Plush Lops

[XMissySJx]

am i right in thinking theres lots of health issues with this breed??

can anyone tell me more about them? x

[Sooz]

May I be the first to hold my hand up and say I've never heard of them? Got a picture?

[Indiechic]

never heard of a Plush lop x sounds abit like a toy x

[cavysrock]

i just searched thme, it said something like a dwarf lop with a mini rex coat?

[Jack's-Jane]

am i right in thinking theres lots of health issues with this breed??

can anyone tell me more about them? x

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/Jan-bun/Rabbits2/adorable.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/Jan-bun/Rabbits2/plushlop.jpg

http://www.canadianplushlops.com/

Janex

[XMissySJx]

yeh there dwarf lops x with rexes...

gotta think thered be some health complications there!

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg215/HelgaDorisIngeborg/BlueTort2520DaisyVic4weeks.jpg


:roll:

[XMissySJx]

just sum on another forum i sometimes go on wants to get one and i was sure there was alot of health probs with this breed, so thought id ask here so i can send the info there if i was correct :?

[Jack's-Jane]

yeh there dwarf lops x with rexes...

gotta think thered be some health complications there!




The problems I am aware of are congenital maloclussion

Janex

[AlbionLass]

yeh there dwarf lops x with rexes...

gotta think thered be some health complications there!

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg215/HelgaDorisIngeborg/BlueTort2520DaisyVic4weeks.jpg


:roll:



Poor thing looks like it's been through a hot wash cycle. :shock:

[drpengie]

Aww bless the little wee thing. Makes you wonder why they are being bred when they have such health problems.

[donnamt]

i actually wonder why there are even lops..... im fairly certain alvin has some degree of deafness, if its wet outside his ears drag in the water and when hes eating hay it really irritates him his ears get wet if hes drinking from the dog bowl too :(, i guess hes a ticking time bomb for teeth problems aswell.... its such a shame we have to medal in an animal that was already perfect... :(

[Fran]

i actually wonder why there are even lops..... im fairly certain alvin has some degree of deafness, if its wet outside his ears drag in the water and when hes eating hay it really irritates him his ears get wet if hes drinking from the dog bowl too :(, i guess hes a ticking time bomb for teeth problems aswell.... its such a shame we have to medal in an animal that was already perfect... :(

Their ears seem to bother my lot too and 3 out of 4 of mine have spurs as well :(

[AlbionLass]

I don't believe that lops if well bred suffer anymore from dental problems than 'normal' eared rabbits.
Reputable breeders spend years refining their lines and they aren't going to breed from stock with known health issues.

There is a big difference between knowledgeable breeders who have worked on a particular breed for years and know their lines inside out and who are aware of any health issues with any stock they raise and modify their breeding plans accordingly and the person breeding rabbits, even a specific breed just supply the market for pets, either by supplying shops or selling them themselves who never hangs on to an animal long enough to know if it develops health issues in later life or keeps in touch with buyers to find out about any problems.

Dental health is in the main down to diet, feeding 90% hay from an early age should safeguard a bun from teeth problems.

There will always be rabbits that are born with congenital problems, not just in lops but these are not always hereditary.

[Fifibutton]

It looks like a wee poodle! As to why the breed was created, its the same for any domestic species = money. Its starts off as a novelty but will soon have devotees I'm sure. Its a bit like crufts or the kennel club who say each breed must adhere to breed standards, even if its a bracchycephalic dog (boxer) which developes respiratory problmes or a GSD which gets dysplasia. People care more about the look of a breed than they do the health. Its such a shame this nonsense exists.

[donnamt]

i didnt get alvin from a breeder so i have no idea what his line is :(

i think if i was going to a breeder it would only be for a belgian hare and thats a dim and distant dream, until then ill take my chances with non breeds as i do with dogs :D:D

[cavysrock]

i actually wonder why there are even lops..... im fairly certain alvin has some degree of deafness, if its wet outside his ears drag in the water and when hes eating hay it really irritates him his ears get wet if hes drinking from the dog bowl too :(, i guess hes a ticking time bomb for teeth problems aswell.... its such a shame we have to medal in an animal that was already perfect... :(

I agree, I'm sure I heard that their skull shape was altered just to accomodate their ears? :( Blitzen stands on his and they have alot of scratches on them, no matter how often i trim his claws :( you ahve to literally shout him before he knows you're there :(

[donnamt]

ive just realised i spelt meddle wrong.... i certainly didnt mean a medal for messing :oops::oops::oops::oops:

[AlbionLass]

All this is completey alien to me, I've kept lops as pets for 22 years and have never had a health issue with one that could be thought of as being related to breed or noticed any problems with them hearing, or their ears getting in the way and being scratched or damaged or inconveniencing them in any way. My last two lops lived to 9 and 12.
Guess I've been lucky.

