In This Chapter
- Flocking together with other rabbit lovers
- Signing up to save bunnies
- Leaping into rabbit hopping
- Competing against other rabbits
Whether showing your rabbit, hopping alongside your pet, participating in a rabbit club, or rescuing homeless rabbits, you get much more from your relationship with your rabbit if you take advantage of some of what’s out there for rabbits.
Clubbing It
If you love rabbits, you want to be around other people who love rabbits, too. Being with other rabbit lovers is where rabbit clubs come in. You can find all kinds of rabbit clubs and groups, designed for various tastes:
Regional rabbit clubs
People are much like rabbits. They like to be with their own kind. That’s why regional rabbit clubs are growing in popularity. Geared toward rabbit owners who live within a specific geographical area, regional rabbit clubs are locally based. Not every city and town in the country has a regional rabbit club, of course, but plenty of them do. If you live in a place that doesn’t have one, consider starting one.
Tip
In the United States, most rabbit clubs are geared toward adults who are showing purebred rabbits, but some groups do include pet owner and youth programs. By joining a regional rabbit club, you can attend meetings and local shows, and you’ll find out much more about caring for your rabbit. If you’re interested in showing and breeding, you can gain invaluable knowledge on these subjects from fellow members.
To locate the regional rabbit club in your area, contact the American Rabbit Breeders Association, Inc. (ARBA). You can find links to ARBA chartered clubs on the group’s Web site at www.arba.net or by asking your local rabbit veterinarian whether a regional club exists in your area. (If you’re outside the United States, see the Appendix for contact information on international rabbit associations.)
Signing up with the House Rabbit Society
If you want to devote your rabbit-oriented energies to helping bunnies in need, as well as helping to educate others about rabbit care, you may want to consider joining a local House Rabbit Society chapter. The House Rabbit Society is a national organization that works to improve the quality of life for rabbits everywhere. The members of local chapters host regular meetings, volunteer at shelters, house abandoned rabbits in foster homes, and set up booths at community events to promote responsible rabbit ownership.
For more information about the House Rabbit Society and similar groups, see Chapter Hiding
in Shelters, Holes, and Shops and the “Rescuing Rabbits” section, later in this chapter.
Kid-friendly groups
So your daughter begged you for a rabbit, and now you’re the one cleaning his litter box. Or maybe you bought the rabbit that your son wanted, and he just can’t get enough of his pet. Either way, getting your child more involved is a good idea. Your best bets are
- 4-H: By getting involved in a 4-H rabbit project, your child can find out about rabbit care and handling. She can also show her rabbit, even if the bunny isn’t a purebred.
Parents have plenty of opportunities to get involved with their child’s 4-H rabbit project, too. Clubs are always looking for leaders, chaperones, and other volunteers. You should also help your child with the rabbit’s daily maintenance. Find out more about 4-H in the “Taking the 4-H route” section, later in this chapter.
- House Rabbit Society: See ’“Rescuing Rabbits,” later in this chapter.
- Local kid-focused groups: 4-H programs are probably most prevalent, but be on the lookout for other clubs for rabbit- and pet-lovers alike.
Rescuing Rabbits
If you want to go beyond being a responsible rabbit owner, you can get more involved by joining a local rabbit rescue club, a group devoted to the rescue and rehoming of unwanted rabbits. The problem of homeless rabbits is a serious one, and people who love rabbits are needed to volunteer at rescue organizations around the country. Chapter Hiding
in Shelters, Holes, and Shops offers more specific shelter and rescue group information, including why this problem exists and how each works from the adoption perspective.
Tip
Perhaps the most prominent rescue group is the House Rabbit Society, which has local chapters around the United States, each involved in rabbit rescue and welfare. By getting involved with a House Rabbit Society chapter or another rabbit rescue organization, you can do wonders to help rabbits in need. (You can find a list of House Rabbit Society local chapters and other rescue organizations in the Appendix.)
Among the type of volunteer opportunities available for rabbit lovers:
- Passing out fliers in front of pet stores about rabbits needing homes.
- Providing rabbit food to a rabbit foster home in your area.
