The show season started with a double in Abilene, most of mine were still pretty young but I won BOS in both shows with a young blue SB who got his second and third legs.  Rick won BOB in both with a cute black JD and went on to win RIS!

The next weekend, I judged in Washington.  I spent a lot of my time in my hotel room doing homework, but had a great time.  There was a good Dutch entry, and I also judged nice groups of Dwarfs and Hollands and got to “meet” some Facebook friends in person!

Next, I packed up to judge in Brockton, MA.  I love shows in New England, they seem to have (at least) one every weekend, and are a tight-knit group.  This trip was extra-special for me as I got to see Wayne MacKinnon, one of my Dutch mentors for the first time in many years.  I’d gotten back in touch with him via Facebook (ironically, I received his friend request the day I left Massachussetts in April) and invited him to the show.

When I was a youth breeder attending my first National shows, Wayne was the top breeder and I was totally in awe of him.  I was introduced to him by a mutual friend and was happy to be allowed to help water his rabbits as he put them away.  For whatever reason, he took me under his wing and was one of several Dutch breeders who cheered me on to the ARBA Rabbit Queen title in 1997.   At the Portland convention in 1998 I was helping water his rabbits and he showed me a beautiful black junior doe and asked what I thought of her.  “Wow!” pretty much summed it up!  I was later in the breed booth when another breeder (who was first on the list to look at his sale rabbits) came up and told me he’d tried to buy her but was told she was mine.  Mine?!?  I happily accepted my first black, paid much too little for her, and named her Aphrodite.  She was my first Best in Show winner and convinced me that no, blacks weren’t boring!  For the next several years I enjoyed getting to know him more, got some more excellent rabbits, and soaked up everything he would teach me about Dutch.  He had a lot of influence in shaping my idea of a perfect Dutch (deep, smooth body) as well as being a great example of generosity and sportsmanship.  Several years ago, he stopped raising rabbits due to health reasons.  I hadn’t seen him since, so was thrilled when he came to the show.

Of course we talked rabbits, and he taught me again that one can be both competitive and generous.  He’s the kind of person who can express something kind of deep with a dry sense of humor.  I can be guilty of wanting to keep everything good, but he reminded me that you can’t hoard your line and that it’s better to share the good attributes of your line.  I wished I didn’t have to judge and could’ve spent more time with him, but enjoyed watching him give advice to a youth breeder, the next generation.  Wayne also brought me a very special gift: his show jacket.  He said it had a couple of patches on it I might like to take off and use.  I asked him if he was crazy, there wasn’t any way I was taking it apart!  Back when I started raising rabbits, everyone had a show coat, usually a lab coat.  White or blue, short or long, with our names over one pocket and sometimes rabbitry names or awards embroidered on the back.  We bought patches for our breed clubs, our local clubs, and Conventions we attended and occasionally received them as awards, so the coats were like a wearable personal history.  I saved up my Christmas money to buy my first, and my second was awarded to me as the ARBA Rabbit Queen.  So receiving his was an honor, sort of passing the mantle, and moved me to tears.  It does have a couple of really neat patches, one of the first ADRC patches and a New England Dutch Club patch, but they’re staying put.  It’s a little big on me, but I plan to roll the sleeves and wear it at Nationals.  Not only is it something I’ll treasure, but something that reminds me that being a good influence lasts longer than your involvement in the hobby.  Plus, I hope it brings me some of the same good luck on the tables as it brought him!

The next weekend was our State show.  Friday night is the Dutch specialty, which is usually fairly small but a lot of fun.  I won BOB with a Tort JB – my first BOB since getting back into the variety!  Yes, he does have a little collar drag, but it was a small show and not a lot of Convention rabbits were present!

The next day was the all-breed show.  I won BOB with Luxury, a Black JD who I call my “butterface” doe – she has kind of a narrow head and blaze but everything behind is very, very nice!  (You know, “everything looks good but-her-face?”).  Her parents both have nice heads, so I’m not quite sure what happened.  But I love her compact body and gorgeous stops, so she’s staying around.  On Sunday, she even took 2nd RIS!  It’s the third year in a row I’ve had a Dutch in the top three at State!

The next weekend was spent with Convention preparations…a post soon to follow…

Lest you think we’re complaining (Kansas weather does leave a lot to be desired, although outsiders think it’s nice that we have all four seasons.  I suppose if you count the average 2.5 days of spring or fall during the year, that does equal four seasons…) it’s been, on record, the hottest summer I’ve lived through.