[Tamsin]

Those look nothing like the plush lops I've seen! Are they US versions?

Plush lops look just like minilops but have rex style fur. Not the curly fur in those photos!

They shouldn't have any more issues with maloclusion than a normal mini lop - they're the same shape just different fur. I guess they could have the same issue rexes can have with thin fur on their hocks but that's bad breeding in rexes - not every rex has sore hocks.

Tamsin

[BunnyBekkie]

I think it's something you don't realise until you actually have a lop. Biscuit's had more than her fair share of her of trips to the vets. She has problems with her tear ducts, which is a common problem in lops because of their scull shape. Doesn't stop her from being the happiest most loving bunny ever though!

[Tamsin]

You have to keep in mind a lot of the lops that we own aren't actually mini or dwarf lops. They are pet shop lops (bred to look cute not to conform to breed guidelines or good health). You can call um mini/dwarf from the size but their shapes are different and a lot fall in between sizes too :lol:

Tam

[ZakuraRabbit]

I don't think any health problems relating to this breed should be related to what breed it actually is...
If you breed a healthy minirex to a healthy lop dwarf there is no reason the offspring would randomly get a genetic disorder out of nowhere.
Its just a lop dwarf with rex fur...or a mini rex with lop ears and shouldn't be any more unhealthy than a regular lop or mini rex rabbit.

Breed two unhealthy rabbits and you get unhealthy kits! This is regardless of breed and the reason NO unhealthy rabbit should be used in breeding, no matter how "cute" it may be.

[Jack's-Jane]

I don't think any health problems relating to this breed should be related to what breed it actually is...
If you breed a healthy minirex to a healthy lop dwarf there is no reason the offspring would randomly get a genetic disorder out of nowhere.
Its just a lop dwarf with rex fur...or a mini rex with lop ears and shouldn't be any more unhealthy than a regular lop or mini rex rabbit.

Breed two unhealthy rabbits and you get unhealthy kits! This is regardless of breed and the reason NO unhealthy rabbit should be used in breeding, no matter how "cute" it may be.


Sorry, have to disagree with some of what you say.
Using the Velveteens as an example (origionally English Lop x Rex) the very fact that you are Rexing a heavy breed is going to cause problems with sore hocks even if the origional Rex was not effected

Also, congenital dental disease has to start some-where. By crossing two breeds with obviously different skull conformation is surely asking for trouble

Janex

[charlie82]

Sorry, have to disagree with some of what you say.
Using the Velveteens as an example (origionally English Lop x Rex) the very fact that you are Rexing a heavy breed is going to cause problems with sore hocks even if the origional Rex was not effected

Also, congenital dental disease has to start some-where. By crossing two breeds with obviously different skull conformation is surely asking for trouble

Janex

Agreed...

Also I hate this 'breeder spend years refining their lines' talk... They do this by mostly necking the rabbits deemed unfit.
I think a lot of rabbits are being bred for our pleasure as opposed for the benefit of the breed. Lionheads are another example....

[ZakuraRabbit]

Sorry, have to disagree with some of what you say.
Using the Velveteens as an example (origionally English Lop x Rex) the very fact that you are Rexing a heavy breed is going to cause problems with sore hocks even if the origional Rex was not effected

Also, congenital dental disease has to start some-where. By crossing two breeds with obviously different skull conformation is surely asking for trouble

Janex
Dwarf lops are small...even smaller than standard rexes.
I've never heard of a lop mix getting problems simply for being mix of two rabbits with different skulls...Zakura's parents were a lop dwarf and a netherland dwarf and her teeth are fine, also we had an accidental mating at school from a lop dwarf mother and the father appeared to be either a rex or a checkered giant, most likely rex.
I have known a few breeders who tried to create plush lops too and I haven't heard of any teeth deformities regarding this mix.

