll please......and the winner is Ginger Mendat who guessed 314 total rabbits. Ginger can't make it to California for convention this year (we will miss you so much!) so I will mail her the prize. You have to wait until after Convention though because I am going to pick up a nice Convention item while I am there.

Hope you all had fun with the contest. Now go out and groom your Fuzzies.

Make a guess

2009-10-12T13:56:00.001-07:00

Convention entries are still open for additions. So you have time to put more charges on your credit card and enter just one or two or.....more Fuzzy Lops. How many Fuzzies do you predict will be entered in the ARBA Convention in Del Mar? Leave a comment or send an email to me at hoploppitryatyahoodotcom (you know how to convert that email don't you? Read it and you will figure it out.). Leave your guess for the total number of open and youth American Fuzzy Lops by midnight tonight, October 12, for a chance to win a wonderful something at Convention. (Actually if you send the email to me before I wake up tomorrow morning that is soon enough! I won't be up at midnight making sure your email gets in under the wire.) This is not a joke--there will be a prize!

Carol

What's in a name?

2009-10-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

How do you name your rabbits? Some exhibitors have a theme, e.g. all Shakespeare characters or only the names of cars. Some use names that start with a certain letter, and then some of us run out of names and get tired of the effort so just call their show rabbits by their tatoo.

I give my rabbits names and I have a very exacting system -- "WOD" (whim of the day). Some Fuzzies just look like a "Tate" or "Lassen" or "Mollie" to me, so that's the name on the pedigree.

For example, below is AK's Vane. When I was trying to name her, I had just seen the movie "Stardust" (2007; watch it, if you haven't seen it. Fantastic! It is right up on my favorite movie list under "Princess Bride"). The female protagonist of Stardust is a star that has fallen to earth. She is beautiful, and has a certain attitude (well she is a star after all). She's found by a simple, handsome farm boy and the story (love story of course) continues from there in ways you can't predict. So what is her name? Yvaine. When I saw the little tort doe, I saw a star and a whole lot o'attitude, so her name became "Vane".

Last weekend, Vane lived up to the promise I had seen when she was little. She won Best in Show at Santa Rosa, CA! RBIS was Betty C's English Angora doe, Susie, and the judge was Manual H.
We are all looking foward to the ARBA Convention in a few weeks!

Another Best in Show

2009-10-01T06:57:00.001-07:00

I knew it was true and now the whole country must know it--there are some fabulous Fuzzy Lops in this country! Above is Burb's Jubilee, winner of Best in Show at the Utah State Fair, owned and bred by Nate Burbidge and Lou Towne. Congratulations!

Beautiful Fuzzy Lops

2009-09-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Dawn Guth shared these photos of her Fuzzies from the recent show in Ionia. Included are the winners and one future hopeful. Thank you Dawn!

A Rollercoaster of Emotions

2009-09-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

By Dawn Guth

The weekend up in Ionia, MI 9/5 – 9/6 was a rollercoaster of emotions. Other than Fair, this was my first weekend out showing since Brian’s passing. The five hour ride up had my mind just racing. I got there and Molly English and Kay Pettengill were sights for sore eyes. I also met our new AFLRC District Five Director Kim Weems for the first time. I was supposed to meet Sarah Simakso on Friday night but didn’t bump into her until Sat. am in the ladies room. This weekend was her first time showing in Open. Welcome Sarah!

The Sat show went very well. Showing besides myself, there was Molly English, Kay Pettengill, Sherry Callen, Sarah Simakso and a nice German lady I haven’t seen in a few years named Gudron. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out! There were 40 some shown. Kim Weems judged Show A and she picked my BJD Bastet’s Fiona for BOB and my SJB Bastet’s Vinicio for BOS.

In the second show on Sat., Carla Wilson picked Jellico for BOB and my SSB for BOS. She went on to win Four Class and then Best in Show at 9:00 pm! Late … but go Jellico!

On Sunday, Gundron had gone home but we gained Margaret Wronski and Cathy Cordner. I went over to say hi and Cathy had gotten out this pretty Broken and was messing with it. I told her that sure looked like a nice rabbit, was it a Buck or a Doe? She replied saying it was Brian’s Diola, the 2008 ARBA Best of Breed Convention Winner. I am SO happy he’s with her. He’s VERY loved and VERY spoiled … as he should be.

So we head up to the first show under Brenda Dumas. There were over 50 shown. Cathy Cordner won BOV Solid with her home grown SSB and I won BOSV Solid with my SSD Bastet’s Farley. Diola and Jellico were up against the Jrs. for BOV/BOSV Broken. Talk about fighting back tears. Diola had won BOB and Jellico had won BOS at Convention last fall. Cathy and I both leaked at little even thought we were trying really hard not to. Seeing them sitting side by side like that eleven months later … whew … talk about a difficult moment. Jellico won BOV Broken and Diola won BOSV Broken. The Solids won it over the Brokens in the end.

The second show on Sunday was judged by Terry Fender. Jellico won BOB and Cathy Cordner won BOS with Brian’s Tonto. Jellico went on to win BIS in the Lop-A-Rama and then she won Top Lop. Go Jellico … again!

There weren’t many Youth exhibitors but Jamie Fry was out and showing and swept the weekend wins. Congrats Jamie!

It was good seeing everyone and the ride back seemed quicker than the ride there. The bunnies were all happy to be home and get settled back into their own cages, and me in my own bed. This coming weekend is a Triple in Painesville, OH and a Double Memorial Show for Brian in Washington, PA. I know both of these shows will be hard not having Brian there but us Fuzzy Folks have each other and I’m sure we’ll all shed some tears and then get down to business showing this fabulous breed, the American Fuzzy Lop.

A boy named Sue and a buck named Ellen

2009-08-10T20:55:00.001-07:00

Sometimes an error is made. Sometimes it turns out just fine despite the mistake. Nicole S owns Ellen, who is not a doe as you might assume, but a buck.

Fortunately this type of naming mistake, doesn't effect the self confidence of a rabbit. Ellen and Nicole S won BIS at the Between The Lakes show in Sheboygan, WI, back on July 12th. Meet Nicole S's beautiful buck, a new Best in Show winner! Congratulations to Nicole and her very masculine buck, Ellen.

First Best in Show is the Sweetest

2009-07-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

The judges are standing behind the show table a bit away so no one can hear what they are saying. You try to make out the words and wish you had studied "lip reading". They seem to glance repeated at your pride and joy, your Fuzzy Lop doe. In fact, they even smile when they look at her. Could it be? Are they going to pick your rabbit Best in Show?