A few stats: 

• We average 10 days per year of 100 degree-plus weather.  As of July 31, we were at 36.  That’s the most we’ve ever had by that date.  I believe we’re at 41 now.  A few people want to break the record for most 100 degree-plus days in a year.  We call them sadists.
• We had 24 days over 100 in July, tying the all-time record in 1980
• We lived through the two hottest days of my lifetime, both at 112
• We had the hottest average temperature for June and July on record, at 85.4.  This takes the high and low for each day and averages them.

Needless to say, it’s made caring for animals a difficult and time-consuming task.  I’d be lying if there weren’t days I felt almost resentful of them for the time I had to spend and my inability to go anywhere for more than a few hours at a time.  Getting up early to water, bringing a few in the house before work, taking a late lunch to put out ice bottles and re-water during the hottest part of the day, then picking up and cleaning said ice bottles to re-freeze and waiting until midnight-ish to feed made for long, sweaty days.  I got up near sunrise several weekend mornings to clean at the only time it was both light outside and bearable.  But we made it through, and everyone is in remarkably good condition considering that most weren’t eating much.  I still maintain that a hard winter is worse (snow to tromp through, coveralls to put on, windshields to scrape) but most are disagreeing with me!

Just as the heat was starting to break, the Johnson County Fair rolled around.  It’s a small morning show, but the lack of shows plus cabin fever prompted a lot of excitement.  I packed up a few young  juniors (the good ones are mostly blue, again!) and since Merry was looking good, made the last-minute decision to take her along.

Two months after having her first litter, she won BOB in a large Dutch entry, and went on to take Best 4 Class!

Not the best picture of her, but she was not interested in posing.  I think she was upset with me for reneging on my promise to retire her.  BOS went to a sharp Black JB owned by my friend Rick.  This show picks a Reserve 4-Class and 6-Class, so when Merry was announced as Best 4, the BOS Dutch came up to compete for Reserve.  And he won!

Really not posing…I think she thought he was cute. 

The young juniors are growing, and I’m excited about the late September and October shows, and of course, Convention!  Merry is bred again, but I’m not ruling out a return trip for her…

We flew to Tokyo and had just enough time to get through customs before boarding for LAX.  That flight was nice and uneventful, besides some unintentional humor from a flight attendant who thought we were returning from a romantic vacation.

LAX was an experience.  I have never been a hater, but it’s always been my destination and I’ve usually come through the Delta terminal which is fairly efficient.  We had to change terminals, meaning that we had to come up to the sidewalk/pickup area and go back through security.  We had a tight connection and weren’t wasting any time, but when we approached the security line that stretched to the street, we knew we were in trouble.  The TSA agent told us to go to the line upstairs (which was just as long, and we’d lose time running) but after repeating that we’d just come in on an international flight and couldn’t help our situation, she finally allowed us to cut in line over the shouts of some irate business travelers.  We barely made our flight to Denver.

We saw that we had the aisle and window seat in one row and were hoping the middle was empty.  Unfortunately it was not, and was occupied by a 60ish Chinese man.  Being nice travelers, we told him we were together and had the seats on either side of him, and asked if he’d like either the aisle or window seat instead of the middle.  He chose the aisle.

It was uneventful until beverage service.  I think they made their usual announcement about the beverages that were free and the price of beer, wine and cocktails along with snacks, and what sort of payment they accepted.  When the flight attendant asked him what he’d like, he asked what his choices were.  The flight attendant was a little snippy with him and told him that they were listed in the magazine.  Scott and I ordered, and the man said he’d like a snack.  The flight attendant told him the price and when he pulled out cash, told him they only accepted cards.  This set him off, and he argued with the flight attendant, started yelling, “Stupidest country ever!” threw his magazine and hit the passenger across the aisle in the head with it and then demanded some milk.  It was hard not to giggle at his selection since he was being such a baby!  He drained that carton and then pounded his tray table and demanded, “more milk!”  at which point I was biting my lips to keep from laughing!

He seemed to calm down, and was drinking his milk and munching on a granola bar.  Where he got it, I don’t know, but I wasn’t going to ask.  I was next to him in the middle seat (as he chose the aisle assigned to me) and he apologized for losing his temper.  I ignored him.

Then the flight attendants came through again and he still wanted a snack, so he asked the lady across the aisle if he could give her cash and she’d buy him a snack.  Yes, the same lady he’d beaned with his magazine.  She told him no. 

