Monday, January 14, 2008
Training Hollands To Pose
More than once, I've had a judge tell me that my rabbits were the only ones on the table that day that were trained to pose or allude to the "fact" that I've worked hard with my Hollands to get them to sit up for the judges.
Well, actually, I don't believe in training Hollands. In fact, I think that training a Holland that does not have the proper headmount to stretch up and pretend that it does is not only a waste of time, but it's just a way of fooling yourself into believing that you have a better rabbit than you do. You can fall into a trap of breeding the rabbit and getting the same, over and over again. How many hours per week do you really want to put into rabbit training?
I do believe in handling my rabbits enough to get them over stubbornness and shyness. I do let them know that once they strike their own pose I won't bother them anymore. But I don't shape their pose.
True, I've occasionally had the overachiever who naturally wanted to pop up and stand on their tip-toes. Soothing them back into a more relaxed position was something that I did when I handled them. But we didn't have extra sessions to practice. Of course, some judges like that tip-toe thing (as do some breeders). It's just not my understanding of what we're breeding for.
A friend recently told me that if you have a rabbit that won't sit up, you can rub its nose in the carpet and it will pop right up. I can see the use in that for a rabbit that is physically correct but either stubborn or shy. I can see the overuse in that by getting low-headset rabbits to stretch and make you more pleased with it than you should be.
I have had a few does that looked so pretty at home, comfortable and relaxed and in a perfect pose, only to have them go to a show and keep as low as possible. I wonder if I would have used that rug technique with them had I know it then? Probably not. I think that it's also good to have rabbits with a natural inborn show attitude, too.
So, I'm much more about breeding rabbits with naturally proper headmounts. I love to see a baby a few weeks old just sitting in the cage, perfectly posed, up like a puppy and not down like a mouse.
I was told by a nationally successful breeder that all she does to "train" her rabbits is pose them first when she handles them before going on to do anything else. That's all that I do. First stop is the carpet and a quick pose. Then we go on to whatever else is on the agenda.
It's so natural now that I even find myself doing that when I'm handling pets!
A Holland would have to have a lot going on for it otherwise to stay out off of the pet list with a low headset. A good headset, good depth over the body, and a smooth hindquarter can take a rabbit a long way. I suppose you might put low headset on my pet peeve list, along with pushing Hollands together to make them look deeper and shorter and hindquarters that slope off badly.
So if your Hollands won't pose, take a good hard look at them in their cages. How does the head connect to the body? If the Holland is facing left, does the head connect at 9:00? To me, we are looking for about 10:30 or 11:00. If you see your heads connecting at 12:00, ask yourself if you are tucking your rabbit up too far. The back feet should never touch the front feet. The front feet should be directly under the eyes.
If you don't see what you like, consider changing your breeding plan, not adding more training time.
Laurie ¶ 11:04 AM
Well, actually, I don't believe in training Hollands. In fact, I think that training a Holland that does not have the proper headmount to stretch up and pretend that it does is not only a waste of time, but it's just a way of fooling yourself into believing that you have a better rabbit than you do. You can fall into a trap of breeding the rabbit and getting the same, over and over again. How many hours per week do you really want to put into rabbit training?
I do believe in handling my rabbits enough to get them over stubbornness and shyness. I do let them know that once they strike their own pose I won't bother them anymore. But I don't shape their pose.
True, I've occasionally had the overachiever who naturally wanted to pop up and stand on their tip-toes. Soothing them back into a more relaxed position was something that I did when I handled them. But we didn't have extra sessions to practice. Of course, some judges like that tip-toe thing (as do some breeders). It's just not my understanding of what we're breeding for.
A friend recently told me that if you have a rabbit that won't sit up, you can rub its nose in the carpet and it will pop right up. I can see the use in that for a rabbit that is physically correct but either stubborn or shy. I can see the overuse in that by getting low-headset rabbits to stretch and make you more pleased with it than you should be.
I have had a few does that looked so pretty at home, comfortable and relaxed and in a perfect pose, only to have them go to a show and keep as low as possible. I wonder if I would have used that rug technique with them had I know it then? Probably not. I think that it's also good to have rabbits with a natural inborn show attitude, too.
So, I'm much more about breeding rabbits with naturally proper headmounts. I love to see a baby a few weeks old just sitting in the cage, perfectly posed, up like a puppy and not down like a mouse.
I was told by a nationally successful breeder that all she does to "train" her rabbits is pose them first when she handles them before going on to do anything else. That's all that I do. First stop is the carpet and a quick pose. Then we go on to whatever else is on the agenda.
It's so natural now that I even find myself doing that when I'm handling pets!
A Holland would have to have a lot going on for it otherwise to stay out off of the pet list with a low headset. A good headset, good depth over the body, and a smooth hindquarter can take a rabbit a long way. I suppose you might put low headset on my pet peeve list, along with pushing Hollands together to make them look deeper and shorter and hindquarters that slope off badly.
So if your Hollands won't pose, take a good hard look at them in their cages. How does the head connect to the body? If the Holland is facing left, does the head connect at 9:00? To me, we are looking for about 10:30 or 11:00. If you see your heads connecting at 12:00, ask yourself if you are tucking your rabbit up too far. The back feet should never touch the front feet. The front feet should be directly under the eyes.
If you don't see what you like, consider changing your breeding plan, not adding more training time.
Laurie ¶ 11:04 AM
