Happy New Year To All!!!

The Reputation Of A Breeder

As 2009 draws to a close, I would just like to explain why it is important for me to pass along my rabbits to trustworthy people. I have gone through a lot of local rabbit websites and weblogs. They are all appalling. Tons of mixes will be hitting the market really soon and on a constant basis.

Tru-Luv Rabbitry does not only carry the name Tru-Luv Rabbitry. My rabbits are tattooed and comes with a 4 generation pedigree. Together with this pedigree lies the various rabbitry names in the lineage. Not only my reputation is at stake, the reputations of all those names are also at stake.

Take for instance when an idiot (breeder wannabe) buys my rabbit and breeds it into his/her local stocks, I am sure as a marketing strategy, he/she will give the lineage a good mention too either verbally or through their incomplete pedigrees. In so doing, it only tarnishes our reputation and in the long run will hurt really bad.

Bear in mind, Tru-Luv Rabbitry and all other SERIOUS rabbitries only breed for quality. If ever something bad crops up, gone are these names into the dumpster. I believe this is the very reason why most breeders cull their unsatisfactory stocks too.

So here is what you should always look out for. Make sure that the pedigree is complete with 4 generations of rabbits listed and a tattoo on the left ear. These are but a few controls that TLR practices and I hope that no counterfeits are produced out there.

Dear breeders, our reputations are at stake and we cannot control the action of others, but at least take up the responsibility to steer the lost onto the path of righteousness!

Happy New Year everyone & everybun!

Poor Dasher

I got a little bored today and SB suggested that I go let one of the bunnies loose. I did just that and ...

I come, I see...

Beth shouted, "Dad dad, take him away!"

Santa said, "Ho Oh No No, poor Dasher!"

Beth said, "Dad dad, my reindeer is wet..."

Oooops!

"Santa, I feel violated!"

Better feast for the eyes

Did I also mention that 2010 will see better quality pictures for TLR? I have been stretching the capabilities of my Canon PowerShot A710 for far too long and you must have noticed I no longer take photos in the evening as they turn out extremely bad.

A blogger's best friend is a good camera. My wife and I decided to get ourselves a Canon EOS 1000D code name (Rebel XS). I love the word Rebel because that's what I am (as what my mom calls me) - LOL!

Here's my first attempt using my new toy:

goo goo gaa gaa

squeeeEeeeezeeEeee

ho ho ho

I'll bite!

As cute as Orlando Bloom!

If there isn't much difference with my previous pictures, then it is user's problem ok? LOL!!!

#1 2010 Resolution Under The Microscope

2009 brought about a great wave in terms of interest in Holland Lops. Like mushrooms sprouting throughout the nation, every lop ear rabbit is labeled as a HOLLAND LOP. Let me just share with you a photo I took at a famous pet shop on the eve of Christmas eve.

Left To DIE!

Who to blame? I say you and I, WE have a role in the death of this poor bunny. We all know the simple facts of business - demand & supply. In the midst of fulfilling demands, edges are cut to earn a little more. DISPOSABLE is what rabbits are today! Just like a novelty toy, a rabbit is so disposable because it is cheap. It is alright to have them die because there are many more available out there! At the front of this renown pet shop, it is WRITTEN big and clear - WE CARE. And it also has something seemed to be the 10 commandments of the advantages of having PETS and "teaches children responsibility" is one of them. They won't be any responsibility lesson if the poor pet keeps on dying on the poor child!

Yes, my friends. all our hands are tainted with blood because of this LUST for MONEY. It is a vicious cycle.

2009 again saw a year of great demand for Netherland Dwarfs, Dwarf Hotots and Holland Lops. Did we fail in our execution in marketing and awareness? Is there an imbalance between education and money making? Did we not get the message across clearer than before?

Between year 2007 & 2008, we covered the basics in the local forums. We were shouting for HAY and brands like OXBOW. So we have them today.

Today, a few days before 2009 ends, I cannot help but to feel that the road ahead is much more treacherous than before. Indeed, we need to find a balance to the force. Breeder wannabes are labeling their lop ear rabbits as Holland Lop just like how once someone did that and have caught so many unaware. Ill informed men and women who are blinded by mere "cuteness". How are we to deal with this?

You see, like the earth, we need to find balance. I have raise this point many times and I am writing it again. We are about to overpopulate our country with rabbits. What QUALITY of rabbits do we want to see in our future? Do we settle merely for what we call "PET" quality or do we strive to do better?

Many local rabbit weblogs stated very clearly that "Animals are creation of God, and we govern over them". Yes, we govern over them and we must decide what GOOD we make of them! Even the cow has got good use for its meat! Do we allow our beloved pets to live in filth to be bred in horrendous conditions?

For the past 2 days, after a long time not wanting to visit some depressing local rabbit weblogs, I browse through a few of them and I couldn't help but to feel really disappointed that we are indeed back at square one. We all hope that these wannabes do the RIGHT thing.

My wife puts it in very simple perspective. Everyone can afford to stay in any hotel but not everyone can afford staying in a BOUTIQUE hotel. Applying that to the world of rabbits, it would mean that everyone can own a Holland Lop but not everyone can own exclusive purebred Holland Lops!