- Providing a foster home for a rabbit. (See the “Halfway there: Fostering” section, later in this chapter, for more on this topic.)
- Start a local chapter of the House Rabbit Society if one doesn’t exist already.
Being proactive
Tip
Your heart aches for homeless bunnies, but what can you do about it? Plenty.
- Consider adopting one from a shelter or a rabbit rescue group. That is, when the time comes to acquire a rabbit, take in a homeless rabbit.
- Be a responsible rabbit owner. Being responsible means spaying or neutering your pet rabbit and refraining from breeding your pet if you don’t plan to get involved with showing.
- Educate fellow rabbit owners about the plight of homeless rabbits. Encourage them to spay and neuter their pets and advise them not to breed their pets or turn them loose for a life of so-called freedom.
Give them information on local rabbit organizations and the proper care of rabbits (available from the House Rabbit Society.) Be honest about the pros and cons of owning a rabbit when asked and have people read in advance about rabbits for pets . . . books like this one!.
- Be an advocate for responsible rabbit ownership. If you come across a friend or relative who is thinking about getting a rabbit, encourage them to consider their decision carefully. Owning a rabbit is a big commitment and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Maybe you could loan this book to him.
- When you meet someone who has just acquired a rabbit, offer to help with the new pet. Provide the new pet owner with literature on how to properly feed and care for a rabbit and explain the importance of responsible ownership. Remind new rabbit owners that if they want to get rid of their pet, they should take it to a shelter or rabbit rescue group — not turn it loose to fend for itself.
Halfway there: Fostering
If you have a big heart and want to help homeless rabbits, consider providing a foster home for a bunny in need. Foster homes for rabbits are halfway houses of sorts, providing homeless bunnies with a temporary place to live and adjust to normal life while a permanent home is sought.
As a foster parent to a rabbit, you keep the bunny until a home is found. You’ll probably be asked to evaluate the rabbit’s temperament and behavior, so people seeking to adopt a rabbit have a sense of what the bunny is like.
Instead of shelters, foster homes are used by a variety of rabbit rescue groups throughout the country. In the case of the House Rabbit Society, the organization has local chapters and a network of foster homes within each chapter. (You can find a list of HRS chapters in the Appendix.)
A call to your local chapter can start you on the road to becoming a foster parent. Providing a foster home for a rabbit is rewarding and really makes a difference for the animal. Of course, when you foster a rabbit, you may fall in love with the bunny and want to keep it. Many foster parents do.
Rabbit Hopping
Some people think that showing rabbits is fun, but they haven’t seen fun until they’ve gone rabbit hopping. What the heck is rabbit hopping? Similar to horse show jumping and dog agility, rabbit hopping is a competitive activity that involves both rabbit owners and their rabbits negotiating various obstacles on a course. (Rabbits wear harnesses and leashes.)
In the United States, the sport of rabbit hopping is managed by the Rabbit Hopping Organization of America, or RHOA. (See the Appendix for contact information.) According to rabbit owners who participate in this sport, the rabbits enjoy it as much as the owners. The obstacles are varied, but most of them are jumps. The following jumps are typically seen in the rabbit hopping arena:
- Broad: Two horizontal poles with a set of boards placed on the ground between them.
- Pole: Two horizontal poles with one or more raised vertical poles between them.
- Water: An obstacle consisting of a small body of water, usually with bushes on either side
Warning!
For the safety of your rabbit, don’t try these obstacles at home! Both you and your rabbit need training to participate safely in rabbit hopping. Get involved in the RHOA to safely learn this sport.
Technical Stuff
Horse show jumping was the inspiration for rabbit hopping, and many of the first rules and ideas for rabbit hopping came from horse show jumping. Rabbit hopping started in Sweden in the 1970s and quickly spread to other parts of Europe. The sport is popular in Norway and Denmark and is growing in Germany and the United States.
Getting up to speed (and height)
Remember
Just as the hopping course has hurdles, so does the preparation process:
1. Become a member of your national rabbit hopping organization.
In the United States, contact the RHOA. Outside the US? See the Appendix for rabbit-hopping organizations in your country. Not all countries have one of these groups.
