How many of these types of rabbits can your group find a picture of in the given time?  Paste it into a word document and label the breed. 

New Zealand

Californian

Champagne D'argente

Satin

Flemish Giant

French Lop

Dutch

Rex

Havana

Holland Lop

American Fuzzy Lop

Jersey Woolly

Mini Rex

Netherland Dwarf

Angora 

Varieties

The American Rabbit Breeder Association, (ARBA), recognizes 6 distinctive varieties of Dutch Rabbits, the Black, Blue, Chocolate, Gray, Steel, and Tortoise.  Other varieties exist and are popular in European countries and else where around the world where these other varieties are recognized.

*Not Pictured - Steel & Tortoise

General Type

When showing the Dutch Rabbit, the general type makes up 50% of the judging points with the marking making up the other 50% for a total of 100 points.

The term “Type” refers to the pleasing coupling of proportion and contour in respect to the shape of the body, in combination with the appearance and proportion of its individual parts and how they all harmonize and give balance to the whole.  Special attention is paid to the color of the fur, the eyes and the absence of distracting imperfections in either or to other parts of the body. 

Body

To be considered a show rabbit the body should be compact, having a close-coupled appearance with a nicely rounded back.  From directly behind the head the rabbit should display an even pleasing curve up over the shoulders it its highest point at the loin and hips, then rounding off into full and smooth hindquarters.  Looking from the top, the rabbit’s shoulders should be rounded but slightly narrower than the hips.  The hips should be well rounded, smooth and full all the way to the base of the hindquarters with no protrusion of the hips to mar the total effect.  The truly proportioned body of the Dutch rabbit is the picture of elegance.

Head

The rabbit’s head should be rounded and full, not pear shaped, with a short neck making the head set close to the shoulders.  Ideally not more than one and a half fingertip widths of the index and middle fingers should fit between the base of the head and the beginning of the shoulders on a senior animal, one over 6 months of age.

Ears

The ears should be stocky, well furred and carried erect.  They should be in proportion to the size of the head and body of the rabbit.

Eyes

The eyes should be bright and clear, free of spots or discoloration in the iris.  The color of the iris must be the same in both eyes and must match the color specified for the variety.  For example a Black, Chocolate, Gray, Steel, or Tortoise Dutch must have dark brown eye color.  It is permissible for the Chocolate Dutch to have a ruby cast to the eyes.  A Blue Dutch must have blue gray eye color.  Any other eye color or eyes that are to light in color would be a disqualification.

Feet and Legs

The feet and legs must be straight and of the proper length and size to balance and be in harmony with the body of the rabbit.  Toenails must be white in all varieties.  Nails of any other color than white are a disqualification. 

Fur

The fur should be short and dense while course enough in guard hairs to offer resistance when stroked backwards toward the head and when released the hair should fly back to its natural position and lie smooth over the entire body of the rabbit.  The coat should have a rich high luster with a dense undercoat.

The qualities of fur color are very important and vary between the different varieties. The varieties of Black, Chocolate, and Blue coats should be very glossy and uniform with the color running deep toward the skin.  The black and the blue varieties should blend into a slate blue under color at the base of the skin.  The Chocolate varieties should blend into a bluish dove under color next to the skin.

The gray varieties are more complicated and should have what is called an agouti pattern, showing distinct bands of color on the hair shaft.  Slate blue at the base, followed by medium tan, followed by charcoal brown and finishing with a lighter tan band.  The colored portions of the body should have uniformly dispersed black guard hairs.  A narrow strip of black hair should band the ears and the eye circles should be a narrow band of tan colored hair.  The underbelly should be a white or cream surface color with a slate blue under coat. The top of the tail and bottom of the tail should complement the body colors.

With Steel varieties the colored portions of the body must be black with a uniform disbursement of off-white or cream coloration on a portion of the black hair tips.  The undercoat should be slate blue and carried as deep towards the skin as possible.  The underside of the tail, underbelly, and inside of the hind legs should be very near the body color.

The Tortoise color should be a bright, clean orange bleeding into smoky-blue shading over the lower rump and down the haunches.  The top color runs down the hair shaft into the undercoat and blending into a cream color next to the skin.  The shadings on the head is darkest at the whisker bed and blending into lighter shadings on the jaw and darkening again at the ear base and blending up the ears to match the body color.  The underbelly is smoky blue shading including the underside of the tail.

Markings

It can be said that the Dutch rabbit is a white rabbit dressed in formal attire.  It is the classic markings of the Dutch breed that make it the aristocrat of all show rabbits distinguishing it apart from any other breed.  The proper placement, shape, colors, and balance of these markings in combination with excellence in General Type are the discriminating features that separate the Dutch Show Rabbit from the general population of its breed.

Anywhere that colored markings meet the white the point of joining is always to be clean, straight and crisp with no ragged or wavy lines and no drags where colored portions are drawn into or laid over what should be white.   Drags can also occur at places where the white color runs into or over areas that should be colored.

Anywhere a colored area meets a white area the point of meeting is called a line. Lines must always be straight and even unless naturally curved such as the line of the checks as it follows the jawbone, but even then the line must always be even and smooth and absent of irregularities or drags.  When they are not it is called a fault.  Straight lines are called biased when they fail to follow the contours of the body at 90 degrees to the centerline of the torso or appendage. In other words a biased line is a line running diagonally across these body parts but is otherwise straight.  An offset is a line that fails to maintain straightness in its course from one side of the body or appendage to the other.  The offset line creates a jag where the line coming up from one side fails to meet the line coming from around the opposite side of the body or appendage.    Curved lines, like those forming the cheeks, must meet different standards of perfection that are usually specified by a specific part of the skeletal or other anatomical part of body they follow.   The shape of the curve these lines make is specific to the standards for perfection.  When they fail to follow these standards they are considered faults.  All faults count against a rabbit's total points score during judging.