And Charlie, 'breeder spend years refining their lines' does not automatically mean that any "unfit" rabbit gets killed. They could just sell them to pet homes.
On a side-note:
Even a non-showable rabbit too could get showable good kits if bred to the correct mate. Say you've got a rex with a great fur quality but its got a poor body type, it could be bred to another rex with a good body type and get offspring that are okay:D (and some offspring that aren't...but that's the risk you get in any breeding, it happens in dogs, rabbits, cats anything!)
SOME breeders may kill the "bad" offspring yes, but assuming such without even knowing said person really isn't fair!

[kitschkitty]

Dwarf lops are small...even smaller than standard rexes.
I've never heard of a lop mix getting problems simply for being mix of two rabbits with different skulls...Zakura's parents were a lop dwarf and a netherland dwarf and her teeth are fine, also we had an accidental mating at school from a lop dwarf mother and the father appeared to be either a rex or a checkered giant, most likely rex.
I have known a few breeders who tried to create plush lops too and I haven't heard of any teeth deformities regarding this mix.

And Charlie, 'breeder spend years refining their lines' does not automatically mean that any "unfit" rabbit gets killed. They could just sell them to pet homes.
On a side-note:
Even a non-showable rabbit too could get showable good kits if bred to the correct mate. Say you've got a rex with a great fur quality but its got a poor body type, it could be bred to another rex with a good body type and get offspring that are okay:D (and some offspring that aren't...but that's the risk you get in any breeding, it happens in dogs, rabbits, cats anything!)
SOME breeders may kill the "bad" offspring yes, but assuming such without even knowing said person really isn't fair!

fair enough, but showable doesn't mean healthy.

Also when breeding many types of animals to a particular standard the gene pool becomes far to small in the bid to reach the show standard. It is this reduced gene pool that often leads to congenital health problems.

[Jack's-Jane]

Dwarf lops are small...even smaller than standard rexes.
I've never heard of a lop mix getting problems simply for being mix of two rabbits with different skulls...Zakura's parents were a lop dwarf and a netherland dwarf and her teeth are fine, also we had an accidental mating at school from a lop dwarf mother and the father appeared to be either a rex or a checkered giant, most likely rex.
I have known a few breeders who tried to create plush lops too and I haven't heard of any teeth deformities regarding this mix.

And Charlie, 'breeder spend years refining their lines' does not automatically mean that any "unfit" rabbit gets killed. They could just sell them to pet homes.
On a side-note:
Even a non-showable rabbit too could get showable good kits if bred to the correct mate. Say you've got a rex with a great fur quality but its got a poor body type, it could be bred to another rex with a good body type and get offspring that are okay:D (and some offspring that aren't...but that's the risk you get in any breeding, it happens in dogs, rabbits, cats anything!)
SOME breeders may kill the "bad" offspring yes, but assuming such without even knowing said person really isn't fair!

Dwarf Lop x Rex

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/Jan-bun/Picture653-1.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/Jan-bun/Rabbits2/Picture1196.jpg

Janex

[Deelove]

Remember the original lops were probably a fluke of nature that someone liked the look of and decided to breed. Rather than cross breeding it was selective breeding. So I'm not sure why a lop would automatically have more health problems?

The fur on those plush lops looks a devon cat. I guess it's longer than a normal rex's fur since it hasn't been perfected yet. After all a rex goes curly when wet. :)

[charlie82]

Dwarf lops are small...even smaller than standard rexes.
I've never heard of a lop mix getting problems simply for being mix of two rabbits with different skulls...Zakura's parents were a lop dwarf and a netherland dwarf and her teeth are fine, also we had an accidental mating at school from a lop dwarf mother and the father appeared to be either a rex or a checkered giant, most likely rex.
I have known a few breeders who tried to create plush lops too and I haven't heard of any teeth deformities regarding this mix.

And Charlie, 'breeder spend years refining their lines' does not automatically mean that any "unfit" rabbit gets killed. They could just sell them to pet homes.
On a side-note:
Even a non-showable rabbit too could get showable good kits if bred to the correct mate. Say you've got a rex with a great fur quality but its got a poor body type, it could be bred to another rex with a good body type and get offspring that are okay:D (and some offspring that aren't...but that's the risk you get in any breeding, it happens in dogs, rabbits, cats anything!)
SOME breeders may kill the "bad" offspring yes, but assuming such without even knowing said person really isn't fair!