Then he started telling me it didn’t say anywhere in the magazine that snacks were extra.  I told him that yes, it did.  Then he said that it didn’t say so on the website when he booked his ticket.  I told him again that yes, it did.  Then he started shouting that he’d booked a nonstop flight to wherever and that this one stopped.  He pulled out his boarding pass he’d printed out and yelled that it said nothing about having to pay for snacks with a card on the boarding pass.  Then he asked me if I’d do him a favor and buy a snack for him.  I told him no.  At that point, he started yelling at me, “I did you favor [by giving up the oh-so-coveted middle seat] now you won’t do me one!  I want my seat back!  See!  That’s my seat!  You’re in it and I want it back!” and on and on. 

The man in front of him told him to calm down.  As much as I wanted to lay into him, I pushed the flight attendant call button and Scott and I asked to be re-seated.  Thankfully the flight wasn’t full and there were some seats towards the front of the plane.  The flight attendants apologized profusely (and stuck a couple bottles of wine in my bag) and we assured them that this would not discourage us from air travel but rather provide us with a good story to tell.  As our bags were at the back of the plane over him, we had to wait until it was mostly clear to go back and retrieve them.  He was met by an airline employee and escorted off the plane.  What happened to him we don’t know, but the passengers up front with us wanted to hear the story and a lady waiting for a wheelchair joined me in clapping when he was escorted off.  (I had to get some sort of last laugh!)

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and I got home at around 7 without my suitcase.  It was delivered that night and I begun the process of getting back into a normal sleep pattern!  I was sad that the trip had ended so soon, but so grateful for the experience and all the hard work that went into it!  Twenty years ago, who would’ve imagined that the little Dutch rabbit I bought would take me so many places?

Sign of the Day

I have noticed that pictures of people behaving badly in airports always look like Americans!

Our first stop was Nagoya Castle.  We couldn’t quite figure out what the animal was that adorned the top of the castle and was a theme throughout.  It couldn’t be a fish (they don’t have teeth), or a dolphin (they don’t have scales), but we finally figured out it was a tiger-headed dolphin.  With scales.  (Click on any photo to enlarge)

We saw this little character outside and took pictures with him

A reproduction of the golden dolphin

The walkway towards the castle

The castle, with the golden dolphin on top

A close-up of the walls

Inside the castle, on all 7 floors, were exhibits showing daily life in Japan at the time of the building and occupation of the castle, and fun exhibits for kids, and kids at heart!

One of the moats surrounding the castle grounds

 

After visiting the castle, we were hungry!  Masako, who loves burgers, had suggested McDonalds, which we happily agreed to.  Although Japanese food is good and it’s fun to try new things (well, some new things!) there comes a point when you become tired of not being able to read menus and want a familiar meal before embarking on more adventurous eating.  We were there!  The McDonalds had a few dishes not served in the US, such as a teriyaki burger,  but overall, the food was familiar and tasted just like it did at home:

 

My first Big Mac in many years...it tasted just the same!

 

After lunch, we visited the Museum Meiji-Mura.  It is “an open air museum for preserving and exhibiting Japanese architecture of the Meiji period (1868-1912).”  Meaning a lot of the buildings there had been moved (yes, moved!) to the museum.  It was a really interesting museum, but this was the point where I really fell down on my photography!

 

  It was warm out, and I was wishing I had a tank top or maxi dress or something a little more comfortable than jeans and a cardigan.  I had noticed on my previous summer trip that women don’t usually show more skin than what is covered by a T-shirt, so I dressed like everyone around me.  Only in Japan would I wear a cardigan and jelly shoes (you can take the 80′s out of the girl…)

 

The first building we saw was the Imperial Hotel, formely of Tokyo and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

 

Celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe stayed here!

The front desk

A kabuki theater

 

Our next stop was killing some time at a Japanese mall (again, these 80′s kids felt right at home!)  The malls looked much like ours, but a pet store inside was quite a surprise!

 

A familiar sight!

 

Among the exotic pets for sale included a bat...

 

...and a prairie dog...

 

...and a sad looking wallaby. Can you imagine? "Honey, look what I picked up at the mall!" <doing doing doing>

 

We looked around at this mall but were unable to find something I was looking for, and Shinya and Masako very kindly humored me and took me to another mall where I could find this most coveted object: a Shu Uemura eyelash curler.  They’re the best, and are no longer sold in the US   I bought two!