And then the annoucement comes. Best in Show is the American Fuzzy Lop. Congratulations to Hayley Colwes, BIS winner at the Yuba Sutter Fair, July 25, 2009, with her doe, AK's Juicy.

Juicy is looking very unimpressed and Hayley has trophies as big as she is. Congratulations to both of you.

You know its a good day when....

2009-07-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Its a good day when the temperature is mild and you are at a rabbit show with friends. Its a good day when your daughter wants to show rabbits with you again, like the "old days". Its a good day when you get to judge Angoras, Dutch, Havanas and a bunch of other "favorites". But is a really really good day, when your rabbit wins Reserve Best in Show.

Carol G and her Fuzzy Buck, AK's Riley with the BIS winner Melissa M with a mini satin.

Then when you think it can't get better, your Fuzzy Lop doe wins Best in Show in the second show of the day! Carol G with AK's Vane.

Top it off with a report from a youth exhibitor that she won Best in Show at a northern Calfornia fair with AK's Juicy, and that is about as good as it can get for a rabbit exhibitor/breeder.

Well get a good night's sleep and get up tomorrow to groom, clean, and smile at those pretty bunnies!

Fun in the Sun

2009-07-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining and the pool is warm so.....it must be time for rabbit shows in the backyard! Sunday, July 5 was the 7th annual show in the Green's yard. The show started out Fuzzy Lops only, but over the years has grown to include Angoras and Jersey Woolys also.

This year our judges were Kimberly W from IL and Kevin S from AZ. There were ~60 open AFL and ~12 youth AFL entered. In Show A open, BOB winner was Marian S with her broken senior buck and BOS was Christina G with a solid senior buck. In Show B open, Adam & Carol G won BOB with a solid senior buck and BOS with a solid senior doe. In youth, Jenny H took BOB and BOS in both shows. Congratulations on the lovely rabbits and good wins!

Happy News!

2009-07-02T05:10:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't like a good love story? On June 13, 2009, Kelsey Huffman maried Tim Stover. Congratulations to Kelsey and Tim and Fuzzy Lop friends!

ps Does anyone think it is odd that we have a photo of Kelsey and her Fuzzy Lop rather than Kelsey and Tim? No? Neither do I!

Bubba Gump is the Best

2009-06-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

Is there anything more fun, more gratifying to a rabbit breeder than to win Best in Show with a rabbit that is home bred? Sure there is--winning Best in Show twice and Breeders Best all in one day! Congratulations are due to Jenny Henderson and her gorgeous Fuzzy Lop Buck, Bubba Gump, who took all the honors in Napa, CA last weekend.

Bubba, Jenny and judge, Leslie Tucker.
Bubba, Jenny and judge, Keelyn Hanlon.

Bubba was also the Best of Breed youth Fuzzy Lop at the 2008 ARBA Convention in Louisville, KY. In fact for those of you who attended, you may remember his "performance" on the Convention Best is Show table. Bubba really enjoyed the process and spent his time out of the coop trying to hop around the show table and visit the other rabbits! Great rabbit and great job Jenny!

Good Bye Our Friend

2009-06-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

Brian Hartzell (July 7, 1977-June 8, 2009) will be greatly missed. At the next show we attend, we will expect to see him judging or grooming his rabbits or just joking with other members at the next show we attend. He always strove for excellence.

Many of us had a wonderful time with him at the National show in Utah in April. Here are Brian and his mother, Sherry, posing with other club members.

His approach to life was to put all he could into everything he did.

Please consider donating to the AFLRC scholarship fund in Brian's memory. I am sure he would be pleased to support the education and future success of others. Send donations to Paula Grady, with checks made to AFLRC. Add a memo for the Lois Trump Youth Scholarship Fund, in memory of Brian Hartzell.

National Show News

2009-04-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

The National show was the first weekend of April in Farmington, UT. The show room was perfect. Look how bright and clear it was as Joey S evaluates the class winners in the open show.

Jan Savage, ID, made these wonderful awards.

Nate B, left, organized the show. Brian H, right, flew in from Ohio to attend. He won BOB and BOS in open. Stuart B won BOB and BOS in youth.

Two exhibitors from California, Marian S and Christina G are putting away their rabbits.

Muriel and I drove back to California and made a stop at Donner Pass. Its much easier to make it over the pass in an SUV than in a covered wagon!

The AFLRC National show was held the first weekend of April in Farmington, UT.

First day of Spring

2009-03-24T20:43:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, March 20, Fuzzy Lops and their friends came to Hanford, CA for a nice show.

In show A, Rachelle T won with her gorgeous juniors. BOB was a broken junior buck and BOSB was his sister, a broken junior doe.

In show B, Mary and Jenny H won BOB and BOSB. Its a good time when friends can split the wins!

Congratulations to both of you.
Adorable drawing provided by Mary and Jenny. Courtesy of www.laurinfamous.com/bun

A little sunshine

2009-03-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

In case you are snowed in or drenched in rain or just about fed up with winter, here's a bit of sunshine for you!

Also a reminder: submissions for Fuzzy Tales, the AFLRC newsletter are due now. Get those articles, photos and advertisements in to the editor. Contact me if you have questions.

Thanks!

Its just my job, ma'am

2009-02-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

So its time to go to a rabbit show. Does rain stop us? No way! Does traffic stop us? Of course not! Does getting lost stop us? Just slows us down. And its a good thing too. The rabbit show held Sunday in Santa Maria, CA was very fun. Santa Maria is known for its tri-tip barbeque. If you haven't had tri-tip then you need to "tri" it.

But the show wasn't about food, it was rabbits and friends. Our favorite Fuzzy Lop judge, Allen M is picking Best of Breed in Show A.

Our new friend, Cole, is showing off his fuzzy friend who licks him like a puppy. Aren't Fuzzies (and little kids) just the cutest.

Carol G and her Fuzzy Lop, AK's Graham are beaming because Graham was picked Reserve in Show. See that cool plaque? Its has the logo picture for the upcoming ARBA Convention in San Diego. I can hardly wait to see the Convention awards.

Aw shucks, says Graham. I know I'm gorgeous. Its just my job.

Be sure to send more pictures and show reports to me (or you will just have to see my pictures over and over again!)

Barn Blind or Just Plain Can't See?

2009-02-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

The phrase "barn blind" is used when an exhibitor just can't really see their own animals. Usually it means you can't see the faults, but it seems to me that it could also mean the opposite--that you don't appreciate the strengths in your herd either.

