The feeling of seeing cute things can be hard to describe but we cannot deny the fact that they usually tickle a part of our heart. I am a sucker for cute things and that is one of the reasons why I find Holland Lop rabbits attractive.
I am thankful that throughout my life there has been a constant supply of cute things.
As Thanksgiving Day draws near, can you recall the cute things that you are grateful for?
Filed under Greetings, Random Topics
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
Filed under 6 Buns A Week
Tru-Luv Rabbitry: Quality Holland Lops in Malaysia 