Heat Wave

Hope everyone here in the northwest is doing alright with all this heat. Yesterday it hit 105 degrees here! I had to dunk all the rabbits, which helped them some. Have fans going, and the freezer is working overtime freezing water bottles. We have AC in the house, which if anyone is really suffering, I can bring them in. I'm trying to avoid this, as it'll be hard to get them back outside in this heat after adapting to the house.
I had three litters born at the end of last week, all of which I've taken all the fur out of their boxes, so they don't overheat.
The litters born last week are:
Rodeo x Cover Girl
Desperado x Sasha
Rodeo x Ladybug

A week from Saturday is the Clusters of Specialties. I'm secretaring the two Dutch specialties. In conjunction, there will be an all breed show this year, which is a benefit show for judge Kevin. He fell and hurt his back last month, and has been having quite a few complications due to this. My dad is working on several projects to put in the raffle, including one of the fancy grooming tables, and two gardener tool boxes. I think he has a few other things he's putting in too...
I'll be entering 7 Dutch in the shows. Then Nicole and I will have 5 Silver Martens entered.
My dad and I will be making a trip to Eastern Washington, to Lloyd's place, sometime next week. Lloyd is selling out of rabbits, due to health problems. I'll be picking up several new rabbits, including a pair or trio of his pure Blacks (only produce Black, no matter what they're bred to-- Zoe is one).
Hope everyone stays cool in the meantime. It's suppose to be 99 degrees today....

Bella

The newest member of my family just joined us this last Monday.... Bella. She is a Doberman Pinscher, who we suspect is a gladiator, because of her long limbs and body (what Harley was). She's very slim, and has floppy ears. She's close to two years old. She will only be with us for a year though, as I'm only babysitting her, as her owner leaves for Iraq next month. It'll be hard to give her up, but it's for the best, as it solved some stuff for me. She already fits in great with our family, and is a sweetheart. She loves to play outside (we have a very large backyard). She's very curious about Callie, my mom's cat, and all the rabbits. She's a very quick learner, and already knows to not go in the rabbit buildings without me (a few of the rabbits have forgotten about dogs...).

Another big win!

Nicole and I had a great day with the Silver Martens last Saturday! Arson won BOB both shows, and in show B he won RESERVE IN SHOW! Jake was the judge. He is now up to 9 legs.

Maddy was BOS in the first show, and went on to win Best of the Best Opposites! Floyd was the judge. Not sure yet if there were enough does for a leg, but I don't think there were...

The Dutch did really well in show A. My Black jr doe was BOB, with her brother, a Blue jr buck being BOS. Both get their first leg. Show B, I had BOV and BOSV Black, however there were only two breeders, so no leg. Jan was BOB with her awesome little Blue jr doe, and Jean was BOS with her Tort buck.
I didn't plan on it, but end up selling the Blue buck who was BOS. I had a breeder who really wanted a Blue buck.
I do have a Black junior buck for sale. He has one leg, for a BOSV at state. He's a near perfectly marked Dutch, gorgeous head and head markings. He's just weak in the shoulders, pinched, and lacking width. He has good depth though.

Upcoming Litters

Current litters:
Born June 15-
Desperado x Piper- 7, both Blacks and Blues
Stryker x Zoe- 1 Black mismark

Born June 19-
Silver Streak's Arson x Silver Streak's Rainy (the Martens)- 3 Blacks, 3 Blues


Upcoming Litters:
Due July 23-
Desperado x Revlon
Bazooka x Ariel

Due July 24-
Rodeo x Cover Girl
Desperado x Sasha

Due July 25-
Rodeo x Ladybug

Due August 14-
Stryker x Jill's Wild Blue Venus
Stryker x Trelawn Ruby D
Bazooka x Pipsqueak


Hopefully I get a few really good show rabbits out of all these litters!
This Saturday is the Monroe show. Found out last night that there are only 19 Dutch entered.... 8 of them are mine.... Am also taking two of the Silver Martens, Arson and Maddy.