Last weekend I was going to a show and had entered eight rabbits. I had also been asked to bring a class of four rabbits for a youth judging contest. So Friday night after work I was going through my rabbits to find four who would behave themselves (no nipping or grunting at the kids please). I also wanted to find a class that required minimal grooming on my part; afterall it was late and I wanted to focus on the rabbits that were entered in the show. Well guess what I found in the bottom row of cages? See the picture at the top of this post. That's AK's Parker, a broken sable point doe who hadn't been to a show in months. She looked great! Who knew? I realized she was in better condition that the other three broken senior does I had entered in the show, so I switched her with one of the does I had planned to show. At the show the judges agreed with me, because Parker won Best of Breed!

Remember bend over and look at those bottom cages. There might be something good in there.

In need of mittens

2009-01-18T13:03:00.001-08:00

Last post, I told you how to make yarn from your Fuzzy Lop wool. Well this post should provide patterns for making mittens, hats, scarfs, and more to keep warm. Much of the country is unbelievable cold and snowy. Muriel K says a tree is down in her front yard and its COLD (she lives in Oregon where bad weather is generally held off by the Pacific Ocean.) Sherry C sends the photos in this post from Michigan. At least we expect winter weather in January in Michigan.

Below is a lovely coconut cake on a platter. No? Maybe you are right. That must be something else. Read on to see what Sherry has to say:

"The coconut cake on a stand is actually my taller birdbath about 15-18" standing on the ground. And the windchill is so low it could freeze a dog to a hydrant...-26 windchill yesterday! Needless to say the pet goose in in the garage and is so used to the trip through the kitchen she will walk it by herself...my escape cat dove out the open door today to chase a sparrow and when he hit the snow he literally flew back inside. Well, I should go down to the mailbox, but I'm having trouble motivating myself...those of you who have been here understand...those who have not my trip to the mailbox is a long walk! Keep warm and pray for us in MI to get some warmer air!"

All of us who live in the heat wave part of the country (its 70 deg in California today) are thinking of those of you who are in the new ice age. Stay inside (except when you have to feed and water animals), snuggle under the blankets and think warm thoughts.

Its Good to be Green

2009-01-05T07:10:00.001-08:00

Are you thinking more about recycling and reusing then ever before? With concerns about the economy and the environment, we see how important it is to live "green". So how about our rabbit hobby; can we be more efficient and recycle there too? One obvious way is to compost the rabbit manure. It is a great natural fertilizer and can be used "straight" on plants. But what can we do with all that wool? Can it find a new purpose other than lining bird nests?

Without making a significant effort, I have collected about 2-3 lb of mixed colors of wool from my Fuzzies in the past 6 months. So yesterday, I decided to make yarn. Below is my spinning wheel set up all ready to go. My fiber is on the floor in a bag and I have a trash bag on the chair for little bits of hay and other undesirables found in the fiber while spinning. The wheel is a Schacht Matchless double drive. I also have an electric Babe spinning wheel and a small portable wheel (Louet Victoria), but I like this one for most work at home. Its fast, quiet and comfortable to use. Cat draped over the back of the chair is optional.
Here is part of my Fuzzy Lop fiber stash. I keep a basket or trash bag in the barn and add clean wool to it as I groom. I don't separate colors because I really wouldn't have enough of each, so this is a mix of white, tort, black, and sable point.

Fuzzy Lop wool has more guard hairs than angora wool, especially English Angora which is very soft. I started spinning wool directly from the basket, but it seemed that the guard hairs were very prominent and I had more knots than I liked. My goal was to spin a rustic yarn, with thick and thin spots (good thing that was my goal because I'm not great at spinning and can't spin smooth yarn anyway!). So I used hand carders to break apart some of the mats and mix in the guard hairs. Below is a spindle of "singles", the first step of producing a two ply yarn.

Aren't the colors pretty? In the middle, you see some black and at the ends there is tort mixed with white and sable point. Once I had two spindles full of singles, I plied them, which means I put them back through the spinning wheel to twist the two plies togehter. Below is the finished yarn, soaking in cold water with a gentle soap.

To finish the yarn, I squeezed out the water, whacked it on the counter top a few times to set the twist, and let it dry.

And here is the finished product! Its about 2.75 oz and 100 yd of yarn ready to be knit into a nice warm hat or pair of mittens. This is much better than just putting the wool in the land fill!

Happy Holidays?

2008-12-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

Is your shopping done? Are the cookies baked? Have you nestled the packages under the tree? Have you shoved aside anyone to get that last Ninentendo Wii at Target yet? Is it me or are people turning into cranky mean old Scooges this year? Last week, I let someone in the checkout line ahead of me. I thought that was a nice thing to do, and while I was in a big hurry, I could wait 2 more minutes. Well the lady in line behind me, didn't seem to agree. When I was a bit slow to respond to the clerk beckoning me to take my turn, she said "Hey!" and whacked me too hard with her armload of books! Huh? I started to say something, like "well Merry Christmas to you too.", but thought better of it.

I saw more of the same behavior this weekend. Yesterday my daughter and I had to go to the mall, oh terror of terrors, to get a few last minute things (actually I have to go today without Kendall for the last minute things but that is a different story). We tried to stay happy and Christmasy but when we couldn't find anything "healthy" to eat at the mall (yeah, I don't know why this surprised us either), and a little old man shoved us away from the mall directory so he could get a look, we decided it was time to go home. We baked cookies, wrapped our presents and watched some quality holiday television and our moods changed for the better.

Moral of this story: Please don't smack me with books at Keplers bookstore in Menlo Park. And shopping and all the other activities that take our time is necessary, but reserve most of your time to spend with your family and friends during the holiday.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and may you have a wonderful holiday season!

Fuzzy Lops on the Show Table

2008-12-11T06:33:00.001-08:00

Fuzzies were successful at shows all over the world last weekend. I attended a show in Yuba City, CA on Saturday, Dec 6. We had about 25 Fuzzies and overall a good show. But when I got home my email was loaded with really good news from other places. Yumiko wrote to me from Japan to report that her Fuzzy Lop doe, AK's Ireland won Reserve Best in Show at the Nippon Rabbit Club show. Ruth and Anna Dapper, judges, pose below with Yumiko and her beautiful rabbit.

But that wasn't all. At the Southern Pride Rabbit show on Saturday, Jennifer Burns also won Reserve Best in Show with a solid senior buck in open and Rose Garrison won Reserve Best in Show with a broken senior doe in youth. Wow! Congratulations to all of you. Now let's see if we can all do it again this weekend. Good luck at the shows to everyone.