2. Train your rabbit.
Training for rabbit hopping involves careful work with the rabbit’s safety and emotional well-being in mind — training must be positive and gentle. Basic training, including walking with a leash, is described in Chapter Putting Boxing Gloves on Your Rabbit: Training; you’ll work up to using a structured groundwork technique, which shows you how to train your rabbit to negotiate a hopping course. Conditioning, another important aspect of training, requires you to slowly build your rabbit up to the point where he has the physical agility and endurance to negotiate a rabbit-hopping course.
Tip
For help on training your rabbit for rabbit hopping, contact the local chapter of your national rabbit hopping association. If you live in the United States, contact the RHOA.
3. Become familiar with the rules.
Designed for the safety of the rabbit in large part, the rules for rabbit hopping are more complicated than you may think, involving close to 150 guidelines. A couple of basics:
- Any rabbit over the age of 4 months can participate.
- Rabbits must wear a harness and leash during the hopping competition.
- Handlers must give rabbits enough room to move around the jumps if they’re so inclined and jump freely through the course.
4. Memorize the course in advance.
Walking through the course several times will help you remember the order of the obstacles when it’s time to do your run. The obstacles tend to be laid out in a logical order — the obstacle you first see upon completing a step is usually the one you’re supposed to take next.
Taking the plunge
If rabbit hopping sounds like fun to you and you’d like to try it, contact your national rabbit-hopping association. (See the Appendix for contact information.) Because the sport is just getting started in the United States, not too many clubs have been created throughout the country. However, you can start your own rabbit-hopping club.
Tip
Membership in a rabbit-hopping organization usually includes a packet with rules and guidelines, detailed information on choosing the right rabbit for hopping, training information, directions to and descriptions of the hopping courses available, diagrams on how to build jumps, and judge’s score sheets for hopping events.
Putting on the sweatsuit: Training
Before you can participate in a rabbit-hopping event, you need to train your rabbit. Training involves careful work with the rabbit’s safety and emotional well-being in mind. Remember that rabbits are timid creatures, and training must be positive and gentle! A structured ground work technique is used in training rabbits for this sport. Conditioning is another important aspect of training and requires that you slowly build your rabbit up to the point where he can negotiate a rabbit-hopping course.
For help on training your rabbit for rabbit hopping, contact the Rabbit Hopping Association of America. For the price of membership, the organization provides detailed information on how to train a rabbit for competition, along with other kinds of information on the sport of rabbit hopping.
Showing Rabbits
Probably one of the oldest of all rabbit activities is the sport of showing. Although no bunny show parallels the Westminster Dog Show broadcast on TV every year, you can still take your rabbit in front of an American Rabbit Breeders Association judge for evaluation.
ARBA rabbit shows are basically bunny beauty contests. Rabbits are judged in categories according to their breed and are compared to their breed standard, a blueprint of the ideal rabbit of that breed, which describes what the rabbit’s body should look like in great detail. Judges give points to each of the rabbit’s body areas described in the standard.
To participate in the conformation part of ARBA rabbit shows (the part of showing where your rabbit is judged on his appearance as opposed to you being judged on your handling skills), you need a special show rabbit, one that you have purchased specifically for this reason.
Picking up the rabbit and looking over his physical qualities, judges examine the rabbit. A rabbit is not judged on the basis of his behavior — only his appearance. The rabbit exhibited in a given show within his breed class who most represents the breed standard that day is the rabbit who wins the blue ribbon.
Owners who show their rabbits are responsible for grooming the bunny before the show, transporting him to the event, and getting him to the judging arena in time for the rabbit’s class.
Remember
You can show only unneutered and unspayed purebred rabbits in the beauty contest aspect of rabbit shows. (See Chapter Nipping Common Health Problems in the Bud for information on problems relating to rabbits who aren’t spayed or neutered.) Showmanship classes for youngsters that evaluate the child’s presentation of a rabbit (the way the child presents the rabbit to the judge for evaluation) don’t require an unspayed or unneutered purebred bunny.
Considering pros and cons
Before you embark on a show career with your rabbit, consider the pros and cons of participating in this activity with your pet.
