Tis the season to be jolly! It’s time of the year again that we have Christmas photoshoot at Tru-Luv Rabbitry.
I cannot believe that it will be another year in the hobby and it is always wonderful to take Christmas portraits for the bunnies.
The rainfall does help a lot with cooling them down and they are mostly in good condition at this time of the year.
Filed under Juniors
I am still in awe and disbelief how wonderful life has been since I started this hobby. Counting the years since I befriended so many wonderful people and it has been eight years of friendship for a few. Along the way, there has been times when there were less communication and that could give way for doubts to creep in. Just like in marriages even if couples are close by, lack of communication may result in many issues and what more with friends living far apart from each other.
There has been times when I started doubting and felt that many of friends have drifted away. The trip to the USA proved that I was so wrong. The fact is, rabbits are just one part of our lives and the reality is that we all have other commitments and priorities to attend to. As we grow older, multi-tasking seemed to be a little more difficult and finding time to reach out to one another can be a challenge.
I must admit that we all need to have a recharge once in a while to renew the spark of our friendships and love for each other as friends and family.
The depth of our friendships goes beyond the rabbit hobby. The friendships are so deep rooted that even if there is no more rabbits on earth, we are still a close knitted family.
This year at convention, I could clearly pick out the sincere and true friends. I did not visit with as many compared to when I was at Indy 2010. It was strange because to some, I seemed invisible and people I once knew no longer able to recognize me. That was totally fine by me whatever reason it may be. I am just as happy to go about having a great time with those who I truly love and adore. Another strange thing I noticed is how people can be all vocal and friendly on Facebook and when in person, seemed like total stranger. Clearly, epic failure of “social media” in my humblest of opinions. Like why even bother “being friends” when you do not want to talk face-to-face.
As for all the wonderful things that has happened thus far, I attribute it to PASSION. I believe the passion I have for the hobby has shaped or changed my destiny. Every single step I make and at the most unexpected place, a little rabbit would appear. Perhaps I am a little more in tuned of my surroundings and I am happy to have all these little signs that encourage me to take steps moving forward.
A couple of friends approached me and asked if I have stopped raising rabbits. I do not think I will ever quit raising rabbits because I just cannot live without having rabbits in my life. But sometimes, the question that we really need to ask ourselves is whether the rabbits can live without us?
Does a rabbit have aspiration? A future to look forward to?
Do they yearn freedom in the great outdoors?
To be wild and free?
But I am sure as human, we want every bit of that to explore, learn and grow…
Filed under Thoughts
After a long, wonderful and productive year of sheer hard work, I decided to take a short vacation. It was a long overdue visit with my bunny family in the USA and I decided that the most appropriate time to visit was during the ARBA Convention since this is the time when most if not all my bunny friends will be gathering at the same place.
My view while having coffee at Terminal 2, Paris CDG Airport
Unfortunately, not all friends that I met at the 88th ARBA Convention (Indianapolis) attended the 90th ARBA Convention which was held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA (October 19-23, 2013) and to make up for that, I met many friends in person for the first time after many years of correspondence.
At the main entrance at 5.30 am.
At the entrance of the Show Room.
Empty Holland Lop section at 5.30am on Friday.
Train track over the river.
A shop in Harrisburg.
A very busy and full Open section on Saturday.
My trip to the USA this time around allowed me to set foot in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It was Fall/Autumn and all three places were filled with beautiful colors.
Apples at a friend’s farm.
I am so blessed and lucky to have a huge bunny family that not only welcomed me into their homes but also allowed me to visit their rabbitries and showed me around town. I was able to live as a local for a couple of day and it was an experience one will never get being a tourist.
The beautiful colors on the trees during Autumn/Fall.
Part of the pine tree.
From within the bridge looking out.
Beautiful flowers blooming.
A tree with senses.
Awesome landscape.
The many beautiful farm houses.
My favorite white fences.
Silhouette at dusk.
After helping with bunny chores at the show room in Pennsylvania, we visited the National Civil War Museum and Hershey’s Chocolate World. We had a lot of fun learning about history and chocolate production.
The monument outside of the National Civil War Museum.
Self explanatory photo. 😛
Lots of chocolates!
One of the highlights of the 90th ARBA Convention was the passing of Tort and REW Lionhead as an official breed.
A very gorgeous Tort Lionhead rabbit.