Washington State Convention

Last weekend was state convention, which was a lot of fun. I went with 17 rabbits, and came home with only 11. It's nice having a lot of empty cages! Here's some of my results:

Saturday Results:
Judge Scott Williamson
DDLB (Black Jr Buck)- BOSV, 1st of 8
DDAE (Black Jr Buck)- 3rd of 8
Pipsqueak (Blue Sr Doe)- 1st of 4

Sunday Results:
Judge Connal Addison
DDLB (Black Jr Buck)- 2nd of 8
DDAE (Black Jr Buck)- 3rd of 8
DDSE (Black Sr Doe)- 2nd of ?
Pipsqueak (Blue Sr Doe)- 1st of 4
Paisley (Blue Jr Doe)- 2nd of 6 (to the Best of Breed rabbit-- judge went back and forth between them!)

Big congrats to Jan on her Best of Breed, and Reserve in Show both days with a gorgeous little Blue jr doe! She said the grandma is a doe she had gotten from me. She also had a gorgeous little Blue jr buck from the same litter as the doe that did well for her. Jean was Best Opposite Sex both days, with two different Tort bucks.
For the Silver Martens, Maddy was Best of Breed both days. Arson was Best Opposite Sex on Saturday. Maryann was BOS on Sunday with a Black buck.
I do not have any show rabbits for sale right now, however do have some pet quality rabbits available. Come this fall, I should have more breeding stock for sale.
Next show is in three weeks in Monroe.

For Sale

Keep meaning to put up some for sale rabbits, but things have been really busy here lately. Here's my current for sale list:

DDPF a 4 1/2 month old Black buck. Really nicely typed rabbit, he just has a few marking flaws. I'd like his saddle to be a bit straighter, and he has a small drag off the back of his neck. He has a super sweet personality! Always insists on attention at feeding time. He's out of Revolver (RGC/4 legs) and Piper (RGC/3 legs).

DDAG a 3 month old Black doe. She's nicely marked, just a bit small, and hasn't really developed for type yet. She's out of Desperado (RGC/7 legs) and Sasha (RGC/3 legs). I don't have a picture of her yet, but can take one if requested.

DDCB a 4 1/2 month old Blue doe. A really nice doe, super type, and really nice markings, other than her stops, which are really long. Stops are a marking that I'm picky on, but everything else on her is really super. She's already been to one show, and got excellent comments. I just have another Blue doe the same age that I like better. She's out of Rodeo (Reg/2 legs) and Cover Girl (Reg/1 leg).

All three will be with me at State Convention this weekend. I'll be showing nine Dutch, all of which are juniors except two. Nicole and I are showing three Silver Martens. I was going to post pics of my upcoming juniors, but when I try to make the pics smaller, it changes the look of the pic, and makes them all flat, even though they are not.

Venus and Ruby D both have litters that are at weaning age right now. Piper and Zoe just had litters last week. Rainy the Silver Marten had a litter of seven (4 Blue, and 3 Black) to Arson, our recent BIS winner.

Over the next couple of days I'll be breeding several does. Desperado is leaving this weekend, so he'll be bred to several does. Him and Sushi are going to go live in Vancouver. Maybelline and Aurora will be going to live in Ellensburg.

In Loving Memory...

Roxy Roo

January 1, 2003- May 12, 2009

http://www.geocities.com/doubledutch84/petsroxy.html

This has been a very hard week. Tuesday night, Roxy my rabbitry helper and sidekick had to be put down. Sunday evening she had gotten into the garbage when no one was home and ate stuff that she shouldn't have. Some of it got stuck in her lower intestine, which could only be removed with surgery. Roxy was my constant companion, and always by my side. I'm use to whenever I'm home, her following me everywhere. Feeding the rabbits is not the same without her constantly under foot. She will be missed...

Double Dutch's Frankie
March 17, 2001- May 15, 2009

To top things off Friday morning I discovered Frankie had passed away. Frankie passing away feels like the end of an era to my rabbitry. He goes back really close to the beginning of my line. His sire is Silver, my first Best in Show winner and his dam is Trelawn Sisqo. His grandfather is Coffelt's Scout, my first Best of Breed winner (and one of my very first Dutch!) and his grandmother is Dominque who was my first homebred Grand Champion and first homebred Best of Breed winner. Dominque then was out of Brak's Naomi (RGC/9 legs) and Brak's Lupo (RGC) from Donna Brak, who I consider the start of Double Dutch Rabbitry, all the way back in 1994. I credit both Donna and Jan Coffelt as the two who gave me my start in the breed, and Lloyd Gregg (Trelawn), whose always helped me out along the way to make it what it is. To see more pics of him, and his impact to my line, his page on my site is: http://www.geocities.com/doubledutchinfo/mrbluebuckfrankie.html