I am indeed glad Tru-Luv Rabbitry has not bred many rabbits in year 2009 but for each bred and raised here, they are at least of decent quality. QUALITY NOT quantity my friends. Whether you like it or not, I love to brag because in bragging, someone else will find it hard to accept and in that, I hope they improve! Tolong jangan DENGKI & JEALOUS!

Stop believing hearsay about what rabbit should look like. Go get a copy of the Standard of Perfection from the organization of your CHOICE and compare that with your stocks. If they aren't close enough, you should just stop whatever you are doing! That's if you are working with purebred. But then again, there isn't any in betweens because in my books, a breeder's 1st objective is defined with only 1 word, IMPROVEMENT. Ask yourself what is there to improve in your breeding program and that will spark off the first notion of awareness. Move on to seek clarification and embrace CHANGE!

I love each and everyone of my rabbits whether they are with me or those that I have shared out with fellow enthusiasts. I look at them and my troubles go away and in my heart, I could tell the wannabes, YOU WILL NEVER BE ME!

Here's Balian and Sibylla, bidding everyone Happy New Year 2010!

Tru-Luv Balian

At least we have bone now...

Tru-Luv Sibylla

THICK!

My dear friends, the #1 2010 Resolution for me is indeed to again EDUCATE the general public how it is like to find a responsible breeder and to avoid BACKYARD BREEDERS.

Look through my eyes, there is LIFE within me

Happy New Year 2010

It is the time of the year again that we all have our personal reviews and resolutions for the coming year. Before mentioning the resolutions that I have for year 2010, I would like to review the objectives for year 2009.

And the indicators are:

BLUE -ACHIEVED

GREEN – IN PROGRESS

RED – ACHIEVED BUT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

2009 Objectives:

1 ) Chocolate Holland Lops

Had a major setback when I lost Seychel but I am sure the chocolates will pop up in future.

2 ) Continue promoting ethical breeding & responsible ownership

3 ) Making more bunny friends around the world

4 ) Importing nicer foundation stocks

An objective met and I must say a hundred fold thanks to all the help of great friends namely Scott, Kay & Teri.

5 ) Praying harder to have constant Oxbow supplies

We have another brand available and my herd no longer depend on just Oxbow.

6 ) Renewing HLRSC membership

7 ) Continue posting on a daily basis with quality contents

8 ) Continue sharing quality Holland Lops at reasonable prices to highly intellectual individuals (LOL!)

Can't say that I have shared much lately due to less production. Not complaining at all.

9 ) To master color genetics

Took a little U-turn to fall back on working with TORTs. Color can wait

10 ) Revamp Meadow Haven

Done deal!

What year 2010 holds for TLR? Here are some of my major resolutions for year 2010:

1) Continue producing the best Holland Lops in Malaysia.

2) Working with another breed.

3) Continue moving forward faster so that the rest would keep up even faster!

4) Educating the general public and raising awareness of differences between the original Holland Lop & the counterfeit.

5) Help MROC take off to greater heights with new and lasting leadership and participation.

I'll just stick with these 5 objectives for now.

Happy New Year 2010 everyone!

Merry "Bunny" Christmas!!!

Technically, this is the 2nd last post for year 2009. I will be taking a little break this holiday season so there will not be any post till after Christmas. I believe the next issue of the MROC Newsletter would be delayed because most if not all my fellow committee members are so busy with their own vacations.

From all of us here in Meadow Haven, we would like to wish everyone the Merriest of Christmas. May all stomach be filled with great food and stockings filled with ipods, handphones and many interesting presents.

Cheers to all!!!

* background photo courtesy of Cheri Bushee (love ya mom!) of Dovehill Rabbitry

Not Forgotten

Though there is much hype surrounding the rabbitry for the past few days, it may seemed that I have forgotten about my babies. No, I have not!

Here are some photos taken today of Balian and Sibylla:

She is looking better as each day passes. Not that cooperative this morning with a little low head mount

He is really going into the "uglies" stage

The Future of TLR

As all of you already know, I constantly make improvements in the rabbitry and am not afraid to try out new things. For that reason, I really want to express my heartiest thanks to Teri & Stephen Reymann for sending me 2 of their finest rabbits. They arrived safely today and I just picked them up at the airport. Everyone and everybun is dead tired so please forgive me if the rabbits do not seemed to be posed well. They needed much break too after the long journey and believe me, these photos really do not do them justice as far as posing is concerned.

My Christmas has just been completed this year with the addition of this 2 wonderful rabbits! I have been toying with the idea of owning a Netherland Dwarf and I can't resist any further. Sonshine's Goodie Two Shoes (Tiramishu) is such a beautiful Black Otter Netherland Dwarf. She has got at the most 1.5 inches of ears!

Sonshine's Brown Sugar (Java) is a hot tort Holland Lop babe that has really chunky bones. She just blow me away every time! And she's a lot of personality already!

I should have uploaded this earlier!

Don't you just love her?

I love the upright SHORT ears!!!

Chunky!

Really short ears!!!

I love her, REALLY!!!

Love the crown and curve!

She's filled with personality right now!

