Quote:Yes and PLEASE do research on the different rabbit breeds! If you don't know how to pose them etc then you need to do proper research!!!
Quote:I'm a bit rusty on ND but I went to several small local shows.I became a member of ARBA(American Rabbit Breeders Association).Then I found out how to become a member of the ND club.At that time of all the breed clubs I became a member of their guide book offered the most useful rabbit info. You need to go to a lot of shows talk to breeder's that breed good quality ND.Some breeders are very willing to help a serious newcomer.Oh,and it helps to have deep pockets when buying quality stock. Good luck,I hope I've helped.
Netherland Dwarf - think "round." Sturdy and small, but not dainty. Know your breeder and their stock! Dwarfs can be nice, but they can be really nasty, too. I have a lovely scar on my wrist from the bite of a genuinely vicious ND buck. A good Dwarf poses naturally. If you have to really work on a rabbit to get it to pose, chances are that it has a conformation problem that makes it difficult for the rabbit to get into the proper position, and it will cost you on the show table. All good, typey Dwarfs carry a lethal gene. Crossing two show-quality Dwarfs together will result in oversized, unshowable "false dwarfs;" appropriately sized "true dwarfs" that may or may not be show quality; and runty, deformed babies that get two copies of the dwarfing gene (called "peanuts" by Dwarf breeders). Peanuts always die, generally within the first three days. Be prepared to face a lot of dead babies if you get into breeding a dwarf breed, they happen more ways than you'd believe. Most Dwarf breeders that I know are trying to breed away from the "Max factor," but it's another thing you need to be aware of. Max factor babies wind up deformed and blind, but they don't usually self-terminate, so you'll have to "do something" about them if they happen. I wound up dumping my entire Dwarf breeding program to try to get rid of the Max factor, and I still don't know for sure that I succeeded. I haven't had any Max factor babies from the Dwarfs that I currently have, fingers crossed that it continues that way!