Longest Day of the Year

2008-11-21T05:59:00.001-08:00

I bet you think the longest day of the year is the first day of summer. Well for 2008 you are wrong! This year the longest day was Monday, October 27, first day of judging at the ARBA Convention in Louisville.

Fuzzy Lops were scheduled to start judging, both open and youth, at 8 am. So the show room was buzzing by 6 am when it opened. At least those of us with wool breeds were there early. I got up at 5 am because I had so many rabbits to groom before starting to judge. But it was a case of hurry up and wait, when we learned that no judging tables had been assigned to Fuzzies. We had to wait until 500+ Jersey Woolys were done. Yikes!

It wasn't long until we all felt like this guy--let us get on the show table! We came here to show rabbits! Around 2 pm we located an empty judging table with 12 coops and no holding coops for youth Fuzzies. Far from ideal but the kids, rabbits, parents, helpers and judge were all ready to go. Around 4 pm, judging tables were available to start judging of the open Fuzzy Lops.

Some gorgeous broken senior bucks have been placed in the holding coops. These guys ended up in the top 5 of the class. Lookin' good guys!

Melissa M (CA) and Scott W (CO) are comparing the class winners to select variety and then BOB and BOS. By this time it was past midnight. The judges are looking pretty happy considering the hour, aren't they?

The youth winners pose with their judge. Pictured: Jamie F and her solid junior doe (BOSB), Carol G (judge), and Jenny H with her broken senior buck (BOB).

Open winners pictured with smiles (are they happy to win or glad that the day is finally over?). Pictured: Dawn G with her broken senior doe (BOSB), Melissa M (judge), Scott W (judge), and Brian H with his broken senior buck (BOB).

Show day was long and tiring but it was still a fantastic experience. I have never seen such a hard working, even tempered group of exhibitors. Everyone pitched in and worked hard to keep the rabbits carried to the table and the show running smoothly. Thank you to everyone! Great day....now get some rest!

Convention Day 2

2008-11-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

OK, so I admit the title to this post lacks creativity. Well the second day (Sunday) that I was at Convention was a day for re-grouping. We reconnected with old friends. Below is Amy Arata and her son Jake, along with Marilyn Kohler. They are sitting in the AFLRC booth which was fabulous! Jennifer Burns planned and put it together, along with help collecting old photos from Ginger Mendat and Helen Moore. Wow! What a great job!

It was a day for selling rabbits and talking to Fuzzy Lop fans from all over the country and world. Yumiko from Japan bought the cute sable point buck and they both pose with me for a photo.

It was a day for getting the rabbits settled, getting all our entries fed, watered and groomed. Brian brought his second group of rabbits to Convention on Sunday and starting grooming as soon as they were all cooped. No one can claim he doesn't work hard on his rabbits. More coming tomorrow. If you have photos from Convention, please send them to me by email. I would love more pictures of week to share.

Off to the Races

2008-11-06T06:08:00.001-08:00

This is the story of traveling from California to the ARBA Convention in Louisville, KY. I doubt that a major military invasion requires more planning than this trip. Months ago we started checking flights and airfares looking for the best deal. Tickets were purchased and crate space for rabbits was reserved and paid in March. That turned out to be a brilliant move because the price per crate increased from March to October when we flew from $150/crate to $275/crate each way!

Several of us left San Francisco on the same flight to Atlanta. In total we had the rabbits for at least 6 exhibitors on our flight. You can imagine how happy the Delta staff were to see us when we showed up at the airport ~3:30 - 4 am. Now you know why Jenny, Susie, and Katie look so sleepy in the photo below (plus there was some story about noisy traffic that kept them awake but I bet they were just excited!).

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6 am (and it did by the way. Yeah Delta!), but we knew we needed to be at the airport extra early to be sure everything was done on time. When you fly with rabbits as excess baggage, there are extra forms to complete and lots of stickers to go on the crates. The agents at the Delta desk are nearly always pleasant, but still hassled. Some of them know what to do with the rabbits and some don't. Plus it is necessary to get those rabbits through security and they don't just hop through the scanner. There is just no way to predict exactly what will happen and how long it will take. When you fly with your rabbits to a show, everything works out in the end 99% of the time. But when you fly with your rabbits, something you didn't expect happens 99% of the time!

The punch line to this story is that we made it to Louisville on time with all the rabbits. Some of the rabbits were heat stressed when we arrived which hasn't happened before in my experience (that is the thing that fell in the 99% unexpected). We are talking to Delta about that. All of the rabbits recovered and there was no permanent effect (remember 99% of the time all ends well).

Congratulations America!

2008-11-05T06:27:00.000-08:00

Please humor me. This post has nothing to do with American Fuzzy Lop rabbits. It has everything to do with the national election we held yesterday.

Whether your candidate won or not, whether you agreed with the propositions that passed or failed, you have to feel a huge swell of pride to be a citizen of the United States this morning. It has been a long time, too long really, since we have seen such enthusiasm and excitement about our country. We had a Presidential election that brought the younger generations out to vote. Old timers like me voted with passion also. "Diversity" wasn't just a catch phrase that was applied to our serious candidates; it was a fact. The campaign itself was long and hard fought, but we saw Senator McCain give a gracious speech admitting defeat and offering to support our new President's administration. (Make some notes about that speech in your good sportsmanship/loser notebook for future reference.)

I'm not so naive to imagine the problems facing America--terrorism, economic decline, environmental damage, international stability--have vanished simply because we elected a new President who is charismatic and intelligent. But I do buy into President-elect Obama's mantra of "Yes we can". The exciting thing is that so many other American also believe that we can make a difference. I grew up being told that this is a nation that holds out possibility for success to everyone, no matter what their race, social or economic status. Thanks so much fellow Americans for voting yesterday to support that premise.

Come back tomorrow for photos and reports on the ARBA Convention in Louisville.

You will want these rabbits!

2008-10-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

Convention raffle trio is donated this year by three "pairs" of exhibitors who all live in the west. These three Fuzzy Lops should work together very well for someone who wants to get a start in Fuzzies, take their lines in a new direction, or just bump their game up a notch.

First this pretty girl is from Muriel Keyes and Diana Keefe from Oregon. The doe has one junior leg, very nice body and head.

Next up is a solid doe donated by Nate Burbidge and Lou Towne of Utah. This is Burb's Karma. She also has one junior leg and her sire is from the Greens so she is definitely a good match to the buck.

And here is the man of the house, AK's Cody from Adam and Carol Green. He is a really gorgeous solid sable point buck. This photo is a couple of weeks old and he has bloomed since it was taken. Wow the wool on this guy is beautiful!