 

Next was dinner at Mr. Chicken Wing where Koichiro joined us.

 

The Mr. Chicken Wing character on a plate

 

Whiskey for grownups!

 

One of the things I love the most about the Japanese culture is that, while they expect you to take your professional (or judging) duties seriously, they are ready to abandon all pretenses and be silly afterwards.  Even with a bit of a language barrier, we had a great time and were able to get each others’ jokes and silliness!

 

Such as making sculptures with food...

An interesting offering found in the convenience store. There was lots of laughter when we explained what "nude" meant!

 

 

Sign of the Day

Cute, bunny-themed bathroom sign at Mr. Chicken Wing

 

 

Bathroom of the Day

The shower/bathtub room at the hotel. I've seen similar shower areas in houses, it has its own sliding glass door and is very spacious. I like!

Japan is quite humid, and the sun was shining when we got up to head to the show, fortunately the clouds rolled in and kept things cool.  As for the show and the day, I’m going to let the pictures speak.  I will probably remember this one for a long time as ”favorite show I’ve ever judged,” and that’s saying a LOT, since I’ve been fortunate enough to judge lots of wonderful, well-run shows in the past 11 years. 

The floor of this building was bright green, and unfortunately that tended to bleed into the photos, so I apologize for the greenness.  Digital camera photos tended to turn out better than did my iPhone photos, however that was the only thing I had with battery power!  (Click on any photo to enlarge)

Setup for the show. The group in the RAP jackets are students from the equivalent of a two-year agricultural college

While setup was going on, Scott and I went around the booths and did some shopping. The variety of rabbit crafts and items was better than Convention!

 

 

This vendor had a lot of Dutch items, so I spent most of my money here! I'm not a doily person, but the ones you see in the right side of the photo are Dutch, so I had to get one! I also picked up a small framed painting of a tort and two crocheted cell phone charms in blue and tort.

 

Another booth featuring handmade rabbit crafts

 

 

(Non-rabbit people, bear with me...the rabbit fans are really enjoying these!)

 

Another booth with adorable rabbity creations!

 

I wanted one of everything, but I had only so many yen and so much space in the suitcase!

 

A booth for a feed company

 

And one for a vet

 

 

Rabbits for sale. Festival-goers were a mix of breeders and exhibitors, pet owners and people who are just rabbit fans! It is the Year of the Rabbit in Japan.

 

Tags on the cages of Dutch for sale. I assume the top tag is for a show quality rabbit and the bottom tag is for a pet. How much is this? I'll just say that for the price of the pet, you can buy a very nice rabbit in the US.

 

The Flemish was even more!

 

We all are!

 

Sunday's awards

 

Pink ribbons for me

 

and green for Scott

 

Judging American Fuzzy Lops with my super-sweet translator, Hiro

 

My table help, who spent the whole day with the control sheets and comment cards. He had a big surprise for us...

 

He got MARRIED over lunch break!!!

 

The lovely and bubbly club secretary Masako officiated, while club president Koichiro served as best man. We learned that in Japan, the marriage is legalized with the license, and anyone can conduct a ceremony.

 

The couple was kind enough to pose for a picture with us

 

That afternoon, I chose a Dwarf for BIS. He was one of the few rabbits who was also at Saturday's show, and he looked even better on Sunday!

 

RIS was a Holland Lop owned by Mariko Nio. I visited her rabbit shop on my first trip in 2005.

 

She also had Best Junior with a blue otter Dwarf!

 

Sunday's hardworking show staff

 

We couldn't resist snapping our photo in this! Before we knew it, we were surrounded by people and cameras and heard "Facebook!" several times!

 

After the show, we went to a traditional Japanese restaurant where we knelt and sat on the floor. Instead of several tables in a large room, each table is in its own room.

 

Our server brought food and drinks to us through a door, which was between the two ladies in the photo

 

Scott's new friend thought he looked like Tom Cruise

 

 

Food of the Day

This was the first dish we were served at the restaurant. It was a stew consisting of fish and vegetables that was cooked in the bowl at the table. This dish originates from fishermen in Hokkaido.