Actually I do know of a said person who does this and it seems the norm for any kits that are born with congenital problems i.e dental issues. How can breeders claim to be responsible breeders if they then pass these buns on to pet homes but aren't prepared to keep them themselves?

Fact is, primarily most dental issues are related to congenital problems as opposed to incorrect diets. Dental issues related to diets are generally reversable once the problem is discovered. Lifelong problems are the result of poor breeding and bone conformation. A good diet can help minimise the damage but it can never cure the problem.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against breeders who breed responsibly and for the benefit of the breed nor do I want to get involved in a debate about it....I just think a lot of the time we do so to create specific traits for our own personal gain. Why else breed a long haired rabbit for example, whose fur will mat if not groomed, who is then at further risk of something like fly strike and gut blockages because they can't cope with grooming themselves. Seems a little selfish on our part to me.

[Tamsin]

Can people please keep in mind that what one person does or what one rabbit looks like is not necessarily indicative of what everyone person is like. When you start talking in stereotypes like that you start offending people.

Tamsin

[XMissySJx]

sorry this wasnt created for a breeder row :(:(:(

i jus wanted 2 kno if there was any major problems with this breed that they shud be aware of

[Sooz]

sorry this wasnt created for a breeder row :(:(:(

i jus wanted 2 kno if there was any major problems with this breed that they shud be aware of

If they are Dwarf x Rex I would think, taking the general health isues associated with each breed you are looking at:

*Maloclussion mainly in the molars
*Prone to ear infections/infestations
*Prone to eye problems
*Prone to sore hocks
*Possibility of congenital heart defects as Rex's seem to be prone to problems with their hearts.

[rspcarabbits]

The perfect rabbit is a wild one........it took millions of years to create and generally speaking the further you move away from it the more chances you have of problems .

I've read a lot on these pages about breeders improving the breed ect but the sad fact is ,it was already pretty perfect genetically speaking before anybody thought they could improve on it or change it for whatever reason.

Anybody setting out to improve a breed is using a pretty blunt instrument that results in unfortunate mistakes.Evolution is all about small incremental changes for the better and here we are thinking we can do it in a few generations.

Yes I have to admit I like the fabulous look of certain breeds but if I was asked at the onset whether I would prefer a tame "wild one " or all the suffering our tampering has resulted in ,I know what the answer would be.

Having to have all 6 front teeth removed from a 4 month old male lop last week with a grossly overshot jaw is pretty sad..... and he's the lucky one .The others either get "necked " by the "responsible" breeder or palmed off onto the unsuspecting public by the irresponsible one often resulting in horrendous suffering over along period of time.......What a choice!.

Please forgive my rant.... but if you had seen as much of it as we and all rescues have, you would understand our position.

[cashmincal]

Some Netherlands Dwarfs are prone to dental problems :( I don't know enough about Plush Lops to make a comment.

[coco1200]

http://www.konijnen.be/nederlands/hangoorrex.htm


:shock:
about plush lops. read the second paragraph
is that right??!!

[XMissySJx]

If they are Dwarf x Rex I would think, taking the general health isues associated with each breed you are looking at:

*Maloclussion mainly in the molars
*Prone to ear infections/infestations
*Prone to eye problems
*Prone to sore hocks
*Possibility of congenital heart defects as Rex's seem to be prone to problems with their hearts.

thanks sooz

[capel]

I think that paragraph about sums it up....

[honeybunny]

The paragraph about culling is sickening and sums up why so many are anti breeding:cry:

[Tamsin]

Culling just means selecting which animals are removed from the breeding lines. It can just mean deciding which ones to sell.

Tamsin

[Lucy]

Thats not like any version of culling I have ever heard of. Culling doesn't generally mean selling off rabbits, it means killing them. It would have been worded differently, like selecting the best rabbits to continue the line, if that was the case.

When we talk about culling seals or squirrels we all know it means killing them, not rehoming them to another iceburg or forest.

[rspcarabbits]

Culling just means selecting which animals are removed from the breeding lines. It can just mean deciding which ones to sell.

Tamsin

Culling is culling and anybody reading that link knows it involves the destruction of unsuitable rabbits in the desire to produce a valuable commodity.