The other amazing thing that happened was the 1st presentation and passing of the Argente Brun. A truly magnificent and gorgeous breed to look out for. I look forward to its passing as another official ARBA breed.
A worthy presentation specimen. Such beautiful rabbits!
Just before I left the USA, we did a 10 hours road trip from Pennsylvania back to Indiana and the sceneries are to die for!
The barn.
The beautiful corn field.
The corn field at dusk.
I must thank my bunny family and friends for their warm hospitality and taking good care of me throughout my trip to the USA. As I continue to miss all of them, I look forward to visiting them again.
It will not be complete without taking a photo with my favorite breed – The Holland Lop!
Filed under Rabbit Show, Rabbits Around The World
Filed under 6 Buns A Week
When trance music exploded into the club/disco scene, practically everyone just went wild and crazy. They just danced away.
I cannot say the same when it comes of the topic of trance in terms of flipping rabbits around so that their belly face up. There are some groups out there advocating that trance is harmful to rabbits.
I for one uses the trance technique whenever I need to groom the fur on my rabbits’ belly or when I need to clip their nails. In a trance position, the rabbits stay completely still and I avoid the risk of clipping their quick.
In my humble opinion, it is much better for a rabbit to stay still when I clip their nails rather than having them trying to escape my clutches which I believe is more stressful. Furthermore, I usually clip nails all by myself without the help from someone to hold my rabbits. No fuss and done in less than 2 minutes per rabbit.
Another thing that people have to know is that, baby rabbits nurse with their belly facing upwards which is also the same as the trance position. And often times when mama bunny is done nursing, the kits can be seen sleeping on their backs. Again, that is trance – naturally. Mama rabbits never lie down for their kits to suckle but stand over them instead. So if lying on their backs is harmful, I could have lost many baby rabbits but in reality, I have not lost one bunny through trancing.
So let your hair down and TRANCE!
Dedicating today to all the rabbits that have graced Tru-Luv Rabbitry both in the past and present. Creating this collage reminded me how diverse the herd has been and not two rabbits are the same. There will never (ever) be and that is a fact!
Filed under Bucks, Does, Random Topics
When I first started out in this hobby years ago, I had a purpose – to prove that ethical breeding and responsible pet ownership is possible even in one of the smaller species like the rabbit. Having had seen the spectrum between the best and worst in pedigree dogs, I was excited to embark on a journey to prove to myself and hopefully to people who follow my blog that it is possible to provide rabbits with good standard of living while enjoying them as a past time either as merely pets, as show or breeding animals.
I remember very clearly that it started out as a little pet project of having them as just pets and thus their main objective and purpose of living was to provide me with companionship. And my purpose then was to ensure they are well taken care of. I remember very clearly that in some part of the world, to teach a child the sense of responsibility was to give them an egg and their main purpose is to ensure the egg does not break in their care for a certain amount of time. Likewise, throughout my years of keeping animals as pets, the number one objective is to keep them alive under my care with the basics and the basics soon change into full fledged pampering.
As the years go by, the purpose started to change. I learned about the showing sport and now the rabbits have different purposes because my “requirements” for having them has changed. I started injecting myself into this sport that chases for perfection and the measurement for perfection changes through time. Throughout the years, I met people who have come and gone in this sport and others have come full circle with many degrees of realizations. For those who have since moved on, I am not sure what was their rational behind their decisions but mine is of the dilemma of the entire world producing animals that are exactly identical in physical traits and characteristics without using cloning technology in hoping to garner the title of “best representation of the breed”.
Where I am at the moment and what is my purpose? This seemed to be a question that is constantly being asked no matter which milestone I am at while keeping Holland Lops as pets. It really does not matter where I am but it really matters which phase makes me happiest.
I can confidently say that being involved in “groups” or “clubs” is my least favorite part of the hobby. It distracts me with a lot of unnecessary happenings most of which are personality clashes and human related. It occupies my precious time from what matter most – my rabbits. Without a doubt, if I have to give an advice to new people embarking in the hobby, avoid bothering yourself with human matters unless you have all the time in the world to worry about petty disputes or unless you are a highly focus person that can stay above all the dramas. Most of the time frustrations will come in the form of differences of opinions and objectives/agendas.