Judging area

Our view from the judging tables

 

The club's banner, signed by visiting judges

 

The beautiful awards

 

This trophy is engraved with BIS winners from every show

 

The plaques for my show, engraved with my name

 

Plaques for Scott's show, engraved with his name

 

Rosettes for BIS, also with our names

 

BOB, BOS, BOG, BOSG, BOV, BOSV rosettes for my show

 

and for Scott's

 

Sign at my show table with my name in English and Japanese

 

Scott's sign. These are our Facebook profile pics!

 

The hardworking show staff

We both picked the same Holland Lop SSB as Best in Show, and Chestnut Agouti Dwarf as Best Junior.  I chose a French Lop for RIS and Scott chose an Otter Dwarf.  After the show, Scott and I registered some rabbits in a tag-team effort, then we hit the road.  The show staff packed up all the equipment and awards and we caravaned to Hamamatsu, where the next day’s show was held.  It was a 3 hour trip, along with a stop for dinner.  This is dedication!

Food of the Day

Ramen that I ate for dinner at the travel stop. The noodles taste the same as our ramen, but it's dressed up a bit for sale! The green sheets in the back are seaweed, and the brownish strips in the middle are bamboo.

Seen at the travel stop. Go ahead and laugh, everyone did!

 

 

Bathroom of the Day

Most hotel bathrooms have a step up. You have to remember this or you can injure yourself in the morning!

A group of student tourists

Among the tourist attractions were these ladies, who happily posed for photos

After talking with several student groups, we made our way around the temple grounds and gardens.  It’s truly breathtaking and a must for anyone visiting Kyoto!

The Golden Pavilion

Who doesn't love a waterfall?

The object of this was to toss coins in the pot for good luck. One yen coins are light and don't fly too far, but I landed a 10 yen coin in it!

A good view of the market, with beautiful colored skylights

Scott and I posing for a picture

Octopus, anyone? (no thanks!)

 

Your favorite food, rendered in a charm for your cell phone! Scott bought a sashimi, I found some tempura but resisted, as iPhones don't have any place to put them (sad face!)

 

Yes, this is really a purse, made from really a frog!

After exploring the marketplace, we drove on to Osaka where we were staying for the night, and where the show was the next morning.  We ate at a buffet that charged more for men than for women (interesting, and quite fair, I think!) then settled into our rooms for the night.  More interesting technology awaited us…

We had to place our keys on a ledge just inside the door to turn on the lights. Very interesting take on energy conservation!

My lunch, more tempura (yum!) with rice, Japanese pickles, green tea and miso soup.

 

 

 

Sign of the Day

Seen in the domestic terminal of the Tokyo airport. This person looks and acts suspiciously like an American business traveler.

 

 

 

Bathroom of the Day

Instructions for using the traditional Japanese toilet, as found at the temple.

For me it was a 24-hour trip.  I left Wichita at a little after 6 AM and met up with Scott in Denver.  From there we flew to San Francisco.  We made a mad dash through the airport only to realize our flight to Tokyo was delayed by two hours.  We were worried about making our connection to Nagoya, but decided there wasn’t much we could do about it anyway and not to worry.  It was actually nice to have some downtime and a leisurely lunch in SFO.

Soon enough, we boarded the flight to Tokyo.  Yes, it was a long flight (11 hours).  It’s easy to tolerate if, and only if, one sleeps most of the way.  There are ways to facilitate this.  This was my third trip to Japan, so I’m experienced at knocking myself out!

Upon arrival, we realized there was no way we were going to make our connection.  As we went to retrieve our luggage, there was an agent standing there waiting for us!  He had seat reservations for a flight to Nagoya the next morning, a hotel voucher, and directions for us to catch the shuttle bus!  We were floored, this is not the experience we would’ve had in the US.  So we changed some money and headed to our hotel, got dinner, and turned in, saying to each other all the while, “Can you believe we’re REALLY IN JAPAN??”  (Click on any photo to enlarge)

Our hotel in Narita. All of the hotels we stayed at provided pajamas, and alarms and light switches were built into nightstands. Cool!

Now, to introduce the daily photo offerings:

Food of the Day

My dinner of tempura (fried prawns and vegetables) and cold soba noodles. My two favorite Japanese foods! I know, the soba noodles are gray, but they're made of buckwheat. Tasty!

"No jumping in the elevator!" From the Tokyo airport

Bathroom of the Day

Hotel bathroom. Compact, yet enough room for all of my crap. Yes, those are controls you see on the toilet!

(I think our Japanese friends thought we were kidding when told Americans were preoccupied with food and toilets. Yet which pictures have garnered the most comments on my Facebook page?  Food and toilets.)