This is what goes on and for heaven's sake lets not try and disguise what breeders do in the name of political correctness or give any unreasonable benefit of the doubt. It is clear from the passage that they would never be able to, or want to re-home all their failed experiments just on numbers alone.

When we hear of a breeder trying to breed out problems in a rabbit type, this is for the greater part what it means. When breeders talk between themselves this is their type of speak and they see no wrong in it, they are blinded by the desire for success ,kudos and not for rabbit welfare. This most certainly is not "Rabbits United" "working in harmony for a better future" which is what an awful lot of us come on here for.

I refer the reader of this to my other post a few posts back .

[cashmincal]

Culling just means selecting which animals are removed from the breeding lines. It can just mean deciding which ones to sell

That is true. Culling does not mean to kill.

[MaxiandScottandbuns]

"Culling", even if meant as just removing certain bunnies, does NOT sound like a term a responsible, bunny-loving person would use

As for these plush lops, theyre so obviously a health disaster

Why cant people just leave well alone

[Jack's-Jane]

Culling is culling and anybody reading that link knows it involves the destruction of unsuitable rabbits in the desire to produce a valuable commodity.

This is what goes on and for heaven's sake lets not try and disguise what breeders do in the name of political correctness or give any unreasonable benefit of the doubt. It is clear from the passage that they would never be able to, or want to re-home all their failed experiments just on numbers alone.

When we hear of a breeder trying to breed out problems in a rabbit type, this is for the greater part what it means. When breeders talk between themselves this is their type of speak and they see no wrong in it, they are blinded by the desire for success ,kudos and not for rabbit welfare. This most certainly is not "Rabbits United" "working in harmony for a better future" which is what an awful lot of us come on here for.

I refer the reader of this to my other post a few posts back .

Tamsin actually said ' culling can mean deciding which Rabbits to sell, she certainly is not implying that it always means that but in some cases it does.

I am against the deliberate Breeding of Rabbits in general and of 'playing with nature' by 'creating' new breeds. But not all Breeders are the devil incarnate and they most certainly do not all kill unwanted 'stock'

Janex

[ZakuraRabbit]

"Culling", even if meant as just removing certain bunnies, does NOT sound like a term a responsible, bunny-loving person would use

As for these plush lops, theyre so obviously a health disaster

Why cant people just leave well alone

You'd rather every single rabbit in the litter were used for further breeding?
I'd rather sell half my litter as pets and not breed them on than to use everyone for breeding (which of course would mean even more rabbits are born)

[abbymarysmokey]

I am against the deliberate Breeding of Rabbits in general and of 'playing with nature' by 'creating' new breeds. But not all Breeders are the devil incarnate and they most certainly do not all kill unwanted 'stock'

Janex

I know of a lot in Nottinghamshire are who certainly DO kill off unwanted stock...and also some that dump unwanted stock on rescues which the threat that if the rescue doesn't take them, they'll be necked. :cry:

[Inimical Me]

Wow, I've never seen an astrex coat before... I didn't think there were any astrex coated rabbits?

It's all just creating new breeds for novelty's sake. The poor thing does look like it's been through a spin cycle...

[WalnutEarth626]

http://www.konijnen.be/nederlands/hangoorrex.htm


:shock:
about plush lops. read the second paragraph
is that right??!!

To put this link in perpective, thats a Dutch Stud, and the dutch have a very high rabbit meat trade. So its highly likely those rabbits were culled humanely and used for meat. I know that won't make any better to the vegetarians on here but I always get the impression that people here think culling is about a rabbit being mistreated before being bludgeoned with a block of wood! Thats invariably not the case. And before you slate the Dutch, they do some things better than we do - for example they insist that all show rabbits be vaccinated.

Tamsin is right, the word cull does NOT mean kill.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Culling

Infact if a breeder is going to talk about 'killing' excess stock they'll invariably use the work 'knock' not cull.