Be sure to look up our trio at Convention and buy plenty of tickets, at $2/each or 15 tickets for $20. The winner will be selected at the AFLRC Awards Banquet to be held next Wednesday in Louisville.

See ya soon!

Start 'em young

2008-10-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

If you have read the Autumn issue of Fuzzy Tales, then you know I am on a mission to get more youth involved in our club and to keep them interested in rabbits in general and Fuzzies in particular. Well young Mr. Burbidge is on the right track! At 2 yr old he is wielding the hose and helping his dad clean cages. Hey Parker, I could use some of that kind of help at my house. And the pay is good too. How about a fresh chocolate chip cookie?

Thanks Nate and Lisa for the photo. You made our day!

Sold! To the woman with blobs of wool on her shirt!

2008-10-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

Its time to show your colors this year at Convention (and I don't mean "red" or "blue"). Your club, AFLRC, is only as good as the members, and that is you! We need your support at our Convention fundraisers.

First, we are raffling a gorgeous hand sewn quilt to start a scholarship fund honoring Lois Trump. We are probably a few thousand dollars away from awarding a scholarship, so please buy tickets to help us get this worthy cause off the ground.

Next we will be holding a rabbit auction, proceeds split 50/50 between AFLRC and seller, although you can certainly decide to donate the entire amount to the club. These auctions have been enormously successful for other breed clubs. Last year, I watched the Jersey Wooly club have a great time with their Convention auction. Dawn Guth told me that she donated a lionhead to their club auction once that sold for more than $1000. Whooeee!

Deb Levisay generously volunteered to organize our silent rabbit auction. She has planned the procedures which are briefly outlined below, but if you have other questions, please contact her and ask.

If you want to donate a rabbit:

Come to the AFLRC booth at Convention and complete an Auction Seller's Sheet, which asks for information on the rabbit and its care, coop number, and the starting bid ($50 is recommended but the seller may specify higher or lower)
Turn in the seller's form, completed sales slip and the rabbit's pedigree, which will be placed in a binder at the booth for buyers to peruse.
Pick up a auction tag and place it on the rabbit's cage.
Rabbits may be entered in the auction from the start of Convention to end of the day Tuesday.
A bid sheet will be prepared for each rabbit entered in the auction and these will also be kept at the AFLRC booth.
Seller must transfer the rabbit to and from the examination area for the actual auction on Wednesday afternoon.

If you want to buy a rabbit:

Review the pedigrees and Seller's Sheets at the AFLRC booth
Do not remove a rabbit entered in the auction from its coop without the owners permission prior to the completion of judging on Monday. Open examination time will be held Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday, immediately following the Awards Banquet, the auction rabbits will be moved to judging coops by the seller and will be available for examination. We expect the time for this will be ~3 to 4 pm, but check the club booth for up-to-date information. Bidding will close at 4 pm.
Winning bidder must pay AFLRC treasurer, Paula Grady, immediately at the close of bidding. Paula will be available at rabbit auction area to collect. Sellers will receive their money within one week of the auction by mail.

Doesn't this sound like fun! Please be sure to donate a nice rabbit. Also do your part to help the youth of AFLRC--Bid high and bid often!

Ready Set Go to Louisville

2008-10-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Two weeks from today, the ARBA Convention will be underway, with judging starting Monday morning. Fuzzies will be one of the starting breeds. There are many other activities in addition to showing our animals so here are a few things to remember as you are packing to attend the Louisville convention. Details on the membership meeting and Awards banquet are on the AFLRC website http://users.connections.net/fuzzylop/. Fuzzy Tales, Autumn 2008 is also in the mail and you should receive your copy this week.

Meetings and Banquet

General membership meeting on Tuesday, 10:30 am, followed by meeting of Youth and their supporters
Awards Banquet, Wednesday, 11 am. Tickets are $20/person. Send payment to Paula Grady. See club website or Autumn 2008 Fuzzy Tales for details

Auctions and Raffles--Not Rabbits

Raffle at AFLRC booth--plan to bring a donation for the raffle
Quilt raffle. This beautiful quilt was made to start a youth scholarship fund in memory of Lois Trump, who was a great supporter of youth participation in the rabbit hobby. Tickets can be purchased at Convention or by mailing entry to Paula Grady.
Auction at the Awards Banquet. This event is always a huge amount of fun, if only to watch Brian H perform as auctioneer! The moneys from this raffle are used to buy awards for the spring AFLRC National show. Please bring a donation for the auction.

Auction and Raffle--Rabbits!

Raffle trio. We have a fabulous trio donated. Early next week, I'll post photos of all three rabbits--there is a broken doe from Keyes/Keefe, solid doe from Burbidge/Towne and a buck from the Greens. This looks like an amazing trio. So far both does have won GC legs. The buck is still busy trying to grow wool so hasn't attended a show yet.
Rabbit Auction. This year we are holding a silent auction for rabbits with sales price split 50:50 with AFLRC and the seller. Sign up to sell a Fuzzy at the AFLRC booth. Bids will be accepted throughout the week with the final viewing of the rabbits immediately following the Banquet on Wednesday. Bidding will close mid-afternoon on Wednesday. This is a great opportunity for you to take home some wonderful rabbits if you don't win the trio!

Back to our regularly scheduled program

2008-10-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

The boys have been busy growing their coats here at Casa Verde. Look at Camden! Its a big improvement. His wool is even, though short. Still it was good enough to attend a show last weekend without causing huge embarrassment for his owner (that's me).

Look at his wool when I blow into his coat, dense fresh wool! Its looking very nice.

Cadet has also made big improvements. His wool still looks uneven from the side. You can see new wool still needs to be longer especially over his flanks. There is time still (says Ever Hopeful Exhibitor).
Cadet does have a very nice looking head. It sure makes a difference in the width of the head when it has wool on it.

I'll post one more update on our boys Cadet and Camden just before Convention and photos of them at Convention. Remember we started watching them grow wool (yes it is very similar to watching paint dry) in late August. Patience patience patience is the key.

Just a brief break from our feature story

2008-10-05T07:05:00.001-07:00

Can you believe it? Some of our members are interested in something besides American Fuzzy Lops? At least its another critter with wool! Here are photos of the Eureka Mohair Team at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival last weekend showing mohair goats, Muriel K, Allen M, and Eric Stewart.

Its a Numbers Game

2008-10-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

The numbers of Fuzzies entered at this year's ARBA Convention in Louisville have been posted. I love numbers (sorry if you don't share my enthusiasm for math), so I started wondering how this years entry numbers compare to past years. Remember this is the 20th Convention at which Fuzzies have been shown as a recognized breed. So below are the numbers (unofficial because they were collected from old Fuzzy Tales and the Guidebook.).