I only entered 5, two black bucks (senior and baby junior) and three blue senior does.  I arrived at around 7 and got everyone cooped up, then volunteered to stay late and keep the building open for some friends who arrived.  Then, after being up for nearly 24 hours, I crashed!

Friday was relaxed and fun, as friends trickled in and everyone pulled out their sale rabbits and hopefuls.  I had already shown my seller’s class doe several times and was hoping she’d bring in a decent price.  Merry also came out for a few viewings, as she’s been doing very well this spring, several friends were interested to see her.  I have always liked her a lot, as she’s my own I nitpick at her, but I did think she had a good shot at winning the class.  Others saw more in her than I did, and I was both surprised and humbled when Rick and Scott, two breeders I look up to, told me that she was their pick for Best of Breed.  The momentum picked up and made it very difficult to sleep Friday night!

Saturday morning came, and I’d promised to do Twitter updates on class winners.  Reception in the building was shaky at best, but it worked fairly well through the morning.  Once the afternoon clouds rolled in, nothing was going out.  I tried! 

The black classes started off well, and I was proud that my senior buck placed 4/48.  He was sold to Bob, who sold me my first Dutch 20 years ago!  Next was the blue senior doe class, which was the main event for me.  I have always believed that winning the class is the hardest part.  Merry quickly went to the back along with another doe.  All of mine remained until the placings.  The seller’s class doe, Skydiver, placed 14/34.  I wished she’d gone a little higher, but wasn’t going to complain.  Both Merry and Caroline were in the top 10!  Caroline placed 6th. Gene was with me and we realized his doe was in the top 5 also.  She sat in the first place coop with Merry in the second.  They were the last two, and Gene and I stood watching stonefaced.  After a lot of nerve wracking back-and-forth, his doe’s tattoo was read for second place.  He, Sara and I hugged and celebrated.  At a national, all 24 class winners are brought up and variety and breed judging is done by all participating judges.  So she was up for the final round!

After this I was able to relax a bit and we even went out for lunch.  The day took a somber turn when we were notified that our friend, Missouri Dutch breeder Gary Clark, had passed away after complications from surgery to remove a brain tumor.  Gary was supposed to be at NDS with us.  The KS/MO group had traveled to a number of shows together over the years, and Gary was always a calm presence in the middle of the chaos of organizing and packing the van.  He truly enjoyed showing his blues and just being among the other Dutch breeders, the competition seemed to him to be icing on the cake.  I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone, or about anyone’s judging.  He could often be found lending a hand wherever one was needed.  I was often the only girl on the trip, and he was especially gentlemanly toward me.  I remember many times coming out of a gas station or restaurant during a stop and finding Gary on the sidewalk, gazing at the sky and waiting to walk me back to the van.  When it was time to unload carriers, he normally had them waiting for me before I had a chance to make it back to the van.  Gary was a wonderful, kind man and gone much too quickly. 

As the class judging wound down, excitement built for breed and variety judging.  When you have one on the table, time slows to a crawl!  I sat at one end and watched with Gene and a few other friends, and finally, after examining and conversing, the judges announced their variety winners.  Merry was announced as Best Senior, and then Best of Variety! 

After the variety winners were announced, the judges filled out their ballots for BOB.  I was close enough to be able to watch them write.  Even though a friend was signaling “you won!” from across the table, I’d seen “Black” go at the top of three of the ballots.  She’s a lovely doe, very well balanced in markings and type and very deserving of the win.  I’d actually judged her two weeks before in Reno and she was my Best of Breed.

I think some of the people cheering her on expected me to be disappointed, which I wasn’t.  If this is somehow a tragedy, I’ve been through much worse.  It was only 5 years ago at NDS that I took home some of the first rabbits to build this herd, and it’s still a work in progress.  As it always will be. 

Merry wasn’t done, after BOB the fur classes were judged.  I knew she’d be tough to beat here as she was still holding onto a prime coat.  She won, and I later found out that second place was a blue buck out of a rabbit I sold last year, who happened to be Merry’s nephew!

Next was the Seller’s Class.  I knew several people were planning to bid on Skydiver, the bred blue doe I’d entered.  She exceeded all expectations and broke the record for the highest price ever…$520!!  She couldn’t have gone to nicer people, and I hear she did have a litter for them!