Last week, I had the privilege of meeting and having a wonderful meal with a bunny couple. I could not agree more with one of them when he said that chasing after perfection does not really make sense to him when he knows for a fact that his rabbit is perfect. I was in awe by how spot on he was in identifying his needs and wants which helps a lot in identifying his purpose in the hobby. His thoughts further affirmed my beliefs that if we are not strong in our focus of our purpose in anything that we do, we can be easily manipulated and waver in our lives.
Besides from spending time cuddling, grooming and caring for my rabbits, I have enjoyed writing and sharing my thoughts through this weblog. I take pride when someone mentions how much he/she has learned through this blog. It surprises me that someone will mention posts that I least expect people to understand and quoting what they have learned from it. Readers who gets the points put forth really understands them and that in itself is a purpose fulfilled for me.
My observation so far of the rabbit world at large is that there is a broad spectrum in terms of “rabbit communities”. There are the pet people, the in between pet and breeder groups, the hard core breeders and the animal rights activist groups. Each with their own set of distinctive objectives and agendas.
After putting myself in a few roles in this hobby, I still prefer the pet person in me. I find this role to be the most fulfilling for me. I am sure that many people agree with me that some of us just prefer to have a little Holland Lop bunny that looks like a little bulldog as a companion and pet. In many instances, I miss posing my rabbits and taking photographs of them. I am glad that throughout the years, I have amassed a huge collection of beautiful Holland Lop photos.
Coming full circle, what are my purpose and the purpose of my rabbits?
I must say that a purpose to live without requirements, expectations and judgments on the part of my rabbits.
PERIOD.
Filed under Bunny Business, Thoughts
One thing that I find myself encountering on a daily basis is expectations. We are expected to get things done within a certain timeline or, we ought to behave in a certain manner failing which we will face the wrath of a bunch of very angry mob. These are a couple of real life examples.
Simply put, when the expectations are not met people tend to get agitated, or may even start a riot. Unmet expectations can also turn one into a fanatic, go berserk and utter the most extraordinary accusations one can imagine. In extreme cases, I have reasons to believe that killers and serial rapists are products of unmet expectations.
The show world is nothing and will never be short of expectations. Expectation to win aside, there are definitely a lot of expectations imposed on the competing object be it a cat, a dog or whatever that is in the fancy.
Priorities being priorities, after witnessing strange behaviors exhibited by a certain few (human, mind you), I started to wonder what is the focus point of the big picture. I almost lost sight being surrounded by all the “chaos”, erratic behaviors and suddenly I saw it. A bunny’s teeth. I slowly step back and get a good view of the rabbit. The chaotic thoughts slowly vanished and I thought to myself. If I were a pet bunny, what would my expectations be of my owner?
I believe being just a simple being, a rabbit wouldn’t ask for much and things aren’t as complicated. I sat down and illustrated my thoughts in the picture below:-
I strongly believe that with just these 3 items, a rabbit will thrive and they are all the basics a pet rabbit can ask for.
Now let’s compare our human expectations of our rabbits if we allow our crazy dreams and aspirations to go wild:-
Conclusion, so much expectations lah….
Filed under Community Service, Rabbit Education
Research.
For once, today’s post will be in favor and may even come as good news for irresponsible/unethical breeders. Based on my observation, 90% of problems raised by concerned pet rabbit owners regarding their pets are done AFTER the purchase/adoption of their rabbits.
Most of us who have gone through the conventional education system depended heavily on research based learning and obtaining our qualifications. An example of that is in the form of assignments and coursework. We were given topics to deliberate before producing results in a form of thesis.
Likewise, we get to learn through seeking knowledge when something unexpected happens to our pets. Only when something out of our knowledge arises that we start to seek out information through Google, forums, Facebook or asking the professionals.
Therefore, it is safe to conclude that, if you are selling a rabbit, as long as you get all the terminologies correct and are convincing in your sales pitch, most likely you will make a fortune selling rabbits. The buyers on the other hand have to put up with many after sale problems such as excessive vet fees and endless of worries.
I guess that’s because it’s “BUSINESS”. Who cares about repeat sales right? It is better to slaughter first and worry later in a “competitive” environment because if the money does not come into your pocket it will eventually get into someone else’s.
But there are a few who are careful and do their homework before embarking on the journey of owning a pet. You really have to respect those with good judgment!
Six (6) years on writing post after post to educate through this blog and I cannot stress enough that research is key to a fulfilling experience owning a pet rabbit. You just cannot be careful enough in a market where supply well surpluses the demand. You are at the mercy of many who in it plainly for the earnings.