20 Years of AFL Shown at ARBA Conventions

You can see that the number entered in open is up at the top with Indianapolis in 2005. That makes since since Louisville and Indianapolis are only ~100 mi apart so similar numbers of exhibitors should make it to the show. The peak in numbers for youth in the past has been around 200 Fuzzies and has occurred at the Conventions held in Indianapolis (2005), Louisville (1999), and Columbus (2000). I'm surprised and disappointed to see the low youth entries for this year as a result.

Gotta Love a Best in Show Fuzzy Lop

2008-09-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

Someone was just a little excited when I received an email yesterday. Deb Levisay wrote the report on her show in Yankton, South Dakota on Sept 27th. In Show A, her broken senior buck, Tim won BOB and then was reserve best 4 class. Well Tim thought he could do better than that! So in show B, he pulled out the stops and was best 4 class, then was selected Best in Show.

Keefe/Keyes Timothy is owned by Deb Levisay and was bred by Diana Keefe and Muriel Keyes. Tim is registered and currently has 11 grand champion legs earned under 9 different judges. Deb writes that he is not only a good looking little guy, but very personable too!

Congratulations to Deb, Diana, and Muriel!

Age is just a number

2008-09-23T08:33:00.001-07:00

Pet rabbit owners often ask "How long do rabbits live?" Well there's a wide range of life spans in humans and the same is true of rabbits. Some are old at 4 and others live to be 12. I remember a rabbit that lived in a 1st grade school room; he was 13 when he died. I guess all that attention from busy curious 6 year old kids kept him young.

When it comes to show rabbits, the question is often how long can a rabbit be successfully shown. Well that depends also! In general bucks have a longer show career than does, partly because we need the does to be producing the next generation, but also because American Fuzzy Lop bucks need some maturity to get the best head development. Senior bucks are typically at their show prime from 1.5 - 4 yr of age.

Look at this guy below. Its AK's Buckeye. This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago when I pulled him out of his cage and discovered he had found the fountain of youth. Buckeye is 6 years old! Buckeye looks good, feels good, and is doing all the things a young American Fuzzy Lop should be doing.

So Buckeye and I went to a rabbit show last weekend. He placed in the top 5 of his class and just generally stood up for old guys everywhere.

So don't forget to check those cages of your old favorites. They may be ready to make you proud on the show table one more time.

Its Karma!

2008-09-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

This lovely girl is Doe # 2 of the trio that will be raffled at Convention. She's donated by Nate Burbidge and Lou Towne. Her name is Burb's Karma. Her mother is a grand champion American Fuzzy Lop, Burb's Hattie Mae and her sire is AK's Cruzer. The other doe in the trio, donated by Muriel Keyes and Diana Keefe, was pictured a couple of weeks ago on this blog,http://aflrc.blogspot.com/2008/09/showtime.html

Sherry Callen sent an email describing her experience last weekend as she traveled to a show in northern Indiana. Did anyone tell her that's is a bad idea to show rabbits during a hurricane?

Sher says: Went to a show yesterday and what a day...one of those like Muriel has shared with us. I left and it was raining, but not bad. I hit the highway and down came the monsoon or should I say hurricane Ike's leftovers. Couldn't see anything and of course the exit I wanted was closed and one had to drive a circle which led me to the detour exit behind a truck in the rain and I missed it. Th good luck was that I was still near enough home to know an alternate route. Kept going but beginning to wonder why, especially as my old rabbit wagon started to hydroplane every so often. Now I like a good slide in a parking lot on snow and ice when no one is around, but not at 45-50 MPH on the highway usually behind a semi. And it didn't get better as Ike just kept raining. Really wondering if I was making a mistake. Finally, made it to South Bend but not before missing another exit and getting lost making the usually easy 1 1/2 hr drive considerably longer and it just kept raining. Got there in time to enter and was very pleased to see Cindy Decker as I had missed seeing all my friends at the last show...couldn't make that one. Now it was time to move bunnies into the barn...yeah right. Since I was late I had to park in the grass which was now getting soft and 6" of mud and a large pond had developed behind my van, because it just kept raining. No way I could use the cart so I started swimming the carriers across and into the barn. Even entering got interesting as the doorway was flooding and they had to drop two wooden stall gates for us to walk on to cross over the 5 " deep puddle. And, you got it...it just kept raining! Finally, got everything in and guess what ...then it finally stopped raining...wouldn't you figure. Well, I decided to run to the rest room and as I was walking out the door, Ron Riddle laughed and pointed out that the water behind the barn was so deep the kids were swimming in it. I turned to look and sure enough a little girl was actually SWIMMING in the water caught behind the barn. Now granted she was only about four years old, but she was on her belly doing the crawl in the water! As the day proceeded the show went on without much trouble and we all had a good time. Then as we were loading up...uh-huh...it started raining!

Well at least Sherry made it home safe. I guess its just "Karma".

Lady Benedict has a GOOD Weekend

2008-09-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

A great show weekend that District 8 folks always look forward to was held last weekend in Ionia, MI. There were open and youth shows on Saturday and Sunday including a Lop-O-Rama on Sunday. Here are a bunch of friendly faces, those open Fuzzy Lop exhibitors having fun with the judge.

Cindy D and Dawn G pose with their winners from one show. (The showroom looks awesome by the way)

Jamie F also had a great weekend and is posing with one of her winning Fuzzy Lops.
Results:

Show A, Doug Covert, judge

Open: BOB, SSD, Dawn G; BOSB, SSB, Laura G.; Youth: BOB & BOSB, Jamie F.

Show B, Thomas Green, judge

Open: BOB, SSD, Dawn G; BOSB, BSB, Kathi C

Youth: BOB & BOSB, Jamie F

Sunday show, Theres Kristen, judge

Open: BOB, SSD, Dawn G; BOSB, SSB, Cindy D

Youth: BOB & BOSB, Jamie F

Lop-O-Rama, Gene Johnson, judge

Open: SSD, Dawn G; BOSB, Laura G, SSB

Youth: BOB & BOSB, Jamie F

Below is the photo of the "lady" of the weekend. Dawn's solid senior doe, Lady Benedict won BOB in all four shows. She also Best Four Class in show A by Molly Covert, Open Top Lop (Terry Fender, judge) and Overall Top Lop (Willis Plank). Jamie F had a great weekend with her Fuzzies also, winning BOB and BOSB in all four youth shows. Congratulations!

Now its almost time to hop on the Lop Bus and head south for the ARBA Convention. Bring those beautiful Fuzzies to Louisville in October.