Back to SJ's original question. AFAIK there is only one person working on Plush Lops in the UK. That person is an experienced rex breeder and Judge so knows about all the potential hock issues and is working hard to avoid those. A Plush lop should weigh 2 - 3lb less than a Standard rex so hopefully this lower weight limit will do something to alleviate the sore hock problems. There are also other breeders working on Miniature Plush Lops - and again these are breeders that have kept Rex for 40 years so are well aware of the hock issues and how to breed them out.

if you want to know about Plush lops see if you can find some Australian sites, Australia uses the BRC standards so is alot better to look at than any American/Canadian sites. Australia have a limited gene pool so have less breeds than here in the UK, so often create new ones and this is where the UK inspiration for the Plush lop came from. Please be aware when looking at Australian sites that the Australian government views rabbits as pest so no vaccines are available and vet treatment is harder to find so alot of excess is 'knocked' so you may find references to this.

Finally the photos at the start of this thread are Astrex lops - the astrex gene is almost extinct in the UK so any UK Plush lops should have smooth coats.

[PrincessPeaches24]

I just wanted to add that ALL breeds were at one time "New Breeds"
ALL rabbits came from a speciese of wild rabbit. so anyone owning any kind of rabbit thats not wild and saying they are against this are being hypocrytical.

Not all breeders are bad, and just because they are trying to create a new breed does not mean they dont care about health problems.

[xangex]

I'm new here, so bare with me on this as it's my 1st post I've read.....

Culling doesn't just mean killing of an animal. Like most words 'culling' has a double meaning in our modern world.
I breed, new at it and still learning, like you do in most things in life. I 'cull' but I don't use the word, it's doesn't sound nice. And the breeders I know don't use it either. I cull in the meaning of they end up pet home bunnies, not kill them.

As for lops having medical conditions - that's true - my 1st ever 2 rabbits I got were dwarf lops, buck lasted 8 months and doe was only 3 when she died. My mum breed them (not something I wanted as they were brother and sister) and that was a total diaster. Apart from 1 having it's jaw broken by doe I had another 1 that I kept that have teeth problems when it was about 10 months old. Mum at about 9-10 months old had same problem.
I later found out that the parents of my 1st 2 were closely related!....

.....When getting my mini lops for breeding and any of our rabbits for that matter the teeth were the 1st thing I looked at and I then went down my check list - eyes, ears, coat, overall health etc.
Which everyone should do when getting a rabbit, pet shop or breeder.

I have to point out not every breeder is a good breeder!
It's like with any animal which is breed the bad ones bring everyone down.

I found this post, as I'm looking in to bring my own line of plush lops.
It's a dwarf lop x standard rex and a mini plush lop is a mini lop x mini rex.
All my rabbits are in the best of health.
Yes it's a designer rabbit, and somewhere down the line there will be health problems like with all new lines and new breeds if not starting with healthy stock.

Everyone on here want the best for every rabbit in this world, I am the same.
We all have our own opinon and rightly so we should voice it.
As I have here.
But it has got a bit heated and a few didn't read the article very well did they.

[Helga]

Hi Everyone; I am writing from Canada where we have been developing the curly coated Canadian Plush Lop for about ten years. I have been alerted to the questions appearing on this forum concerning this kind of rabbit. I am very distressed, because some of the photos shown here are of our Canadian Plush Lops and a number of people appear to be very critical of "health problems" in the breed.

This is not fair and also untrue.

The Blue buck, Poodles, is out in my rabbitry at this very moment and he is covered in curls, nearly two years old and very healthy.

The same goes for the Blue Cream doe pictured here on this forum as a four week old baby. She is out in the rabbitry as well. Both of these rabbits have never been sick and their teeth are fine.

We did have a problem with misaligned teeth about six years ago. This was traced to a Holland Lop buck used in the initial development. A back cross to this buck confirmed this and the lines from this animal were not kept in the breeding program.

These rabbits have the curly rexed fur genes also found in the Astrex breed. They look very tousled as babies, indeed as if they have been washed and dried. But their appearance is natural to them, and in no way means they are unhealthy.

A very broad genetic base was used to develop these rabbits. They have been developed from the very beginning as a perfect pet and rabbit agility animal. They are very animated and athletic and this may be the only breed where most individual animals will follow you all over the place, even if they were not extensively handled as babies. They are good with dogs and cats and other animals, as they have a very bold and fearless temperament.