Pros:
- Showing your rabbit can be plenty of fun. You’ll not only enjoy the excitement of the game, but you’ll meet other rabbit owners and find yourself becoming part of a whole new world of rabbit lovers.
- You’ll find out more about rabbits by showing them.
Cons:
- Showing puts plenty of pressure, both physical and emotional, on your rabbit because of extensive handling and transporting. He’s also more likely to come in contact with a contagious disease from another rabbit at a show.
- For a rabbit to be shown at some events, he must be tattooed. (See this chapter’s “Getting some ink: Tattooing.”) Some rabbit owners don’t like tattooing because a tattoo leaves a permanent mark on the rabbit’s ear, and the tattooing process causes temporary pain to the rabbit.
Attending your first show
What can you expect when you attend your first rabbit show? The experience can be a bit daunting if you don’t know what’s going on. However, if you have a sense of the process, you’ll be less confused and intimidated, and you may actually have fun your first time around.
Preparing
Before you even set foot at the show venue, prepare yourself and your rabbit in the following way:
- Go to a show. Before you enter your first show, attend a rabbit show as a spectator. Attending gives you a good idea of what to expect, and knowing what to expect can make the difference between a nervous rookie and a confident pro. Arrive at the show in the morning and spend the entire day walking around and watching how things work. Don’t forget to ask questions if you don’t understand what you’re seeing. Rabbit people are a friendly lot, and most are happy to answer questions.
- Study the breed standard. Before you even select your first show rabbit, familiarize yourself with your rabbit’s breed standard. Write to ARBA or visit the organization’s Web site to order a copy of Standard of Perfection — a booklet that contains descriptions of all ARBA-recognized breeds of rabbits. Judges use these breed standards to evaluate rabbits that come before them at shows. After you study the standard, take a good look at your rabbit to get a sense of how much your bunny exemplifies the breed’s standard. You can even ask another expert in your rabbit’s breed for an opinion.
- Have your rabbit tattooed. Before you show your rabbit, you must have someone place a permanent tattoo in his left ear that will be registered with ARBA. (See the “Getting some ink: Tattooing” section, later in this chapter.)
- Groom your rabbit. The quality of your rabbit’s coat has a strong impact on the judge’s decision at a rabbit show. The judge wants to see a coat that’s proper for the breed (according to the breed standard) and that looks healthy and well cared for. (Chapter Cleaning Behind Those Great Big Ears and More has details on grooming your rabbit, and Chapter So Many Breeds, So Lit tle Time can tell you more about rabbit coats.)
Technical Stuff
- Condition your rabbit. Rabbit show judges not only look for rabbits with good fur but also in good “flesh.” The term flesh refers to the rabbit’s overall body condition. Rabbits who are underfed or poorly fed won’t be in good flesh, and a judge is likely to mark down your show rabbit. (See Chapter Stocking Up on Carrots for details on how to properly feed your rabbit.)
- Psyche up your rabbit. No, you don’t need to teach your rabbit to meditate before he goes into the competition ring, but you do need to get him ready for the way that the judge will handle him. Practice handling him the way the judge will.
Judges usually pose a rabbit in his proper position, the designated proper position each breed must be shown in. The judge then turns the rabbit over on his back to check the teeth, toenails, and straightness of legs, eye color, and tail. The rabbit is returned to his proper pose and checked for body conformation (the way your rabbit is put together) and condition of the flesh and fur.
Keep in mind that not all rabbit breeds are posed the same way, so determine the proper posing for the breed that you’re showing by studying the breed standard and watching the judging of your breed while at a show. Spend about 10 to 15 minutes a day practicing posing with your rabbit and remember to be patient with your pet.
Making your checklist
Glance at this checklist the night before the show and make sure that everything is packed before you head out:
- Entry forms and judge’s card: Pack your filled-out entry cards (which you picked up at another show) and judge’s comments cards, assuming that you’ve done this ahead of time. (If you didn’t, don’t worry. You can get the forms and fill them out when you get to the show.) Figure 15-1 shows a judge’s card.
- Pedigree: If you plan to register your rabbit at the show, bring your rabbit’s three-generation pedigree (your rabbit’s genealogy) with you.