Description of Mini Rex and Polish Rabbits

This is a brief summery of what to look for in polish and mini-rex rabbits. For a better description you will need to refer the "STANDARD OF PERFECTION" which to "rabbit people" is our most important resource of information on the standards. They are of course subject to interpetation. We have injected our opinions and they may net be necessarily agreed upon by all judges.

MINI-REX
Mini-rex rabbits come in these varieties: black, blue, broken group, (this group consists of all the recognized colors on white) castor, chinchilla, chocolate, himalayan, lynx, opal, red, seal, tortoise, BEW (blue eyed white) and REW (ruby eyed white). At this time they are working on a new variety called Otter. This new variety will consist of 4 recognized colors all to be shown together. They consist of black, blue, chocolate, and lilac. I have managed to make 3 of these 4 colors so far and have been most pleased with them. Sr. bucks can weigh as much as 41/4 lbs. And sr. does can weigh as much as 41/2 lbs. Minimum show weight for JR's is 2 lbs. The mini-rex fur is short and feels like velvet, it should feel extremely smooth to the touch. It should be dense, straight, and upright. A mini-rex is judged mostly on fur and color so you will want to pay particular attention to these features. The body type of a mini-rex should be short, compact, and close coupled. When viewed from behind we like to see the hindquarters as high as they are wide. The head should be close to the shoulders and well balanced. We find the mini-rex to be a curious friendly rabbit.

POLISH
Polish come in these varieties: black, blue, broken group, chocolate, blue-eyed white, and ruby-eyed white. As with mini-rex the broken group is all recognized colors on white. Polish is also working on a new Varity called lilac. I have been working on some getting this gene into my own lines. I am very excited about another variety in Polish. Senior bucks and does can weigh up to 3 lbs. Minimum show weight for JR's is 11/4 lbs. The head is the area of a polish that is judged with the most points, although the body is important also. A polish should have a medium full and short head with full cheeks. Bucks will have a broader, more masculine looking head. When looking at the head from the side you should see a slight curvature. We like to look for a boxy shape to the facial features. Their eyes should be large, bold and bright. Their ears should be short and well balanced with the body. Ears should be close together and touch each other all the way up. The body of a polish should be short and compact. It should have well-rounded hips that are wider then the shoulders. The fur should be short, fine and dense with a fly back coat. The polish rabbits is commonly called the "little aristocrat" for it's pompous, proud looking features. I have attached an article written by Judge Erik Bengston for the 1999 ARBA Convention Judges Conference. Erik raises polish and is in my opinion a very good judge of the Polish rabbit.

Below is presentation given by our beloved Erik D-3 director for the 1999 ARBA Convention in Louisville Kentucky

Judging Polish
By Erik A. Bengtson
For the 1999 ARBA Convention Judges Conference

SPECIAL TIPS FOR JUDGES
* Remember Polish have FLYBACK coats. A rollback coat is a DISQUALIFICATION! Many Polish have rollback coats. DQ them!
* A Dewlap is a Disqualification in Polish. The best way to evaluate whether or not it is a dewlap is to let the animal move on the table. If anytime during the animals movement you see a double chin larger than a pencil, DQ it.
* Maximum weight for juniors is 2 1/2 pounds. It is very common to see mature juniors reach that weight. If it's close, weigh it. Weights are protestable so don't overlook it.
* Polish are to be posed with the head close to the table. Without a proper pose evaluating body type would be very difficult.
* Watch for Blues with brown eyes.
* Beware of Blues with frosty or silvered color. They are to be DQed or given an unworthy of an award.

http://www.hareconnectionrabbitry.com/description.html

• What are the standards for a Netherland Dwarf Rabbit? 
  
  Judges of Netherland Dwarf Rabbits look for a body that is short and compact.  The shoulders should be deep and broad and the same width as the hindquarders.  The topline should show that the depth of the shoulders is carried through to a deep, well-rounded, and well-filled hindquarter.  The legs should be short in length and medioum to heavy boned.  The head should be large and of a size to balance with the body.  It will be bigger in bucks than in does.  The shape should be round when viewed from any directions and should be set as close on the body as possible.  Ears should be short and well set on the top of the head with good substance and fur.  Ears should be rounded at the tips with and ideal length of 2 inches.  Eyes shoud be round, bold and bright and the eye color should be as described in the individual variety.  Fur shoud be rollback fur in good condition, not too long, thin or in poor texture.  A flyback type fur is undesirable.  The fur and eye color is to be as described under each variety. 
  
  According to the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA), there are 25 showable varieties of Netherland Dwarfs.   Dwarfs are organized into 5 Groups:

http://florida4h.org/projects/rabbits/ShowRabbits/Activity5_Intro.html

Use the ARBA web site to identify the breed and maximum weights for each of the pictures below. Simply visit www.arba.net, click on the Breeds link in the left column, and then scroll down to see the Recognized Rabbit Breeds. Locate a rabbit breed that looks similar to the pictures below. Once you have found what you believe is the proper breed, write the name and maximum weight in the space under the picture below.

This activity asks you to see what you have learned so far by continuing to identify the ten rabbit breeds based on the characteristics below. Print off this page and circle the characteristics for each rabbit breed.

Once you have completed the activity, click the Check It button at the bottom of the page to check your answers.