Joaquin the Winner

Our Berkeley member Julie sent in a picture of Joaquin winning the First Award of Merit at the 2005 Portuguese Water Dog National Specialty held in Cumberland, Maryland. There were 136 champions that came from all over the country and Europe. The First Award of Merit is equivalent to the Reserve In Show in the rabbit world.

Congratulations to Julie and Joaquin for such a big win.

Ruby Goes to Breed National

Ruby and her proud papa, our wonderful judge Doug, came over to say hello. Doug told me that Ruby will be going to the French Bull Dog National in Sacramento this weekend. Papa was nervous but Ruby held her head high and said, "Don't worry, I'll do great!"

We wish Doug and Ruby a good show and wonderful time at the national.

NCAG Show in Watsonville

On the day of the RPSCV shows, NCAG held a specialty show. The show is smaller than usual. Several of our regular exhibitors did not come because Watsonville is farther south for them. Though we missed them, we still had a wonderful time. Chris was our judge, her photo is in the "Three Lady Judges" post earlier.

The flowers on the fairground are in bloom, the colors are gorgeous. We took our photo shoot outside. Carol won Best of Breed French Angora with her colored senior doe. This is the beautiful doe that Carol and Tracy co-own. Tracy will be taking her to the national convention, I predict that she will do very well there.

Charlie's two boys both did well. White boy Enoch took Best Opposite Sex English Angora, chocolate tort boy took Best Opposite Sex of Variety. Charlie is holding both boys in his arms showing how proud a papa he is.

Last but not least, Betty's chocolate tort girl Chu's Elsia took Best of Breed English Angora and the specialty Best In Show. She is one of the three chocolate tort does in the same litter. The other two, Chu's Emilia and Chu's Emma, have won specialty Best In Show and all breed Reserve In Show in the past. Their photos are in the previous posts. If you wonder what happened to Chu's Mercedes that won the all breed Reserve In Show in show A and all breed Best In Show in show B, she took a leave from the specialty show to allow her cousins to shine.

A fun day indeed.

Youth Activities in the RPSCV Shows

There were so many fun things going on in the RPSCV shows last Saturday that I decided to post another one today. The show committee designed several youth activities to keep the kids interested. Among the games, there was a rabbit in costume contest. Cathy had told me weeks prior that she's making costumes for the rabbits. I was able to snap shots of Cathy and her son dressing up their English Lop for the contest. Every kid got a prize for entering, which made all the kids happy.

Hard Workers in the RPSCV Shows

(Louise with her dog Stinky)






(Dera with her BIS Cali)




It takes a lot of volunteers to put on a successful show. It takes months of working and planning to get to the show day. In the RPSCV show last Saturday, I took photos of some of these hard workers. I wish I had taken photos of all, but I did not. Featured here are three of these hard workers.

Trina and her husband David are the superintendents of the show. They run from one end of the building to the other end to take care of situations. I tried to catch them together but couldn't. Here is Trina working at the table when I snapped the top picture.

Dera is in charge of the raffle. She spent all year long looking for items that are inexpensive but nice and cute. And the RPSCV shows always have the cutest things that are eye catching. As one can see from the chair, Dera is also the Best In Show winner in show A with her Californian.

Louise is the show secretary. She gets the paper work done accurately and promptly, always flexible and friendly to all the exhibitors. She is one of the most loved faces in the rabbit show circuit. Louise used to raise English Angora, was very competitive for about 10 years until the big change in her life. She is the VP of the Northern California Angora Guild.

Three Lady Judges

(Mary looking at a choc tort doe)



















(Photo above: Chris examining the body of a white English Angora)



(Photo on the left: Cathy looking at a baby English Angora)


In the RPSCV and the NCAG shows on Saturday, we were very fortunate to have been assigned three wonderful judges: Chris, Mary and Cathy. Ladies tend to have more tender hands, and it was certainly true last Saturday.

In the top photo is Mary who is from Texas, she is the featured judge of this show. She is a top English Lop breeder and was instrumental in creating the Velveteen Lops. Mary is checking on a colored doe when our NCAG president Charlie looks on.

Chris in the second photo judged our NCAG show, she is a top Holland Lop breeder, one of the very favorite judges in our area. We always have a good time when she judges. In the picture, she is checking the body type of a white English Angora by pushing down the fluffy coat.

Cathy in the third photo from the top is checking on the little 9-week-old bunny. She has this big smile on her face that is infectious. Cathy has been appointed to the ARBA Standard Committee, one of the most prestigious committees. She sure will be very busy in the convention this year.

All three ladies will be judging in the ARBA national convention which is coming up in about 2-1/2 weeks. We really had good fortune to have gotten these three wonderful ladies to judge our breed.

Kim was the writer for all three judges when the English and French Angora were judged.

More Winners in the RPSCV Shows

Here are more photos of the winners in the shows on Saturday. RPSCV sponsored two open all breed shows and two youth all breed shows.

In the youth all breed shows, Christina from Gilroy won the Best In Show in both show A and B with her American Fuzzy Lop.

On the right photo, Dera from San Martin won the Best In Show in the open all breed show A with her Californian, Betty's English Angora white doe Mercedes took Reserve In Show.

The top photo was taken after the judging of the open all breed show B. Betty's English Angora white doe Mercedes took Best In Show, Amy's American Fuzzy Lop took Reserve In Show. The two judges who selected the winners were Mary from Texas and Uno from Nevada.

It seems that it's an especially good day for the three breeds: English Angora, American Fuzzy Lop and Californian. I understand that one of the youth Reserve In Show was also a Californian.

Mercedes Won BIS Again

Another wonderful day in the shows. Rabbit Producers of Santa Clara Valley (RPSCV) put on double all breed shows in Watsonville last Saturday. Plenty of people, lots of rabbits and loads of fun.

NCAG member did great! Betty's English Angora white senior doe Chu's Mercedes did it again. She won Reserve In Show in Show A and the big one Best In Show in Show B. In Show B, Amy's American Fuzzy Lop broken doe (the wool rabbit with the "wrong" ears, just kidding, Amy) won Reserve In Show. This is the first big win for Amy and it is also not too common for two NCAG members to have won the top two spots in the same all breed show. In the photo, Betty and Amy are sitting on their "prize", each won a chair with embroidery.

Mercedes is 9 months old, has been winning Best In Show since she was 7 months old. In the last two months, she has won all breed Best In Show six times plus one Reserve In Show. She will be taking a rest from shows until the national convention which is only 2-1/2 weeks away.

There will be many more fun photos from the RPSCV shows posted on the blog this week. Please make sure to check back everyday.