Hawt BABY Java!

I am hugging her to sleep!

Look out for more SURPRISES coming in near future!

Carmel as sweet as caramel

I sometimes wonder how breeders with over 30 rabbits in their barn chooses their favorite bunnies. I am very glad that each and every rabbit that I have raised and owned so far is my personal favorite in their own special ways. I feel very fortunate to have a herd of rabbits where each and everyone is my favorite. It is so hard for me to answer the question of which is really my favorite because my heart is basically equally divided for each and everyone of them.

Today is Carmel's day out and after giving her a little brushing, I decided to take a few shots of her. I found that she is very hard to pose but if left alone, she poses very well naturally. She'll always give me the "don't touch me, I know how to do it myself" kind of look whenever I try to pose her.

I know it has been quite monotonous as I have been posting a lot of show pose photos of the rabbits. I thought of sharing some candid shot of her. It is pretty hard to get candid shots of her because she is such a natural poser. LOL!

My favorite side profile of Carmel thus far...

I like to squeeze her really tight!!!

Just love the crown and the cute ears!!!

Tru-Luv Balian & Tru-Luv Sibylla

The movie Kingdom of Heaven starring Orlando Bloom happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time. I have decided to rename Papadoom to Balian and Mooruku to Sibylla.

Tru-Luv Balian

Tru-Luv Sibylla

In Search Of New Names

The time has finally come to rename these 2 babies and they are suppose to be tattoo-ed anytime now but I have yet to get 2 more digits that I need so tattooing just have to wait a little while longer.

I don't feel so well today so I am not gonna crack my head for new names too. I'll just put that idea behind my mind and will get to it soon.

Here's some photos of the 2 cutie pies...

Mooruku's side profile

Looking really cute!

Will get better in time...I hope...LOL

Papadoom's side profile

Front, I am loving it....

My favorite photo of him thus far

Hope they grow into their ears. That would be nice...

When It All Begins: The History Of Tru-Luv Rabbitry

Just a blink of an eye, almost 3 years has passed since I set my eyes on the first Holland Lop on the internet. It was The Nature Trail's Rio that got the ball rolling. Prior to discovering Holland Lops on the internet, my interest in this breed started way back in year 2000, which is 3 years after the first edition of Encyclopaedia of Rabbits & Rodents by Esther Verhoef - Verhallen (ISBN: 1840530677) was published in 1997.

It was that 2 cute Holland Lop kits that start it all

If you ask me today, I would say that it is strange that the book mixed both rodents and rabbits together but back then it did not cross my mind that rodents and rabbits are under different subclasses. I felt it was a complete guide for a pet lover like me and I still think this book ROCKS! The rabbit breeds written were mostly European breeds and I am very glad that the Holland Lop got a very thorough mention.

Being a pet lover, the pets section is all that I paid attention to whenever I visit the bookstore and the bookstore happen to be one of my favorite hang out places. I happen to have purchased this book back in 1998. I also have my parents to thank for nurturing this interest and love for animals in me that now I find to be one of the most important characteristics a child has got to acquire especially in this world today.

I bred my first pair of rabbits at age 8 though I started having pets much earlier. We have ornamental fishes all the time as my father have a huge pond with Japanese Koi in it. We also have dogs all the time as they guarded the house very faithfully.

Memories

Come to think about it, I have always kept my rabbits in separate cages. In year 2000, I actually got myself a little lop ear doe with my meager allowance and this little doe was vicious. She has got the worst attitude. The last rabbit from that herd of 5 passed away in year 2003 and I did not have any rabbits since until end of 2006.

Thinking back, rabbits really were and will always be the joy of my life. Wonder how life would be without rabbits. Glad that I still have this wonderful pet today. I believe rabbits will always be apart of the family in many generations to come...

Isn't that precious?

Ivy Crescent's Haley

I noticed that I have not written much about this doe that will be the heart of my herd. If asked what is the perfect example of a Holland Lop that I have in mind, I'll definitely point to Haley's head. I share the same preference with Scott Rodriguez' idea of how a Holland Lop's head should be. Scott always mentioned that a Holland has got to have a head and I couldn't agree more. Look at Hollands that place in most shows today and you will notice the massive heads. I strongly believe that a Holland Lop's head is what makes it "bulldoggish". Together with a massive typey body, it creates the cutest of all rabbits.

Every breeder breeds for certain styles and I love the heads on the rabbits that Scott breeds. Each time I see Haley, I feel really proud to have her. I wish that I could continue developing this trait in my lines.

At last, a decent side profile of Haley!

Isn't she the cutest bunny?

A heas so massive, it is easy to mistaken her for a buck!

Week 8: Uglies!

Sorry that I have not been posting photos lately. It is very hard to take decent photos of the babies right now because the camera makes them uglier than they already are. But I believe they are really growing up nicely and I observe so many different characteristics on them as compared to my previous litters. One of the major difference is that these 2 little fellows are really small at 8 weeks.

Here are some my favorite photos captured this morning.

Papadoom acting cute!

Total disapproval?

From another angle

Side profile

I like the stumpy front legs

I am loving this little doe very much

Nice side profile?