Therefore, all I have to say is that, happy buying and happy selling. I wish all those buying without proper research, THE BEST OF LUCK!
Filed under Bunny Business, Community Service, Rabbit Education
I am a sore loser, I am this and I am that. You know what? I am whatever you think I am. The truth of the matter is, I don’t give a sh*t and I know who I truly am myself and that is what matters. It was definitely not easy to come to this point in my life but I am glad that I am here at this very moment with this exact thoughts.
For the past 6 years many events have taken place, crazy situations unfolded and of course the many changes that have resulted from good and bad decisions. It would be a shame if throughout the 6 years nothing have changed and most importantly if nothing has grown, improved and progressed. We all do seek for achievements and improvements in life else, we are merely existing.
Seeing so many out there who are just trying to be someone else makes me feel that I am very lucky to have found myself throughout the challenges life has thrown at me. Not many have the opportunities to do what they like and enjoy thus, they seek to imitate someone else hoping to achieve the same “feel good” rewards. Let me tell you, it never feels the same.
I for one have never liked imitating others and I shun from doing the things others do for the simple fact that being a follower, you are only limited to things you can follow. When a follower sees someone else admiring art, they tend to want to get their hands on a piece of art and go “goo goo gaa gaa”. But the question is, do you actually or really admire the art or it is just another passing novelty for you?
Throughout the years I have posted about how fun raising show rabbits are and have defined the meaning of what show rabbits really are. The glamorous Pedigree, Ribbons and Grand Champions. Some of my friends looked at me as if I have lost my mind. To a certain extent, I did.
Behind all the glamour, was a person lack the confidence and self-esteem. Behind all the glamour, was the yearning for affirmation. Let me give you an example of thought process for people who lacks and yearns for affirmation. This is something related to me by a friend who is single and yearn to be loved by someone of the opposite sex. People who are yet to find their other half or spouse usually have many self doubts and the question most asked, “Am I that bad not to deserve someone to love me?”. That is a very real example of one lacking the emotional affirmation.
What has that “emotional affirmation” got to do with rabbits you may ask? It has nothing to do with rabbits generally but, it has a great deal to do with some who call themselves “Show Rabbit Breeders”. I am not denying the fact that there are breeders who are truly working with the betterment of the breed in mind. Truth is, THERE ARE! I know of the rare rabbit breeders who are working their butts off trying to revive breeds that are soon going extinct. But on the other side of the extreme happens to be among those in the fancy breeds.
A lot of these breeders are chasing after their own acclaim and glory. Behind the pretences of “betterment of the breed”, “social networking” and “meeting the standards”, there is this darkness that consumes them – affirmation. It is plain sense of belonging, being accepted and recognized!
I must admit that during this time of vulnerability, one can easily succumb to falling prey to those who seek to take advantage of others and I had been in such situation many times. In the end it was a learning process that I have to go through and learn. I realized that I have allowed those situations to happen and have since empowered myself not to allow that to ever happen again.
To think of it, it is rather sad how we have diminished ourselves in order to get that “nod” for a rabbit we own. And the irony is that, the rabbit do not change us a bit and we are still the same person inside and out. The hypocrisy really is, the judges and people around us are saying that the rabbits are beautiful, not the owner!
Today, I celebrate all the Holland Lops and friends in this hobby who have helped me discover who I truly am. I raise my cup in a toast for all my rabbits that have bring out the best in me. I thank each and every one of them for teaching me priceless life lessons – love, responsibility, patience, kindness, simplicity and many many more…
So what becomes of Tru-Luv Rabbitry?
We are still the same like always, Tru-Luv Rabbitry remains a rabbitry built on the foundation of two (2) words – True Love. Are we still raising show rabbits? Of course, “show rabbits” are only mere words that represent our commitment for quality of life we provide our rabbits with. No matter, each rabbit deserves the best from us, the steward and for only as long as they live.
Sometimes, it is not the rabbits that need improvements but it is ourselves who are in dire need of help. Help to put us in perspective and even help to wake us up from a certain hallucination.
For the day I stopped being a Show Rabbit Breeder is not the day I stopped placing my rabbits on the table but in actual fact, THE DAY I QUIT SHOW RABBITS WAS THE DAY I FOUND MYSELF…
The Grand Canyon sure can put you into perspective!
Filed under Thoughts
Tru-Luv Rabbitry: Quality Holland Lops in Malaysia 