- Rabbit eats: Your bunny needs food and familiar water during the time he’s at the show. Bring chopped-up vegetables, hay, and timothy pellets, if he eats them. Use a cooler to keep the produce fresh and bring a bottle of water from home.
- Grooming tools: Don’t forget to bring a brush for last-minute fur brushing. (For more about these tools, see Chapter Cleaning Behind Those Great Big Ears and More.)
- Disinfectant: Bring a hand disinfectant to clean your hands after handling rabbits other than you own. You can also buy disinfectant wipes to wipe off a table or other items touched by another rabbit. These products are alcohol based and should contain 60 to 70 percent alcohol to be effective. You may also want to bring a spray disinfectant and paper towels to clean up any accidents your pet may have outside of his cage.
Figure 15-1: You can complete this judge’s card before you get to the show or when you arrive.
- Clothing and shoes: Consider bringing a smock or another shirt that you can put on over your regular clothes if you’re going to handle rabbits other than your own. Remove that shirt before going back and handling your rabbit to minimize the spread of disease. If rabbits are allowed to run around the floor at the show, consider wearing washable shoes that you can remove before you return home.
- Your other stuff: Bring directions to the show, a chair to sit on, something to drink, your lunch, and whatever else you may need. (If you had to travel far to get to the show, bring your overnight bag. See Chapter Hitting the Road with Your Rabbit for information on how to pack your rabbit’s suitcase, too.) Remember, most of your day is spent waiting for your rabbit to be judged, so you want to be comfortable.
- Your good sportsmanship: Win or lose, remember to always be a good sport. Be polite to the judge and to the other exhibitors. And have fun!
The big day
On the day of the show, you have a number of responsibilities. Following these guidelines can help you feel more confident and may even improve your chances of winning:
Remember
1. Travel well.
You need to get your rabbit to the show, and you’ll probably do so by way of automobile. Believe it or not, the way that you transport your rabbit that day can make a big difference in how well you do at the show because rabbits are easily stressed.
You can help reduce the chance of a stressed-out rabbit by
- Keeping your rabbit in a secure, comfortable carrier that contains your rabbit’s favorite bedding.
- Making sure that water and food are available to your rabbit at all times during the trip.
- Padding under the carrier to reduce the bumpiness of the ride for your rabbit. (Chapter Hitting the Road with Your Rabbit has in-depth traveling information.)
Showgrounds and parking areas are usually well marked with large signs that say “This way to rabbit show!” Be prepared to pay for parking, although it depends on the venue.
2. Check in with the show secretary.
There you also
- Pay for your entries (for each class your rabbit enters, usually a fairly small fee per class).
- Fill out entry cards (your rabbit’s name and breed, your name and address, and so on) and show remarks cards (the card that the judge writes her comments on after judging your rabbit) if you haven’t already done this at home.
3. Register.
If you haven’t already registered your rabbit with ARBA and you want to do so, you can do it if you have time before your first class. Take the rabbit to the registrar seated at an ARBA table at the show. Show your three-generation pedigree to the registrar. (See the “The ARBA Way” section, later in this chapter, for more on how such shows are organized and what’s required.)
4. Find the judging.
Locate the table where your breed is being judged and pick a place close by to set up your rabbit’s carrying cage and your chair. Be sure to find a shady spot if the show is being held outdoors because direct sun and heat can hurt your rabbit.
5. Pay attention.
You’ll soon find yourself visiting with other rabbit owners and getting distracted looking at all the cute bunnies. Pay attention to when your class is called so that you don’t miss your turn at the judging table.
Taking the 4-H route
If your kids are interested in rabbit activities, you may want to join a 4-H club in your area. 4-H is an organization created to help children learn about how to care for and exhibit livestock.
Tip
To obtain information on a local 4-H rabbit project, contact your local Cooperative Extension Office listed in your local telephone book under County Government. For general information about 4-H, contact the National 4-H Council listed in the Appendix.
4-H is open to children from age 9 through 19, and sometimes younger, depending on the individual club. Typical 4-H rabbit projects feature hands-on work with rabbits. Children are taught how to feed, care for, handle, groom, and show their rabbits, and they often bring their rabbits to meetings.