If a Mini Rex or a rabbit of any other breed gets loose in the rabbitry it takes a lot of time and a careful deployment of traps to catch them again. The loose CPLop (Canadian Plush Lop) just runs right up to you when you come out to the rabbitry. I recall one day when a whole line of cages were left open by mistake. This resulted in three does getting loose. One was a Mini Rex; the other two were CPLops. I opened the door, not knowing anything about it. My first indication that rabbits were loose were the two CPLop does, who converged on me so fast they actually bumped into each other right in front of me. So I said, "you want your dinner, guys?" and the two of them followed me to their hutches and both got picked up and put back and got their food. The loose Mini Rex doe took me two days to finally catch. I handle all my animals as much as I can, each breed the same, as I show my Mini Rex. But they do not have this temperament. The CPLops are truly a domesticated breed.

So please, do not spread misinformation about Plush Lops. Some of us are working very hard to create a unique and lovely rabbit, and seeing these discussed in this negative way on this forum is very upsetting.

If anyone would like to see a bit more about them, go to the following page

http://web.mac.com/helgav/Golden_Spike_Rabbitry/Podcast/Entries/2007/10/5_Canadian_Plush_Lops_(click_me)__.html

it might take awhile to load because of all the photos, but give it a minute. Thanks for listening, Helga

[Helga]

I would like to remind everyone that the wild dog is a wolf and that in the past few thousand years it has been selected for temperament and altered in such a way that it makes a good companion and working animal. A wolf is not merely a wild dog, it is a wild ancestor and as such makes a very poor and indeed dangerous "pet". It is not domesticated. It will not respond all that well to living in proximity with humans. The same goes for a wild rabbit. If we want to have rabbits as pets, livestock (for meat, wool and fur) it is far better to select them for a suitable tame temperament. Same with any other domestic animal.

Oh and by the way, malocclusion also occurs in the wild. And 90% of all wild baby rabbits do not survive their first year. Most die due to various diseases and the rest are killed and eaten by various predators. If you have ever had the misfortune to observe helplessly while a cat or fox carries off a screaming baby rabbit, you will think twice about how nice the process of selection is "in nature". If you have ever tried to save a baby wild rabbit found dying of cocci then you will think twice about the way a breeder will manage their stock.

And if the animal is killed by a breeder, it is frequent done with tears and prayer, and it is merciful and swift, which is more than I can say of mother nature.

Breeders may select for various qualities, like weight, colour, coat or temperament, but they usually are able to ensure that the animals are healthy and have rich and interesting lives. Mortality and morbidity is far lower in most breeders' barns than in the wild.

So please folks let's be a little more tolerant of one another. Those of us who breed domestic animals should not be castigated and vilified on this forum.

[beatrixstud]

Hello all , I have not been on here for a while but a good friend of mine sent this link to me ,
Firstly every one has been talking about health issues , and the bad traits of this breed ,
Can anyone here actually tell me if they have seem one in the flesh from a reputable breeder who breeds for the love of the rabbit and to improve the rabbits conformation and health ???
If you have not then I assume you are all making assumptions based on un proved theories .
I know a breeder whom breeds for the love of the rabbits only , and spends thousands and thousands of $ on her rabbits a year with little return and does it to improve the rabbits health and type so the rabbits of the future will not be burdened with bad traits and type . And yes she does breed the canadian plush lop , a rare and beautiful rabbit , and one she is trying to preserve , I too am starting to breed the Astrex in the UK , as by chance a curly coat turned up into my litter of mini rex , it is a gene that is already there in the breed , as was in the 1950s it was a recognised breed , it is not some moster that has been created by irresponsible breeders , the genes are in the breed already , what I am doing is to capture this gene and through responsible selective breeding to gene carriers, and am producing curly rabbits all so far have been healthy bunnies with no issues or health problems at all ! Which I am sure is what we all want , I also re home and rescue rabbits , I do not breed to sell on , I breed to improve, and if you think the curly coat does not "look " nice that is your opinion , I do not understand that because it does not look "nice " it must be suffering in some way or have conjenital problems , ????
I personally think thay look lovely and deserve a chance at survival hence why I am working at re intruducing them back to the UK .
And just so you know , I will not sell any of them , so they will not be in the rehomes and rescues .
I am completely self funded , I do not make any money from rabbits , and I do not kill rabbits that are not wanted , there are actually alot of responsible breeders out there , and the few that do things the bad way give everyone else a bad name. Please do not tar us all with the same brush , you will not find someone more loving & devoted to animals .
from marie-claire