Showtime

2008-09-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

Crescent City, CA is on the coast in the northern most corner of the state. That puts it about half way between Portland, OR and the San Francisco, CA, or 400 mi from each of these cities. On Labor Day weekend, the California Rabbit Shows holds 5 shows there. These shows are the perfect meeting grounds for District 1 and 2 friends, so Muriel and I have gone for the past two years. Typically the shows are small but that's alright, because we can show rabbits and then finish early to enjoy the beauty of the coast and the redwood trees.

This is the Crescent City coastline and light house. In 1964, a tsunami hit Crescent City. I kept watching the ocean to make sure no extra large waves were coming my way.

The pretty girl won BOB in Show A. She is owned, for now, by Muriel K and Diana K, but they are donating her to the trio that will be raffled at Convention. Be sure to buy your tickets!

Marian S is one of our newer exhibitors in District 2 and she braved the traffic to come to CC. We had a great time chatting and looking at bunnies, but it was also well worth the drive to Marian when her senior broken buck took BOSB in one show and her junior broken buck was BOSB in another.

Carol & Adam G's broken doe won BOB three times, and she was selected RBIS once and BIS once.

It was a great weekend. If you live in District 1 or 2, consider a drive to the CA coast next year.

More lack of wool

2008-09-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

When I posted the photos of my molting bucks, I got more responses than I ever have to a blog post. The typical email read "oh thank you thank you thank you for posting those pictures. I thought my rabbits were the only ones that looked so bad." Uh, glad to help, I guess. As they say misery loves company. Everyone is wondering what to do and when the rabbits will look good again. One suggestion came from an experienced Fuzzy Lop breeder, who says she is singing "grow grow grow you wool" (to the tune of Row your Boat) daily. Other suggestions included putting the bunnies in a dark corner and not looking at them, feeding them less, feeding them more, and regular grooming sessions. Although I have been tempted by the "close my eyes while feeding so I can't see the rabbits" option, I found that I was spilling too much food on the floor. Instead, we are going to look at these rabbits and decide, has there been any improvement?

So here is Camden. When last we left him, he had a bit of the unicorn look on his head and a lovely skirt of wool around the base. I think this is a thumbs up for improvement. He now has new wool, growing more or less evenly on the head, and nearly all the old wool has been plucked out.

Cadet is looking better too, although his wool is very uneven (see his sides). Both bucks were groomed with a blower today to get rid of loose wool, and a few spots of dead wool were plucked. Cadet also got another dose of Ivomec. Both are eating very well, so there is hope!

Not that Convention

2008-09-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

Many of you are probably focused on the upcoming ARBA Convention. Afterall entries are due in a couple of weeks and the show itself is less than 2 month away. Well in case you have been living in a cave, there have been a couple of other Conventions held during the past couple weeks, and neither of them had anything do with rabbits.

Photo 1 was taken at the Democratic Convention in Denver and shows Barack Obama making his acceptance speech. The photos were taken by Marc (Photo 2), son of our club secretary, Muriel. And Marc was at the DNC because his wife, Hope (Photo 3) works for James Clyburn of SC, the majority whip of the House of Representative. The last picture shows the hoopla that followed Obama's speech.

I don't mean to be favoring one candidate over the other, so if anyone has pictures of the Republicans, senf 'em on!

Oh where has the wool gone?

2008-08-24T19:26:00.001-07:00

I was grooming rabbits today, trying to decide what to enter in next week endend's show. Photo #1 shows one of my bucks, Camden. Oh my, I am so proud! Are your rabbits doing the same thing? I touched him and handfuls of wool came out. Photo #2 shows Camden when grooming was complete (no I did't enter him in the show). His head is particularly attractive, isn't it? Camden isn't alone is his "beauty". Check out, Cadet, in Photo #3. He isn't quite as bare, although his head is similar, and his wool is terribly uneven.

I have always wondered how long it takes to get wool from that awful state to a fresh, even, lovely coat of wool (see Purdue in Photo #4. Now that is more like it!). I will take pictures of these three bucks and post them to the blog every 1 to 2 weeks, and we will watch them change together. All three were groomed using a blower and comb today. All three bucks were also treated with ivermectin this weekend. What do you think? How long will be required for Camden and Cadet get good wool? And in that time will Purdue's wool go down hill?

If you want to take part in this experiment, then get our your camera and start recording. Let me know what you discover, since I expect the time to primed coat to be different, depending on genetics, as well as the environment.

Stuffed with animals

2008-08-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

If you like animals, then Alaska is the place for you. Below is a musk ox. These are some odd looking critters. They are raised now in farms in Alaska. The musk ox are combed to collect the underwool which is spun into yarn that is softer than cashmere (and more expensive too).

We saw a bear who was busy eating berries. Alaska in the summer is bear paradise. Not only are there wild berries everywhere, the salmon fill the streams. I read that bears may catch and eat 8 or more salmon per hour!
Not to be outdone, the bays are full of animals too. This is a Stellar sea lion. While on a cruise of Prince William Sound we saw an area with more than 100 young males, just hanging out, sort of a fraternity house for sea lions.
Don't forget the whales. I saw a mother and her calf in Prince William Sound (mom's fluke is below). While Jim was kayaking, he had a whale come within 10 ft of his boat, then dive and swim underneath. In case, you don't realize, a humpback whale is more than 40 ft in length, and Jim is quite a bit shorter than that.
I love this shot of Prince William Sound from the salmon hatchery. There are so many gorgeous mountains and water views in Alaska!
Hope you enjoyed my summer vacation.

Not just waterfalls, but also ice

2008-08-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Maybe we didn't travel to somewhere warm. Check out the ice! I don't think Hawaii or Tahiti have glaciers that come down to the waters edge,

or huge ice flows in any of the bays.
Here is Jim G kayaking up to the edge of Columbia Glacier, the second largest tidewater glacier in...
Alaska! What a gorgeous place. We traveled about 900 mi over 8 days and saw just a tiny slice of the 49th state.
I didn't kayak (water, yuck), but loved the ferry ride through Prince William Sound from Valdez to Whittier.

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

2008-08-10T09:55:00.001-07:00

One guess--where have I been for the past week? There are totem poles,

water falls running into rivers,
more water falls running into bays,
more water falls.

What do you think? Is it Hawaii? Tahiti? Definitely somewhere hot, right?