Volunteers, usually parents whose children have been involved with the program for some time, run 4-H clubs. Individual 4-H projects, such as rabbits, have leaders as well. These people are usually parents and are often breeders or former breeders who have spent a substantial amount of time showing rabbits.
Tip
Shows specifically for 4-H rabbit owners are held around the country and follow the rules and breed standards established by ARBA. Typically, 4-H members exhibit their rabbits at county fairs because 4-H often has a strong presence at these events.
4-H fairs usually occur in the summer, when heat stroke is common in warmer parts of the country. To keep rabbits cool, some owners will provide frozen water bottles (a 2-liter soda bottle works well) for their rabbits. Hot bunnies can curl up next to these bottles when temperatures get too high.
Aside from valuable hands-on experience, members of 4-H rabbit projects can also earn awards. Although actual awards and requirements vary from club to club, typical activities, such as displaying a winning rabbit-related project in the local 4-H fair or successfully exhibiting a rabbit at a show, can earn participants medals, ribbons, or certificates.
Remember
Don’t get the impression that your kid can’t participate in 4-H if she has a mixed breed rabbit. If your bunny isn’t a purebred, your child can still show the animal in the 4-H showmanship class. In showmanship, the exhibitor presents the rabbit to a judge, demonstrating an understanding of rabbit care and anatomy as well as proper handling. Children are graded on their ability to present the animal properly and to understand their pet’s overall health. The breed of the rabbit is irrelevant.
No relation to the Swedish band: ARBA
When it comes to the big time in rabbit showing, the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) is the governing body. As the official organization for rabbit showing and registration in the United States, ARBA sponsors rabbit shows, put on by regional rabbit clubs, around the country. Rabbit fanciers, serious about showing, attend these shows, which are usually for all breeds of rabbits but are sometimes open only to one breed.
ARBA maintains a list of rules and regulations for rabbit shows, and each sanctioned show operates by these rules. Officiating the ARBA shows, judges evaluate the rabbits using the breed standards published by ARBA. Rabbits that are exhibited at ARBA shows may be registered with the organization, but registration isn’t absolutely necessary.
Technical Stuff
Rabbits at ARBA shows are judged in classes organized by breed. Within the breed classification, rabbits are then divided up by age before they’re judged. Awards are given to individual class winners, as well as the best of
- Breed
- Opposite Sex (given to the best rabbit of the opposite sex of the Best of Breed winner)
- Show
- Variety or Group
Class winners usually receive a ribbon; Best of Variety or Group, a rosette (a type of ribbon); Best of Breed, a trophy; and Best In Show, a large trophy. Small cash awards are also given to some of the winners.
When competing in ARBA shows, rabbits can also earn legs toward their Grand Championship. Three legs qualify a rabbit as a Grand Champion, which is a distinctive title in the rabbit world.
Registering
Registering a rabbit isn’t necessary in order to show it. However, many people choose to do so because having a registered rabbit assures that the animal’s pedigree is true and that the rabbit meets all the requirements of its breed. (It’s interesting to note that you don’t need any solid proof that a rabbit is a purebred to show it. If the rabbit looks purebred, it’s assumed that the rabbit is purebred.)
Remember
To register your rabbit in the purebred classification, your bunny needs a three-generation pedigree). An official ARBA registrar must examine your rabbit and determine whether your bunny is eligible for registration. The rabbit must be 6 months or older and meet the senior weight limits for its breed. It must also be free from disqualifications as defined by its breed standard.
Getting some ink: Tattooing
If you’ve been to a rabbit show, you probably noticed that some rabbits have tattoos in their left ears. You may also see a registrar actually tattooing rabbits at the show.
For a rabbit to be shown, he must have an identifying number tattooed into its ear for many shows. The registrar tattoos the rabbit’s registration number in his ear at the time of examination. Many breeders do their own tattooing, using a system of letters and numbers that they’ve created for their own record-keeping purposes.
Warning!
The procedure is painful for a rabbit, so the most humane method is to have an experienced vet do the procedure using an anesthesia. However, some breeders and show registrars will apply tattoos. (Your rabbit doesn’t need to be entered in the show for you to have his number tattooed at the event.)
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