All in all, it couldn’t have been a better show.  Besides the showing itself, it was great to see old friends and to get better acquainted with new ones.  And now, the Convention litter watch begins!

Merry is now retired from the show table, and caring for her first litter.  Despite the bald patches, she STILL has her famous coat! 

Nevertheless, the basic recipe is decent lighting, a good photo-taking venue and patience.  My Kids and Pets setting really, really helps!  (My camera is a fairly inexpensive Canon PowerShot A480, as I’ve had it nearly two years, it probably isn’t on the market any more, but there you are.)

Setting

I like to take pictures outside, in natural lighting.  It can be difficult to find the right light that won’t put the rabbit completely in darkness, yet won’t cast shadows.  Sometimes it’s kind of inevitable, I took this photo of Jewel in the very little time I had between her BIS win and her belly getting huge:

Squinty Jewel

She looks decent, and you can see her best attributes, but the shadows are ugly and she’s squinting! 

I like overcast days, or setting up on the east side of my barn when the sun is still out but is getting closer to the western horizon:

A well-lit Jagger

It does work best with blacks, as it can make the blues’ color look a little dull or spoiled.  Wind can also be an issue (read on).  I mostly use my grooming table, but also find that a couple of carriers stacked up with a carpet works well.

Posing

As far as posing goes, I try to get the rabbit into a show pose.  I’m both a right-handed photographer (and everything else) and a left-handed poser, which makes things difficult. (Did you know there is”handedness” in handling rabbits??  Neither did I until I got behind the tables!  Your dominant rabbit-handling hand is the one you feel or check with when posing.  I hold the head in my right, therefore I’m a left-handed judge.  Interestingly, there are a few of us who are righties but judge left-handed, and a few lefties who judge right-handed.  I attribute mine to the fact that I’m left-eye dominant.  I have also gone on far too long about this.) 

Many rabbits are very curious when put on the table, OUTDOORS!!!!!!  This is another reason I like to photograph in the afternoon, as rabbits are nocturnal and can be semi-comatose during midafternoon, therefore less likely to act up.  From then on, the basic recipe is to pose up, jump back and click.  There are usually quite a few outtakes:

Taken as I was convincing Jagger to settle down for the above shot!

I see a lot of hand-over-the-head photography on websites, Facebook, etc.  I don’t like it in any breed, but it’s a little more tolerable in a breed like Mini Rex where less important attributes are obscured:

A perfectly adequate photo of a Broken Chin

A "head down" photo of the same rabbit. She does look a bit deeper and shorter in body, an illusion partly created by my hand effectively cutting off her head, and also by pushing the head down so there's more difference in depth from the head to the top of the back.

However, in a Dutch, its disastrous.  Most breeds have very few points on head and ears.  Dutch have 23 visible points on head and ears, so you’re unnecessarily covering up almost a quarter of the rabbit.

Here is Merry, fairly well posed (she does stick her neck out “investigating”).  Also note that this is what a tailwind can do to color by blowing the fur towards the head…she is actually dark blue and very well primed:

A very nice photo showing type and markings

Now, using the “head down” pose, I obscure a lot of her good traits, and about all you can really see is half of her saddle and that she can be manipulated into looking like she has a good topline, “help” she doesn’t need:

A very poor photo showing not much at all

Again the illusion persists…cover up her head and the front of her shoulder in the first picture and she’ll look just as deep and round as she does in the second.  These photos are made even worse when the grooming table has a rim around the front that prevents you from seeing how the rabbit’s feet are placed.  Mine doesn’t, but if it did, you wouldn’t know if the rear foot lined up with the stifle or the shoulder blade!

Do yourself, your rabbits, and your buyers a favor, and just be patient rather than resorting to putting your hand over the head!

Another trick I like, but rarely have time to use, is a candid, unposed photo.  The one of Bing below is probably my favorite rabbit picture ever.  I took him down to the end of the hall, taped a sheet onto a door and the surrounding walls, let him hop around, lay on the floor with the camera, and snapped this gem:

Bing, my beloved herd buck

No, he isn’t in a show pose, but you don’t miss a thing.  He gives you an oblique view of his head, better than the side-on shots.  Even though he’s standing up, it’s still easy to see that he’s short-bodied and well-rounded over the hindquarter.  Also, you get a good view of his bone and his thickness of ear.  If you’re really, REALLY patient, sometimes these pictures can be the best!

Whichever method you use, patience is key.  Just remember: don’t put your hand over a Dutch’s head!