Wool Galore

2008-08-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

Rabbit shows are generally held as stand-alone events, but some times they are combined with fairs. In July, we had another option when we held three specialty shows for Angoras, Jersey Woolys, and American Fuzzy Lops at a fiber festival, Lambtown USA in Dixon, CA. In case you aren't familiar with fiber festivals, its an event for all things wooly--lots of lamb to eat, sheep to admire (while being judged), fleece to buy, spinning contests and more. Other wooled animals are usually included too like alpacas, angora goats (that produce mohair) and of course, wooled rabbits.

Setting up the rabbits in the coops for judging.

You may know Allen M and Randy S for their rabbits and judging, but they are equally accomplished with their angora goats, which produce mohair. Here is Allen carding mohair locks at his booth where he is selling his fleece. Some potential buyers are examining sheep fleece and considering a purchase. These are hard core fiber addicts who will wash the fleece, process and hand spin it into wool for knitting or weaving.

Ah yes, and Tausha demonstrates one more aspect of the fiber festival--eating! There was great food ranging from the traditional corn dog to rice bowls with lamb in teriyaki sauce. Yum!

Show results:

Randy S, judge: BOB, Broken sr buck, A & C Green; BOSB, Solid sr doe, A & C Green

Allen M, judge: BOB, Solid sr doe, A & C Green; BOSB, Broken sr buck, A & C Green

Carol G, judge: BOB, Broken sr buck, J Henderson; BOSB, Solid jr doe, B & K Tapp

You Otter be in Pictures

2008-07-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

At the ARBA Convention this October in Louisville, the otter variety will be presented to the Standards committee by Marilyn K of WI for consideration. The process for getting a new variety recognized by ARBA is long and difficult, to assure that only varieties which breed true and are of high quality are accepted. If Marilyn's presentation passes this year, she will need to present (and pass) at least two more times. The earliest that otter Fuzzies would be recognized for show would be February 2011.

But don't give up! Otter Fuzzy Lops are really very handsome, as shown by the cute junior black otter buck pictured above (from Nate B in Utah). Most of us don't have the room or money to keep large numbers of unrecognized varieties, but otters will be accepted in Fuzzies if we work on the variety and support their acceptance.

How is that for a nice big head! This good lookin' fellow lives in California with Carol G.
Blue otters will also be included in working standard for otter Fuzzies. The buck pictured above lives in IA with Deb L.

The latest issue of FT reprints articles about breeding otter Fuzzies and the genetics involved. Look it over and be sure to support Marilyn's efforts to get this variety recognized.

Make way for ducklings

2008-07-17T06:04:00.001-07:00

Do you remember the children's book called "Make Way for Ducklings"? I read it to my kids and they loved it (or at least I loved it). Well here is the real life version. It was late and I was out turning off the rabbit barn lights, when I realized the dog was fascinated by something in the swimming pool. I could see a brown object floating and thought it was just a bunch of leaves but then I realized it was moving "purposefully". Here is what I saw:

Can you make it out? A mother duck and 10 ducklings were swimming happily at 9 pm in my backyard "pond"! The ducklings were so small they couldn't fly yet, but were great swimmers.

The next morning they were still in the pool. The mother occasioally got out of the water, and at first the babies were too small to jump up over the edge. Eventually they all figured out how to get out of the water. This led to a near disaster when our Persian cat, Elmo, decided to be a "hunter" and chased the ducks. Mama feigned a broken wing to distract him, and the babies took off. Unfortunately, some babies headed under a gate, some fell into a drain, while others hid under a bush. Human intervention (ie Green family to the rescue) brought all babies back and fought of the "killer cat" (who can't actually even kill a flea) and the duck family was reunited.

The next day, Mama and kids all disappeared as quickly as they arrived!

Who can explain this picture

2008-07-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

Now I am pretty sure that is our club secretary, Muriel in the photo. It was sent to me by an anonymous informer. The question is: why is Muriel now dressed in garb more suited to Shakespeare than modern times?

The curious want to know!

And that's a wrap on the 2007-08 show season

2008-07-06T16:15:00.001-07:00

The last show of the season in Utah was held at Woodland, a town near Park City. Nate B and Lou T won BOB and BOS in both shows and RBIS in one of the shows.

Lou and the "big winner". What a trophy!
Nate, Lou and Joey S pose with the winners.
Lou, Nate, and Robert F with the other winners.

The show was held in a barn built by one of the rabbit breeders. Nice barn, huh?

And the winners are.....

2008-07-03T06:43:00.001-07:00

Want to see pretty Fuzzy Lops? Below are photos of the winners from the summer show in California. Judges were Carol G (Show A), Valerie U (Show B), and Michelle S (Show C). Open shows had ~60 Fuzzies and youth ~12 Fuzzies.

Youth show B BOS winner is this pretty girl, owned by Jennifer H, bred by Bob & Kelley T.
Open Show A BOS was Christina G's broken black buck, Spencer. This was his retirement show! Way to go out with a bang!
Youth Show A and C BOS was won by this doe, owned by Jennifer H.
In open, Lani and Shirley B's beautiful broken tort doe won BOB in Show A and BOS in Shows B and C. It was worth the drive, right Shirley?

Open BOB winner in Show B and C was won by Adam & Carol G's solid sable point buck, AK's Brigham.
Youth BOB winner in all three shows was this broken buck owned and bred by Jennifer H.

Congratulations to all!

Fluff-O-Rama

2008-07-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

The sixth annual summer show hosted by High Flying Fuzzies took place on Saturday, June 28. This show started out for Fuzzy Lops only as a high school graduation request by Adam G. Before he left for college, Adam wanted to get together with his "rabbit" friends. Two years later, we added Angoras to the show and now this year, Jersey Woolys were included and the show became a triple. Judges were the mother/daughter team of Valerie U and Michelle S of WA, and Carol G of CA.

Michelle is judging an angora with Betty C watching in the background.

A big part of this show is the chance for friends to hang out and just relax in the lovely environment. Christina G and Katie R give a big smile for the camera.
French angoras lined up for judging,

Carol G judges Fuzzy Lops. She seemed to know what she was doing!
The pool was empty for awhile but by afternoon it was full of kids and others who wanted to cool off.

Check in tomorrow for photos of the winners and more.

Commuting to work in Naranjito

2008-06-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Its not so different in Naranjito from home. Every morning we had to commute to work. We started the day with a cup of coffee (fabulous coffee since they grow it there) and watched the the neighbors as they left for work. Other neighbors watched us as we went by on our way to the "office".
Some even stopped what ever they were doing just to say hi.
Often the commute traffic got bad as the highway filled with others on their way to work.
In fact, it wasn't uncommon to see other Somos Amigos volunteers "commuting" just ahead of us.
See, the daily commute to work is the same everywhere!